Google Ads benchmarks by industry, 2026
Across 13,474 US search campaigns, the average click cost $5.42, earned a 6.64% click-through rate, and converted at 8.18% for a $66.69 cost per lead.[WordStream] Those four numbers are where every account review should start. The table below holds all 23 industries, sortable and searchable.
The full data set, all 23 industries
Sort any column to see who pays the most per click, who converts best, and where your industry lands. The bottom row holds the all-industry average for quick comparison.
23 of 23 industries · 13,474 campaigns
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 5.87% | $9.87 | 5.55% | $131.63 |
| Home & Home Improvement | 6.47% | $8.33 | 8.05% | $90.92 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 5.66% | $8.00 | 10.67% | $72.97 |
| Personal Services | 7.16% | $7.17 | 12.34% | $54.60 |
| Health & Fitness | 5.81% | $6.17 | 6.94% | $67.36 |
| Business Services | 6.10% | $5.87 | 4.85% | $93.69 |
| Industrial & Commercial | 6.57% | $5.87 | 8.20% | $75.19 |
| Career & Employment | 5.88% | $5.81 | 3.05% | $67.36 |
| Education & Instruction | 7.56% | $4.81 | 13.14% | $77.48 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 6.61% | $4.76 | 12.43% | $40.04 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 6.75% | $4.62 | 10.35% | $39.25 |
| Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry | 6.64% | $4.44 | 4.50% | $97.51 |
| Automotive — Repair & Service | 5.56% | $4.35 | 15.51% | $29.96 |
| Shopping & Gifts | 8.28% | $4.14 | 4.01% | $49.40 |
| Animals & Pets | 7.49% | $4.06 | 16.22% | $31.50 |
| Furniture | 6.57% | $3.97 | 2.99% | $106.70 |
| Finance & Insurance | 9.83% | $3.39 | 2.64% | $74.44 |
| Real Estate | 7.61% | $3.22 | 3.70% | $102.51 |
| Sports & Recreation | 8.75% | $2.77 | 7.69% | $44.26 |
| Automotive — For Sale | 8.28% | $2.27 | 6.01% | $44.26 |
| Travel | 9.32% | $2.14 | 5.83% | $44.70 |
| Restaurants & Food | 6.83% | $2.05 | 8.05% | $30.57 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 12.75% | $1.63 | 5.91% | $26.84 |
| All industries (avg) | 6.64% | $5.42 | 8.18% | $66.69 |
How wide is the cost-per-click spread?
The headline $5.42 average hides a five-times gap. The cheapest clicks sit in Arts & Entertainment at $1.63, while Attorneys & Legal Services pays $9.87 per click and Dentists pay $8.00. A single blended CPC tells you almost nothing about your account; the industry row is the number that matters.
High CPCs are not a problem on their own. Attorneys and legal clicks cost the most because each converted lead is worth hundreds of dollars. The job is not cheap clicks, it is profitable ones, which is why our Google Ads management work starts with the negative-keyword layer rather than the bid.
Which industries convert best?
Conversion rate is where the real separation shows. Animals & Pets leads at 16.22%, with Automotive — Repair & Service close behind at 15.51%. At the other end, Finance & Insurance converts at just 2.64% despite a strong 9.83% click-through rate, because the buying decision is slow and considered. A high CTR with a low conversion rate almost always points at the landing page, not the ads.
What about return on ad spend?
ROAS is the number clients ask about first and the one benchmarks handle worst. The 4:1 rule of thumb gets repeated everywhere, yet average ecommerce ROAS was about 2.87:1 in 2025 and the median sat near 2.04:1 the year before.[Upcounting] A 2:1 to 4:1 range covers most healthy accounts. The only ROAS target worth setting is the one above your break-even, calculated from margin. Try the figures yourself in the wasted-spend calculator.
How does Performance Max change the picture?
Google reports that Performance Max delivers up to 27% more conversions or conversion value at a similar cost per action, even for advertisers already running broad match with Smart Bidding.[Google] The trade-off is reporting depth: PMax hides much of the query data Search campaigns expose. We weigh that balance in the guide on whether Performance Max is worth it.
What does good look like in your industry?
Good is not the all-industry average. It is your industry row, beaten on the metric that drives revenue. A 6% conversion rate is excellent in Finance & Insurance and below par in Animals & Pets. We hold every account we manage against its own benchmark line and report the gap each week, which is the whole point of running the five-lever teardown before touching a bid.
Benchmark questions, answered
The all-industry average cost per click is $5.42 as of the 2026 benchmark data. It ranges from $1.63 in Arts & Entertainment to $9.87 in Attorneys & Legal Services. Your real CPC depends on your industry, competition, and Quality Score, so the blended figure is a starting reference, not a target.
The 2026 all-industry average CTR is 6.64%. Arts & Entertainment leads at 12.75% while Finance & Insurance reaches 9.83%. A good CTR is one above your industry line and rising, since a weak CTR usually points to loose match types or ad copy that misses search intent.
The 2026 all-industry average conversion rate is 8.18%, up from 6.96% in 2024. The spread is wide: Finance & Insurance sits at 2.64% while Animals & Pets reaches 16.22%. Measure yourself against your own industry row, not the blended number.
The 4:1 rule of thumb is the common target, but average ecommerce return on ad spend was about 2.87:1 in 2025. A good ROAS is any figure above your break-even with margin to spare, which is why we set the target from unit economics rather than a fixed ratio.
The figures are from the WordStream and LocaliQ 2026 search advertising benchmark report, built from 13,474 US search campaigns over the Apr 2025 – Mar 2026 window. The dataset pools Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising search campaigns, so treat it as a search-wide reference.
See where your account sits against these numbers
A free audit maps your CPC, CTR, conversion rate, and CPA onto your industry benchmark, then shows the gap and how to close it.