Benchmarks are only useful if you know where each number came from and what it leaves out. This post collects the 2026 figures that matter most to a home service business (roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, remodeling and similar) and puts each next to the all-industry average, so you can see where your category is expensive and where it is not.
Every number links to its source. The ad data comes from LocaliQ and WordStream, which analyze thousands of their customers’ campaigns. Read them as market averages, not a promise of what you will get.
Google search ads: you pay more per click, and per lead
LocaliQ’s 2026 search advertising benchmarks list Home & Home Improvement against the all-industry average:
| Metric (Google/Microsoft search) | Home & Home Improvement | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $8.33 | $5.42 |
| Click-through rate | 6.47% | 6.64% |
| Cost per lead | $90.92 | $66.69 |
| Conversion rate | 8.05% | 8.18% |
Read that table three ways.
The click is expensive. At $8.33, the category costs about 54% more per click than the average ($8.33 divided by $5.42). The searches are urgent and high-value, and the roofer or plumber who shows up first wins a job worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
The page converts about on par. An 8.05% conversion rate sits just under the 8.18% average. That means the extra cost is coming from the auction, not from a weak category.
A lead is not a job. An illustration using the quoted figure: at $90.92 per lead, if you close one lead in three, your ad cost per booked job is about $273 ($90.92 times 3). If you close one in five, it is about $455. Your close rate sets your real cost, which is why the speed of your follow-up matters as much as the ad itself.
Facebook lead ads: cheaper clicks, weaker conversion
LocaliQ’s Facebook ads benchmarks show a different shape for the same category:
| Metric (Facebook lead ads) | Home & Home Improvement | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $2.18 | $1.80 |
| Click-through rate | 2.14% | 2.70% |
| Conversion rate | 5.32% | 8.54% |
| Cost per lead | $42.95 | not compared here |
Facebook click costs a quarter of what Google search does for this category ($2.18 against $8.33), but the category converts at 5.32%, below the 8.54% average, and the clicks come from people who were not looking for you. Cheaper per lead does not mean cheaper per job. Measure the two channels by booked jobs.
Reviews decide who gets the call
Ad clicks get people to look at you. Reviews decide whether they call. BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found:
- 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
- 47% will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
- 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
- 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher.
- Use of ChatGPT and other AI tools for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45% in a year, making it the third most popular source of business recommendations.
The practical read: a steady flow of recent reviews beats a big pile of old ones. And with AI tools now a common place people ask for local recommendations, the reviews and listings that feed them matter more than they did a year ago.
Speed: the benchmark most owners never measure
InsideSales reviewed 55 million sales activities on 5.7 million inbound leads at more than 400 companies and found that conversion rates are about eight times higher when a lead is contacted in the first five minutes, and that only 0.1% of inbound leads were engaged that fast. The study dates from 2021 and covers sales leads broadly, not home services, so treat the exact multiple with caution. The direction is hard to argue with: the first business to answer usually wins, and most answer late.
For a home service business that means a missed call after hours is often a lost job. A $90.92 lead you do not answer for six hours is $90.92 spent for nothing.
How to use these numbers
- Pull your own cost per click, cost per lead and conversion rate for the last 90 days.
- Put them next to the table above. A cost per lead twice the average is worth investigating. At or under the average, leave it alone and work on close rate.
- Count your reviews and how many are from the last three months. Under 20 total is a gap you can close this quarter.
- Time your response to your next 10 inquiries. If the median is over an hour, that is your biggest lever.
If you want these four numbers pulled from your real accounts and compared, the free audit does exactly that, with no pitch attached.
Sources and caveats
LocaliQ’s figures are drawn from its own customers’ campaigns, so they will differ from other published benchmarks. Other benchmark sites give wider or narrower ranges for home services, which is normal: each uses a different customer base, time period and definition of a lead or conversion. Use one source consistently when comparing your own results over time.