Average CPC by Industry 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-author: Elena Rodriguez | Last updated: October 19, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
The median US search ad click cost $5.42 in the 2026 benchmark year, up 3.04% from $5.26. Strip out inflation and Axis Intelligence Research finds the real increase was 0.34%. The price of a lead moved the other way: down 4.88%, to $66.69. Clicks barely got dearer; converting them got cheaper.
Quick Answer
The average cost per click (CPC) on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads search campaigns is $5.42 across industries in 2026, per WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks (medians of 13,474 US campaigns, April 2025–March 2026). Attorneys pay the most ($9.87), arts and entertainment the least ($1.63). Axis Intelligence Research’s Search Lead Cost Index (SLCI) ranks legal services the most expensive industry to buy leads in, at 170.5.
Key Findings
- Axis Intelligence Research finds the all-industry median search CPC rose 3.04% between the 2025 and 2026 WordStream benchmark years, but only 0.34% after adjusting for the 2.69% rise in the BLS consumer price index over the same windows.
- Axis Intelligence Research’s Search Lead Cost Index (SLCI) ranks Attorneys & Legal Services as the costliest industry to buy search leads in 2026 at 170.5, against an all-industry baseline of 100; Arts & Entertainment is cheapest at 50.9.
- Axis Intelligence Research finds a median search click cost 9.03 times a median Meta traffic-campaign click in 2026 ($5.42 vs $0.60), rising to 14.30 times for legal services.
- Search CPC rose in 17 of 23 industries in the 2026 WordStream benchmark, yet cost per lead fell in 13 of 23, and CPC outpaced inflation in 13 industries, per Axis Intelligence Research calculations.
- Adjusted with BLS CPI-U, the $2.69 median search CPC that WordStream measured in August 2017–January 2018 equals $3.53 in 2026 dollars; Axis Intelligence Research finds today’s $5.42 is 53.47% higher in real terms.
What Is the Average CPC by Industry in 2026?
The average cost per click on search ads ranges from $1.63 to $9.87 across 23 US industries in 2026, a 6.06-fold spread. Cost per click (CPC) is the amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks an ad; it is set in a live auction, not on a rate card.
The figures below come from WordStream by LocaliQ, which measures its own clients’ Google Ads and Microsoft Ads search campaigns. WordStream reports medians, not means, so one runaway account cannot drag a category. The year-over-year change is an Axis Intelligence Research calculation against the 2025 edition (16,446 campaigns, April 2024–March 2025).
Average Google Ads CPC by industry, 2026 vs 2025
| Industry | CPC 2026 | CPC 2025 | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $9.87 | $8.58 | +15.03% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Home & Home Improvement | $8.33 | $7.85 | +6.11% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $8.00 | $7.85 | +1.91% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Personal Services | $7.17 | $5.81 | +23.41% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Health & Fitness | $6.17 | $5.00 | +23.40% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Business Services | $5.87 | $5.58 | +5.20% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Industrial & Commercial | $5.87 | $5.70 | +2.98% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Career & Employment | $5.81 | $5.16 | +12.60% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Education & Instruction | $4.81 | $6.23 | −22.79% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $4.76 | $5.00 | −4.80% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $4.62 | $5.70 | −18.95% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $4.44 | $4.31 | +3.02% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $4.35 | $3.90 | +11.54% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $4.14 | $3.49 | +18.62% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Animals & Pets | $4.06 | $3.97 | +2.27% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Furniture | $3.97 | $3.86 | +2.85% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Finance & Insurance | $3.39 | $3.46 | −2.02% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Real Estate | $3.22 | $2.53 | +27.27% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Sports & Recreation | $2.77 | $2.64 | +4.92% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Automotive — For Sale | $2.27 | $2.41 | −5.81% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Travel | $2.14 | $2.12 | +0.94% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.05 | $2.05 | 0.00% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| Arts & Entertainment | $1.63 | $1.60 | +1.87% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
| All industries | $5.42 | $5.26 | +3.04% | WordStream by LocaliQ |
Source: WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis Intelligence Research.]
Which industries saw the biggest CPC increases?
Real Estate led with a 27.27% jump, from $2.53 to $3.22. Personal Services (+23.41%) and Health & Fitness (+23.40%) followed. Seventeen of 23 categories got more expensive per click.
Which industries got cheaper per click?
