Average CPA by industry
The 2026 search-ads survey averages $66.69 cost per lead across industries, from $26.84 (arts and entertainment) to $131.63 (attorneys and legal). Cost per lead is the survey's conversion-cost metric: for lead-shaped conversions, it is the search-ads CPA.
One source for every row: LocaliQ/WordStream Search Advertising Benchmarks, 2026 survey, pulled 2026-08-01LocaliQ · 2026 survey. Scope: Google Ads + Microsoft Ads search campaigns. Not social, not display.
The table
All 23 industries, sortable
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $9.87 | 5.87% | 5.55% | $131.63 |
| Furniture | $3.97 | 6.57% | 2.99% | $106.70 |
| Real Estate | $3.22 | 7.61% | 3.7% | $102.51 |
| Apparel/Fashion & Jewelry | $4.44 | 6.64% | 4.5% | $97.51 |
| Business Services | $5.87 | 6.1% | 4.85% | $93.69 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $8.33 | 6.47% | 8.05% | $90.92 |
| Education & Instruction | $4.81 | 7.56% | 13.14% | $77.48 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $5.87 | 6.57% | 8.2% | $75.19 |
| Finance & Insurance | $3.39 | 9.83% | 2.64% | $74.44 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $8.00 | 5.66% | 10.67% | $72.97 |
| Career & Employment | $5.81 | 5.88% | 3.05% | $67.36 |
| Health & Fitness | $6.17 | 5.81% | 6.94% | $67.36 |
| Personal Services | $7.17 | 7.16% | 12.34% | $54.60 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $4.14 | 8.28% | 4.01% | $49.40 |
| Travel | $2.14 | 9.32% | 5.83% | $44.70 |
| Automotive (For Sale) | $2.27 | 8.28% | 6.01% | $44.26 |
| Sports & Recreation | $2.77 | 8.75% | 7.69% | $44.26 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $4.76 | 6.61% | 12.43% | $40.04 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $4.62 | 6.75% | 10.35% | $39.25 |
| Animals & Pets | $4.06 | 7.49% | 16.22% | $31.50 |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.05 | 6.83% | 8.05% | $30.57 |
| Automotive (Repair, Service & Parts) | $4.35 | 5.56% | 15.51% | $29.96 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $1.63 | 12.75% | 5.91% | $26.84 |
Reading a median against your account: the survey averages thousands of North American campaigns of every competence level. Beating it means beating the average advertiser, not running an optimal account. Use it to classify your neighbourhood, then judge spend against your own break-even ceiling; the framing argument is on what is a good CPA.
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