Benchmarks are useful for one thing: knowing whether your numbers are in a sensible range. They’re not targets, and they’re not a prediction for your business. Here’s what the published data says.
Across all industries (2025)
For context, the WordStream/LOCALiQ 2025 benchmarks, as reported by Search Engine Land put the average cost per lead across all industries at about $70 in 2025, with average cost per click rising year over year. Home improvement was listed among the higher-cost categories, with clicks often above $7, while local, high-intent services such as home services tended to convert at above-average rates.
Home services categories
LOCALiQ home services benchmarks published medians by home services subcategory. The data comes from thousands of advertisers but covers 2020–2021, and costs have generally risen since:
| Category | Median CPC | Median CTR | Median cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning services | $8.94 | 3.11% | $55.15 |
| Heating & furnaces | $7.92 | 3.05% | $62.18 |
| Plumbing | $8.67 | 2.87% | $48.91 |
| Roofing & gutters | $9.03 | 3.02% | $101.49 |
| Pest & rodent control | $6.55 | 4.31% | $39.25 |
| Landscaping | $4.10 | 4.52% | $38.47 |
Why your numbers will differ
- Lead definitions vary. One advertiser counts every call; another counts only calls over 60 seconds.
- Markets vary. Seattle and a small town are not the same auction.
- Job types vary. Emergency repair and maintenance searches are priced very differently.
- Account quality varies. Benchmarks include well-run and badly run accounts.
The benchmark that matters
Your own cost per booked job, compared with what that job earns. If that’s profitable and you have capacity, it usually makes sense to spend more — regardless of what the averages say.
Sources: LOCALiQ home services benchmarks; WordStream/LOCALiQ 2025 benchmarks, as reported by Search Engine Land.
Cole Mello is the founder of Altura Marketing Group. He studied marketing at Washington State University and manages Google Ads, Local Services Ads and Meta campaigns for local service businesses. About Altura