Education & Instruction fell 22.79% and Beauty & Personal Care 18.95%. Both had posted the steepest increases the year before: WordStream measured Beauty up 60.11% and Education up 41.91% in its 2025 edition. Restaurants & Food held at exactly $2.05.
Elena Rodriguez: Read the two big decliners next to their 2025 numbers and they look less like price relief and more like a bubble deflating. Beauty climbed 60.11% into the 2025 edition, then gave back 18.95%; anyone who built a 2026 plan off the 2025 spike budgeted $5.70 for a click that cleared at $4.62. The real estate number is the one I would put in front of a brokerage owner. A 27.27% rise on a $3.22 click still lands below half the cross-industry median, which is why it does not feel expensive yet. It is the direction, not the level, that should change the bid strategy: a category re-pricing that fast usually has new money in the auction, and new money rarely leaves after one year.
How Much Does a Lead Cost by Industry?
Across industries, a search lead cost a median $66.69 in 2026, down from $70.11, the first decline WordStream has recorded in five years. Cost per lead (CPL) is ad spend divided by leads: calls, form fills, chats or emails the advertiser counts as conversions.
The click price and the lead price can move in opposite directions because conversion rate (CVR), the share of clicks that become leads, sits between them. WordStream reports that CVR improved in 87% of industries this year.
Cost per lead, conversion rate and click-through rate by industry, 2026
| Industry | CPL 2026 | CPL change vs 2025 | CVR | CTR | Monthly budget for 20 leads | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $131.63 | 0.00% | 5.55% | 5.87% | $2,632.60 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Furniture | $106.70 | −12.19% | 2.99% | 6.57% | $2,134.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Real Estate | $102.51 | +2.02% | 3.70% | 7.61% | $2,050.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $97.51 | −3.92% | 4.50% | 6.64% | $1,950.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Business Services | $93.69 | −9.51% | 4.85% | 6.10% | $1,873.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Home & Home Improvement | $90.92 | 0.00% | 8.05% | 6.47% | $1,818.40 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Education & Instruction | $77.48 | −13.93% | 13.14% | 7.56% | $1,549.60 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Industrial & Commercial | $75.19 | −12.19% | 8.20% | 6.57% | $1,503.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Finance & Insurance | $74.44 | −11.31% | 2.64% | 9.83% | $1,488.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $72.97 | −13.06% | 10.67% | 5.66% | $1,459.40 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Career & Employment | $67.36 | +7.26% | 3.05% | 5.88% | $1,347.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Health & Fitness | $67.36 | +7.26% | 6.94% | 5.81% | $1,347.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Personal Services | $54.60 | +2.02% | 12.34% | 7.16% | $1,092.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $49.40 | +3.05% | 4.01% | 8.28% | $988.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Travel | $44.70 | −39.35% | 5.83% | 9.32% | $894.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Automotive — For Sale | $44.26 | +13.90% | 6.01% | 8.28% | $885.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Sports & Recreation | $44.26 | −6.76% | 7.69% | 8.75% | $885.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $40.04 | −29.54% | 12.43% | 6.61% | $800.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $39.25 | −34.95% | 10.35% | 6.75% | $785.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Animals & Pets | $31.50 | −1.01% | 16.22% | 7.49% | $630.00 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Restaurants & Food | $30.57 | +0.99% | 8.05% | 6.83% | $611.40 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $29.96 | +5.12% | 15.51% | 5.56% | $599.20 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Arts & Entertainment | $26.84 | −11.33% | 5.91% | 12.75% | $536.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| All industries | $66.69 | −4.88% | 8.18% | 6.64% | $1,333.80 | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
The budget column is an Axis Intelligence Research calculation: 20 × the 2026 median CPL. It answers the question owners actually ask (“what does a month of steady inbound cost me?”) at a lead volume small enough for a single-location business.
Why legal is the outlier on both clicks and leads
Attorneys & Legal Services paid 15.03% more per click in 2026 and exactly the same per lead, $131.63 in both editions. Conversion efficiency absorbed the whole increase. A law firm that held its 2025 conversion rate would have seen its lead cost rise roughly in step with the click price.
