· 6 min read · MetriQuill Team
Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026: CTR, CPC and CPL
As of September 2026, the latest Facebook Ads benchmarks from WordStream and LocaliQ put the median click-through rate at 1.93% for traffic campaigns and 2.70% for lead campaigns. Median cost per click is $0.60 for traffic and $1.80 for leads, and the median cost per lead is $27.39. For ecommerce sales campaigns, Triple Whale's published data puts the median ROAS at roughly 1.9.
These are US medians, so use them as guardrails for spotting problems, not as targets to promise clients. This guide shows the numbers, the caveats that matter, and a better way to set targets.
The 2026 medians at a glance
| Objective | Metric | 2026 median | 2025 median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic | Click-through rate | 1.93% | 1.71% |
| Traffic | Cost per click | $0.60 | $0.70 |
| Leads | Click-through rate | 2.70% | 2.59% |
| Leads | Cost per click | $1.80 | $1.92 |
| Leads | Conversion rate | 8.54% | - |
| Leads | Cost per lead | $27.39 | $27.66 |
Source: WordStream and LocaliQ, Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026, updated September 14, 2026. The data covers 1,377 traffic campaigns and 452 lead campaigns from US advertisers running between April 2025 and June 2026. Values are medians in US dollars.
Two things stand out. Traffic campaigns got cheaper and more clickable year over year, and lead campaigns improved on click-through and cost per click while cost per lead stayed essentially flat at about $27.
Read the sample sizes before you quote an industry number
WordStream also breaks the numbers down by industry, and the spread is large. Here is cost per lead for a few of the categories in the same report:
| Industry | Median cost per lead |
|---|---|
| Career and employment | $12.30 |
| Real estate | $13.74 |
| Beauty and personal care | $50.91 |
| Dentists and dental services | $61.56 |
The same objective can cost five times more in one industry than in another. But the methodology note matters: each industry category includes a minimum of only 11 active traffic campaigns and 4 lead campaigns, so a single industry row can rest on a very small sample. Use industry rows to see the range, not to set an exact target.
Ecommerce: ROAS and cost per purchase
For ecommerce, Triple Whale publishes benchmarks from tens of thousands of ad accounts. Its platform-wide median ROAS sits around 1.9 (about 1.86 for calendar 2025 in its published table), and its page shows several data windows, so quote it loosely. The headline is that the median is far below the "4x" rule of thumb many agencies still quote. See Triple Whale's Facebook Ads benchmarks for the latest figures.
Break-even matters more than any benchmark
A benchmark tells you what other advertisers get. It does not tell you what the client can afford. For sales campaigns, the number that matters is break-even ROAS:
Break-even ROAS = 1 / profit margin (margin as a decimal, on revenue, before ad spend)
| Profit margin before ad spend | Break-even ROAS |
|---|---|
| 65% | 1.54 |
| 40% | 2.50 |
| 25% | 4.00 |
A ROAS of 1.9, close to the median, makes money for a business with a 65% margin and loses money for one with a 40% margin. Same benchmark, opposite outcomes.
For lead campaigns, the equivalent is the most you can pay for a lead. Illustrative example: if 10% of leads become customers and each customer brings $600 of gross profit, a lead is worth $60. Against a median cost per lead of $27.39, that client has room. Another client whose leads are worth $20 does not.
How to use benchmarks with clients
- Compare within the same objective. Traffic against traffic, leads against leads. Never compare across objectives. See Results explained.
- Start with the client's own history. Their trailing three-month average is a better yardstick than any industry median. Use benchmarks as a sanity check.
- Mind the geography. These are US campaigns in US dollars. Costs in other markets differ widely, so do not quote US medians as targets for clients elsewhere. Use local history.
- Mind the timing. The data spans April 2025 to June 2026, which straddles Meta's January and March 2026 measurement changes. Metrics that depend on conversions, such as conversion rate and cost per lead, are the most exposed. See Meta attribution changes 2026.
- Remember it is a median. Half of advertisers are below it, so "at the median" means typical, not good.
Why MetriQuill grades by objective instead of industry
When we researched grading data for MetriQuill, credible per-industry datasets turned out to exist mainly for ecommerce ROAS. Lead-generation accounts are measured in cost per lead in every dataset we found, not in ROAS, so a neat table of click-through rate and ROAS for every industry would not have been supported by real data. MetriQuill therefore grades each campaign by its objective type (traffic, lead or conversion), using published medians where they exist. The bands around those medians are judgment calls, not research findings, and other types fall back to general defaults.
You can see how a real export grades in the free tool. For how to choose which metrics to show, read Meta Ads metrics to include in client reports.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good CTR on Facebook ads in 2026? It depends on the objective. The 2026 medians are 1.93% for traffic campaigns and 2.70% for lead campaigns in WordStream's US data. Higher is generally better within the same objective, but your own history is the better yardstick.
What is the average CPC on Facebook ads? $0.60 for traffic campaigns and $1.80 for lead campaigns, as medians in WordStream's 2026 US data.
What is a good cost per lead? The median in the same data is $27.39, but a good cost per lead is one the client can afford. Work out the value of a lead first.
What is a good ROAS? One above the client's break-even ROAS, which is 1 divided by profit margin. Triple Whale's published median for ecommerce is around 1.9.
Do these benchmarks apply outside the US? Not directly. They are US-based, so treat them as a rough reference and build local baselines from the client's own data.
How often are they updated? WordStream publishes a new edition each year, with the 2026 update dated September 14, 2026. Check the source for newer editions.
Sources and method
- WordStream and LocaliQ: Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026
- Triple Whale: Facebook Ads benchmarks
We report these datasets as published and have not independently verified them. Figures were read on September 20, 2026.
Related reading
- Meta Ads Reporting for Agencies: 2026 Guide
- Meta Ads metrics to include in client reports
- Meta attribution changes 2026: what to tell clients
- How to present Facebook Ads results to clients
Last reviewed September 2026. Benchmark editions change yearly, so check the sources for newer data.