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How Much Can You Make at a Prop Firm? Mikaela Made $17,936 in One Month

January 6, 2026·5 min

How Much Can You Make at a Prop Firm? Mikaela Made $17,936 in One Month

It's the most-searched question in prop trading: "How much can you actually make?"

Here's a real answer, backed by real data.

Mikaela — a trader in the DTR Trading community — pulled in $17,936 in a single month. Not in a simulator. Not in a backtest. On the live leaderboard, ranked #2 out of 111 active traders.

The Numbers

Metric Value
Total P&L $17,936
Total Trades 60
Average Per Trade $299
Leaderboard Rank #2 of 111 traders

Based on their trading data, Mikaela averaged roughly 3 trades per trading day — each one worth nearly $300 in profit.

Trading Style Analysis

Mikaela's data paints the picture of a balanced, disciplined trader.

60 trades in a month is roughly 3 per day. That's not a scalper frantically clicking. It's someone who:

This is the "quality over quantity" approach in action. Rather than casting a wide net, Mikaela appears to wait for high-probability setups and execute with size.

The $299 per-trade average closely mirrors the #1 trader (Marty L. at $302/trade) — suggesting Mikaela has found a similar edge, just with fewer opportunities taken.

Key Lessons from Mikaela's Approach

1. You don't need to trade all day. 3 trades per day was enough to generate nearly $18,000 in a month. Most traders overtrade. Mikaela's data suggests the opposite approach works.

2. Consistency in per-trade profit signals a real edge. A $299 average across 60 trades isn't luck — it's a process. The variance would eat you alive over 60 trades if you didn't have something repeatable.

3. The balanced approach works. Not too many trades, not too few. Not swinging for the fences, not scalping for pennies. Right in the sweet spot.

What This Looks Like on a DTF Funded Account

If Mikaela replicated this exact performance on a DayTrader Funding account:

50K Account ($249 entry)

100K Account ($419 entry)

150K Account ($599 entry)

Even on the most aggressive 150K account, Mikaela would clear the evaluation in two weeks — then collect payouts for the rest of the month.

Return on investment on a $249 account: 6,381%. That's what edge looks like.

So, How Much CAN You Make?

The answer depends on your skill, discipline, and consistency. But the data from 111 real traders shows:

And all-time? The DTR Trading community has generated $3.3 million across 9,828 trades.

The ceiling is high. The floor is controlled by your risk management. And the data is public for anyone to verify.

Start Your Trading Career for $249

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