Elena Rodriguez: The legal row is the cleanest demonstration of why CPC is a health metric and CPL is the bill. The click got 15% dearer and the lead did not move a cent. That only happens when the landing page, the intake call and the bid strategy all got better at the same time the auction got hotter. Run it at a realistic caseload: 20 leads a month is $2,632.60 at the median. If one in ten becomes a signed matter, the firm is paying about $1,316 in media per client before a single hour of intake labor. Whether that is cheap or ruinous depends on the fee per matter, which is why a “good CPC” for a personal-injury practice and a “good CPC” for a will-and-estate practice are different numbers on the same benchmark row.
The Search Lead Cost Index (SLCI): Which Industries Pay the Most to Win a Search Lead?
A CPC table tells you what the auction charges. It does not tell you which industries face the heaviest lead-acquisition pressure, because a $9.87 click that converts at 5.55% and a $3.22 click that converts at 3.70% end up far closer than the click prices suggest. Axis Intelligence Research built the Search Lead Cost Index (SLCI) to rank that pressure in one number.
SLCI — Search Lead Cost Index. A weighted score of how expensive, and how fast-rising, search lead acquisition is in an industry relative to the all-industry median. 100 = the all-industry median. Above 100, buying search leads is harder than average.
Formula:
SLCI = 0.50 × Lead price + 0.25 × Click price + 0.25 × Lead momentum
Lead price = 100 × (industry CPL 2026 ÷ all-industry CPL 2026 [$66.69])
Click price = 100 × (industry CPC 2026 ÷ all-industry CPC 2026 [$5.42])
Lead momentum = 100 × (industry CPL 2026 ÷ CPL 2025) ÷ (all-industry CPL 2026 ÷ CPL 2025 [$66.69 ÷ $70.11])
Why these weights. The lead is what the business buys, so it carries half the score. Click price carries a quarter because it sets the cash burn before conversion tracking catches up and determines how many tests a fixed budget affords. Momentum carries a quarter because a plan is built on next year’s price, not last year’s. Every input is a published WordStream by LocaliQ median; the full component table is in the dataset, so any reader can recompute a reading.
Worked example, Attorneys & Legal Services: Lead price 197.4 (131.63 ÷ 66.69) + Click price 182.1 (9.87 ÷ 5.42) + Lead momentum 105.1 (CPL flat while the all-industry CPL fell 4.88%) → 0.50 × 197.4 + 0.25 × 182.1 + 0.25 × 105.1 = 170.5.
SLCI ranking by industry, 2026 baseline reading
| Rank | Industry | SLCI | Lead price | Click price | Lead momentum | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attorneys & Legal Services | 170.5 | 197.4 | 182.1 | 105.1 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 2 | Home & Home Improvement | 132.9 | 136.3 | 153.7 | 105.1 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 3 | Furniture | 121.4 | 160.0 | 73.2 | 92.3 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 4 | Business Services | 121.1 | 140.5 | 108.3 | 95.1 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 5 | Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 118.8 | 146.2 | 81.9 | 101.0 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 6 | Real Estate | 118.5 | 153.7 | 59.4 | 107.3 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 7 | Dentists & Dental Services | 114.5 | 109.4 | 147.6 | 91.4 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 8 | Health & Fitness | 107.2 | 101.0 | 113.8 | 112.8 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 9 | Industrial & Commercial | 106.5 | 112.7 | 108.3 | 92.3 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 10 | Career & Employment | 105.5 | 101.0 | 107.2 | 112.8 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 11 | Education & Instruction | 102.9 | 116.2 | 88.7 | 90.5 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 12 | Personal Services | 100.8 | 81.9 | 132.3 | 107.2 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 13 | Finance & Insurance | 94.8 | 111.6 | 62.5 | 93.2 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 14 | Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 83.2 | 74.1 | 76.4 | 108.3 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 15 | Automotive — For Sale | 73.6 | 66.4 | 41.9 | 119.7 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 16 | Physicians & Surgeons | 70.5 | 60.0 | 87.8 | 74.1 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 17 | Sports & Recreation | 70.5 | 66.4 | 51.1 | 98.0 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 18 | Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 70.2 | 44.9 | 80.3 | 110.5 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 19 | Animals & Pets | 68.4 | 47.2 | 74.9 | 104.1 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 20 | Beauty & Personal Care | 67.8 | 58.9 | 85.2 | 68.4 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 21 | Travel | 59.3 | 67.0 | 39.5 | 63.8 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 22 | Restaurants & Food | 58.9 | 45.8 | 37.8 | 106.2 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| 23 | Arts & Entertainment | 50.9 | 40.2 | 30.1 | 93.2 | Axis Intelligence Research |
Inputs: WordStream by LocaliQ 2025 and 2026 search benchmarks. Physicians & Surgeons and Sports & Recreation both round to 70.5; the unrounded scores order them as shown.
