City benchmarks are best for dense local-service, healthcare, hospitality, and real-estate markets where local competition meaningfully changes benchmark ranges. City-level CPC, cost per lead, map-pack visibility, and appointment rate.
Use these labeled KPIs together instead of judging city performance from one headline number. Conversion-sensitive metrics update when you change the conversion type above.
| Metric | Median | Top Quartile | What It Tells You |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTR | 2.4% | 4.1% | Creative and message-to-audience fit |
| CPC | $2.80 | $1.65 | Click acquisition efficiency |
| CVR | 3.4% | 6.2% | Landing-page and offer effectiveness |
| CPA | $82 | $45 | Cost to generate the selected conversion |
| CPM | $12.40 | $7.80 | Auction pressure and reach efficiency |
| ROAS | 3.1x | 5.2x | Revenue efficiency where purchase value is tracked |
City-level CPC, cost per lead, map-pack visibility, and appointment rate. Benchmarks should be interpreted with contextual commentary, not as standalone averages.
| Country | Average | Median | Top Quartile | Bottom Quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | $68 | $58 | $36 | $106 |
These are the main drivers that typically explain why the same headline metric changes across channels, industries, and conversion contexts.
| Factor | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Population density and local competition | Changes how city-level cpc, cost per lead, map-pack visibility, and appointment rate. |
| Brand coverage and review strength | Changes how city-level cpc, cost per lead, map-pack visibility, and appointment rate. |
| Neighborhood-level demand concentration | Changes how city-level cpc, cost per lead, map-pack visibility, and appointment rate. |
City benchmarks are best for dense local-service, healthcare, hospitality, and real-estate markets where local competition meaningfully changes benchmark ranges.
City pages should only be public when the market is distinct enough to support useful operational commentary and benchmark depth.
City pages should only be public when the market is distinct enough to support useful operational commentary and benchmark depth.
City pages should only be public when the market is distinct enough to support useful operational commentary and benchmark depth.
The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method. The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method reads every marketing metric against four percentile bands — P25 (bottom quartile), median, P75 (top quartile), and elite (top ~10%) — for a specific industry and channel, instead of a single cross-industry average. Averages blend brand and non-brand campaigns, $500/month and $500,000/month accounts, and unrelated industries into a number almost nobody actually has.
Where the numbers come from. The figures on this page come from the Benchmarketing benchmark dataset — thousands of curated benchmark observations across channels, industries, and US metro areas. Every statistic traces to a named source: WordStream Google Ads Benchmarks (2024), Meta Business Insights (2024), HubSpot Email Marketing Report (2024), Unbounce Conversion Benchmark Report (2024), Databox Marketing Benchmark Report (2024), Benchmarketing Platform Data (2023–2024). Benchmarketing does not publish anonymous "studies show" figures.
The Benchmarketing position. Beating the cross-industry average is a vanity milestone, not a target. Compare your number to the P25–P75 band for your specific industry and channel; if you are above average but below your industry's P75, you are leaving performance on the table.
They need strict eligibility because many local markets are too thin to justify a standalone benchmark page.
They should include local competition, service coverage, and conversion-quality commentary instead of just a headline CPC or CPL number.