How much do local newsletters make?
Last checked 2026-10-08.
Some make a living and most make little or nothing. The honest answer is a range, so this page gives the published numbers with their sources, explains where the money comes from, and sets out what it costs to start.
One published example
Naptown Scoop, a daily newsletter for Annapolis, Maryland, is the most-cited example. Side Hustle Nation reported it at about 18,400 subscribers and over $200,000 a year, after around $170,000 the year before, almost all of it from advertising. Its top ad slot, a logo with up to 150 words, was priced at $812.50.
That is one publisher, in one well-off town, with a founder working on it full time. It is a ceiling worth knowing about, not a typical result.
Where the money comes from
- Sponsorships and ads: a local business pays for a slot in the email. This is most of the revenue for most local newsletters.
- Listings and classifieds: events, jobs, real estate and business directory entries, usually at a flat price.
- Paid memberships: readers pay to support the newsletter, usually in exchange for extras rather than access.
- Events and partnerships: ticketed meetups, guides and co-branded promotions.
What advertising in one costs
| Publisher | What you buy | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Voice | Local business package, one town | $199, $299 or $599 a month (12-month minimum) |
| Naptown Scoop | Top ad: logo and up to 150 words | $812.50 |
| MailerDot | Event or business listing, one town | $10.00 flat, or $25.00 featured in the daily email |
What it costs to start one
The software is cheap: email platforms such as beehiiv and Substack have free tiers. The real cost is time — finding and writing the news every day, and selling the ads that pay for it. That is the part most local newsletters stall on.
MailerDot takes the writing off the table: it writes and sends a daily newsletter for any U.S. town, free to readers. Anyone can lease a town for $10.00 a month for a town’s first 1,000 subscribers, plus $5.00 a month for each additional 1,000. The operator’s business leads every edition, and the operator receives 50% of each listing MailerDot sells in the town, after fees.
A MailerDot town lease is a software subscription, not a franchise or a business opportunity. MailerDot makes no claim, promise or projection about what a town will earn — the listing share is a percentage of sales MailerDot makes, and a town may sell none.
What the numbers above are not
Every revenue figure on this page is another publisher’s own, reported by the source cited. None of it is an estimate of what a MailerDot town, or any newsletter you start, will make.