What the SLCI shows that a CPC table hides
Real Estate ranks 18th of 23 on click price and 6th on the SLCI. Its clicks are cheap; its leads are the third most expensive on the board, because only 3.70% of clicks convert. Furniture tells the same story more sharply: a $3.97 click and a $106.70 lead.
Dentists run the other way. A top-three CPC ($8.00) sits on a 10.67% conversion rate and a lead cost that fell 13.06%, which pulls the practice down to 7th.
Automotive — For Sale is the momentum warning. Its SLCI is a low 73.6, but its lead-momentum component is the highest of any industry (119.7): the click got 5.81% cheaper while the lead got 13.90% dearer. WordStream links the industries with rising lead costs to tariff exposure.
Elena Rodriguez: The SLCI is useful precisely where it disagrees with the CPC ranking. A furniture retailer looking only at the click table thinks search is mid-priced. At $106.70 a lead, every one of those leads needs to carry a large basket before the channel pays. An auto dealer looking at the click table sees prices falling; the lead row says the opposite, and the lead row is the invoice. When the two rankings disagree, the plan should follow the SLCI and the optimization budget should follow conversion rate, because that is the lever that moved legal’s lead cost to zero growth.
Are Google Ads Costs Rising Faster Than Inflation?
Barely, in the latest year. The all-industry median CPC rose 3.04% between the April 2024–March 2025 and April 2025–March 2026 benchmark windows. Over the same windows, the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) rose 2.69%, on Axis Intelligence Research’s averages of the monthly series. In real terms the median click got 0.34% more expensive.
The longer view is different. WordStream’s August 2017–January 2018 benchmark put the median search CPC at $2.69. Deflated with the same BLS CPI-U series, that is $3.53 in 2026 dollars. Today’s $5.42 is 101.49% higher nominally and 53.47% higher in real terms.
Nominal and real search CPC, three benchmark windows
| Benchmark window | Median search CPC (nominal) | CPI-U window average | CPC in 2026 dollars | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2017 – Jan 2018 | $2.69 | 247.032 | $3.53 | WordStream; BLS; Axis calc. |
| Apr 2024 – Mar 2025 | $5.26 | 315.816 | $5.40 | WordStream by LocaliQ; BLS; Axis calc. |
| Apr 2025 – Mar 2026 | $5.42 | 324.318 | $5.42 | WordStream by LocaliQ; BLS; Axis calc. |
The 2017–2018 dataset uses 16 industry groups rather than today’s 23, so the comparison is between the two cross-industry medians, not industry by industry. BLS did not publish an October 2025 CPI value; the 2026 window averages 11 months.
Thirteen of the 23 industries saw CPC grow faster than the 2.69% CPI change in the latest year. For the other ten, search clicks got cheaper in real terms.
For the macro inflation backdrop by category, see our inflation statistics.
Why Do CPC Benchmarks From Different Sources Disagree So Much?
Because they measure different auctions. The same quarter can show a Google CPC change of 1%, 3% or 14% depending on whose accounts are in the sample, and an absolute CPC of $1.10 or $5.42. None of these figures is wrong. Each describes a different population of advertisers.
Four measurements of search CPC, 2026
| Measurement | Period | Search CPC reading | Who is measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Form 10-Q | Q2 2026 | +3% YoY (paid clicks +13%) | Every paid click on Google Search & other, worldwide | Alphabet, via Axis Google Ads statistics |
| Tinuiti Digital Ads Benchmark | Q2 2026 / Q3 2026 | +1% / +4% YoY (Google) | US advertisers Tinuiti manages, >$4B annual spend | Tinuiti, as reported by MediaPost |
| Skai Quarterly Trends | Q2 2026 | +14% YoY | Skai platform advertisers, multi-engine, global | Skai |
| Skai Quarterly Trends | Q1 2026 | $1.10 average (matched all-time high) | Skai platform advertisers, multi-engine, global | Skai press release |
| WordStream by LocaliQ | Apr 2025–Mar 2026 | $5.42 median, +3.04% | US search campaigns, mostly small and local businesses | WordStream by LocaliQ |
Alphabet’s figure is the census: every paid click across Google Search and its owned properties. Alphabet’s +3% cost-per-click and +13% paid clicks for Q2 2026 are the canonical values on our Google Ads statistics page, which owns that series.
Tinuiti’s sample shows the timing. Per the agency’s Q3 2026 report as reported by MediaPost, Google search CPC growth averaged 0% from Q3 2025 through Q2 2026, then reached 4% in Q3 2026. Tinuiti ties the flat stretch to Amazon leaving US Google Shopping auctions in late July 2025, and the rebound to other large retailers stepping into that space.
Skai’s sample shows the high end. Skai reported Q2 2026 paid search spend up 17%, clicks up 2%, impressions down 6% and CPC up 14%, and attributes the rise to AI answers resolving queries before a click. Skai’s $1.10 Q1 average is low in absolute terms because its accounts are heavily weighted to large consumer brands bidding on shopping and high-volume product queries, a different mix from a plumber bidding on “emergency plumber near me.”
Elena Rodriguez: This is the table that should end the “AI Overviews are making Google expensive” argument in its loud form. Alphabet’s own filing shows paid clicks up 13% and CPC up 3% in Q2: volume did the work, not price. Skai’s +14% is real for Skai’s book of business, where impressions fell and the same budgets chased fewer clicks. Both statements hold. For a media plan, the practical rule is to benchmark against the sample that looks like you. A local service business should read WordStream’s medians. A national retailer should read Skai and Tinuiti. Neither should quote the other’s number in a budget meeting.
Is Microsoft Advertising cheaper than Google Ads in 2026?
Not on momentum. Per Tinuiti’s data as reported by MediaPost, Microsoft search CPCs rose 19% year over year in Q2 2026 and 16% in Q3 2026, while Microsoft search clicks fell 3% in Q3. Google’s CPC growth over the same two quarters was 1% and 4%. WordStream’s medians blend both engines and do not split them.
Search vs Social: How Much More Does a Google Click Cost Than a Facebook Click?
About nine times more at the median. WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2026 Facebook ads benchmarks put the median Meta traffic-campaign CPC at $0.60, down from $0.70. Against the $5.42 search median, Axis Intelligence Research calculates a search-to-Meta click multiple of 9.03×.
The multiple is the price of intent. A search click comes from someone who typed a need; a social click comes from someone who was shown one. The multiple tells a planner how much intent costs in each industry.
Search-to-Meta click multiple by industry, 2026
| Industry | Search CPC | Meta traffic CPC | Multiple | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $9.87 | $0.69 | 14.30× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Home & Home Improvement | $8.33 | $0.63 | 13.22× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $8.00 | $0.61 | 13.11× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Industrial & Commercial | $5.87 | $0.54 | 10.87× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Personal Services | $7.17 | $0.67 | 10.70× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Health & Fitness | $6.17 | $0.64 | 9.64× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $4.62 | $0.50 | 9.24× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Business Services | $5.87 | $0.70 | 8.39× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Animals & Pets | $4.06 | $0.51 | 7.96× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $4.76 | $0.61 | 7.80× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $4.14 | $0.59 | 7.02× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Education & Instruction | $4.81 | $0.70 | 6.87× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $4.44 | $0.71 | 6.25× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Furniture | $3.97 | $0.64 | 6.20× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $4.35 | $0.74 | 5.88× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Real Estate | $3.22 | $0.55 | 5.85× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Travel | $2.14 | $0.42 | 5.10× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Arts & Entertainment | $1.63 | $0.34 | 4.79× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Sports & Recreation | $2.77 | $0.59 | 4.69× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.05 | $0.45 | 4.56× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Finance & Insurance | $3.39 | $0.86 | 3.94× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| Automotive — For Sale | $2.27 | $0.70 | 3.24× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
| All industries | $5.42 | $0.60 | 9.03× | WordStream by LocaliQ; Axis calc. |
WordStream’s Meta traffic benchmark does not report Career & Employment. Meta data covers April 2025–June 2026; search data covers April 2025–March 2026. Both are US medians from the same producer.
The median industry multiple is 6.94×. Emergency and appointment-driven services sit at the top (legal, home improvement, dental), where the searcher arrives with the job already scoped. Finance & Insurance and car sales sit at the bottom: Finance & Insurance pays the highest Meta traffic CPC of any industry ($0.86), and car-sales search clicks ($2.27) are among the cheapest on the search board.
On Meta’s own lead campaigns, WordStream measured a $27.39 median cost per lead in 2026, against $66.69 on search. For Meta’s revenue and pricing disclosures, see our Facebook ads statistics.
How Much Does a ChatGPT Ads Click Cost Compared With Google?
OpenAI recommends a starting maximum bid of $3 to $5 per click for cost-per-click campaigns in ChatGPT, per its Help Center. That is a bid ceiling suggestion, not a clearing price; OpenAI publishes no average CPC.
The recommended range sits just under the $5.42 search median and roughly five to eight times Meta’s $0.60 traffic median. Until a measurement firm or OpenAI publishes clearing prices by category, there is no defensible industry-level ChatGPT CPC, and this page does not estimate one.
Are the Old “Legal $6.75, E-commerce $1.16” CPC Figures Still Valid?
No. Those numbers come from WordStream’s benchmark of 14,197 US accounts active between August 2017 and January 2018, when the all-industry search median was $2.69. They still circulate on pages labeled 2026.
The 2026 legal median is $9.87, 46.22% above the 2018 figure. The 2018 “E-Commerce” category has no direct equivalent in the 2026 taxonomy; the closest retail rows today (Apparel at $4.44, Shopping & Gifts at $4.14, Furniture at $3.97) are each more than three times $1.16. Anyone planning a 2026 budget off the 2018 table would put legal clicks 31.61% too low and retail clicks roughly 70% too low.
Methodology
Sources and collection. Every figure on this page was taken from a document fetched on October 19, 2026. Industry CPC, CTR, CVR and CPL come from WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmark (13,474 US search campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, April 1, 2025–March 31, 2026, at least 52 campaigns per category) and its 2025 benchmark (16,446 campaigns, April 1, 2024–March 31, 2025). WordStream labels these “averages,” but its own methodology note states they are medians. Meta figures come from WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2026 Facebook benchmark (1,377 US traffic campaigns and 452 leads campaigns, April 1, 2025–June 30, 2026). Inflation uses the BLS CPI-U all-items seasonally adjusted series (CUSR0000SA0), averaged over each benchmark window. Platform-level changes come from Alphabet’s Form 10-Q (restated from the Axis registry owner page), Skai’s Q1 and Q2 2026 trends releases, Tinuiti’s Q3 2026 benchmark as reported by MediaPost, and OpenAI’s Help Center.
Self-interest, disclosed. WordStream and LocaliQ sell paid search management; Tinuiti is an agency; Skai sells ad software. Each measures its own clients. Their data is still the only industry-level CPC data published with a stated method; their incentives are named so a reader can weigh them.
Axis calculations. Year-over-year changes = 2026 value ÷ 2025 value − 1. Search-to-Meta multiple = search CPC ÷ Meta traffic CPC. Budget for 20 leads = 20 × 2026 CPL. Real CPC change = (nominal CPC ratio) ÷ (CPI window-average ratio) − 1. SLCI formula and weights are stated in full in its section; the 2026 reading is the baseline.
Why we never compute CPL from CPC and CVR. Medians do not compose. Dividing the legal median CPC ($9.87) by the legal median CVR (5.55%) gives $177.84, but the measured median CPL is $131.63, because the account with the median click is not the account with the median conversion rate. Every CPL on this page is WordStream’s measured median. The implied figures are in the dataset only to make this point checkable.
Scope. WordStream’s sample leans to small and local businesses in the US; enterprise and e-commerce-heavy accounts behave differently (see the Skai and Tinuiti rows). Meta traffic campaigns and search campaigns have different objectives, so the click multiple measures relative price, not relative value.
About This Dataset
cpc-by-industry.csv holds 447 rows: 2026 and 2025 search CPC, CTR, CVR and CPL for 23 US industries; 2026 Meta traffic CPC; the SLCI components, readings and ranks; search-to-Meta multiples; monthly budgets for 20 leads; CPI-U window averages and real-price calculations; and the platform-level CPC changes reported by Alphabet, Tinuiti, Skai and OpenAI. Every row carries source_org, source_document, source_url, retrieved_date, is_primary and axis_calculated; every calculated row carries a method_note.
The dataset is updated when WordStream by LocaliQ publishes its next annual benchmark, when Alphabet files its next 10-Q, or when Tinuiti or Skai publish quarterly results that move the reconciliation table. It is licensed CC BY 4.0: free to use, adapt and republish with attribution to Axis Intelligence Research and a link to this page. Mirrors: Hugging Face, Kaggle and GitHub.
Citation line: Axis Intelligence Research, Average CPC by Industry 2026, 2026.
Cite this research
APA: Axis Intelligence Research, & Rodriguez, E. (2026, October 19). Average CPC by industry 2026: What a click, and a lead, really cost in 23 industries. Axis Intelligence. https://axis-intelligence.com/cpc-by-industry/
MLA: Axis Intelligence Research, and Elena Rodriguez. “Average CPC by Industry 2026: What a Click, and a Lead, Really Cost in 23 Industries.” Axis Intelligence, 19 Oct. 2026, axis-intelligence.com/cpc-by-industry/.
Chicago: Axis Intelligence Research and Elena Rodriguez. “Average CPC by Industry 2026: What a Click, and a Lead, Really Cost in 23 Industries.” Axis Intelligence, October 19, 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/cpc-by-industry/.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do lawyers pay the most per click on Google Ads?
Because a single signed client can be worth thousands of dollars in fees, so firms bid up the auction. The 2026 median legal CPC is $9.87, 1.82 times the all-industry median, per WordStream by LocaliQ. The legal median cost per lead is $131.63, the highest of 23 industries.
How do I know if my CPC is too high for my industry?
Compare against your own industry’s median, not the $5.42 blended figure, and then check cost per lead. A CPC above your industry median is acceptable if your CPL is at or below the industry’s CPL. A low CPC paired with a CPL above the median usually signals a conversion problem, not a bidding win.
Why did my CPC go up while my cost per lead went down?
Your conversion rate improved faster than the click price rose. That is the 2026 pattern: CPC rose in 17 of 23 industries while CPL fell in 13, and WordStream reports conversion rate improved in 87% of industries. Legal is the clearest case: CPC up 15.03%, CPL unchanged.
How much should a small business spend on Google Ads per month?
At 2026 medians, buying 20 search leads a month costs about $1,334 across industries, ranging from $536.80 for Arts & Entertainment to $2,632.60 for Attorneys & Legal Services (Axis Intelligence Research, 20 × WordStream median CPL). Pick the lead count the sales team can actually work, then multiply by your industry’s CPL.
Is Bing (Microsoft Ads) still cheaper than Google Ads?
Its prices are rising faster. Tinuiti’s data, as reported by MediaPost, shows Microsoft search CPCs up 19% year over year in Q2 2026 and 16% in Q3 2026, against 1% and 4% for Google. Microsoft clicks fell 3% in Q3 2026.
Did AI Overviews make Google Ads more expensive in 2026?
The evidence is split by sample. Alphabet’s filing shows Google Search paid clicks up 13% and CPC up 3% in Q2 2026, so platform-wide the click pool grew. Skai, measuring its own advertisers, reports CPC up 14% on clicks up 2% and impressions down 6%, and attributes it to AI answers resolving queries before a click.
Why does one report say CPC is $1.10 and another $5.42?
They measure different advertisers. Skai’s $1.10 Q1 2026 paid search average covers its platform’s large brand and retail accounts across several engines worldwide. WordStream by LocaliQ’s $5.42 is the median of US search campaigns, mostly small and local businesses bidding on service queries.
What is a good click-through rate for search ads in 2026?
The 2026 all-industry median search CTR is 6.64%, per WordStream by LocaliQ. It ranges from 5.56% for automotive repair to 12.75% for arts and entertainment, so compare against your own industry row.
What is the Search Lead Cost Index (SLCI)?
The SLCI is Axis Intelligence Research’s score of how expensive and how fast-rising search lead acquisition is in an industry, where 100 equals the all-industry median. It weights cost per lead at 50%, CPC at 25% and the year-over-year change in cost per lead at 25%. The 2026 baseline ranges from 170.5 (legal) to 50.9 (arts and entertainment).
Related Axis Intelligence research: Google Ads statistics · Facebook ads statistics · Digital marketing statistics · Digital advertising statistics · Cost benchmarks