Home service marketing benchmarks 2026: what good looks like

Most home service business owners have no benchmark for whether their marketing is working. Their agency tells them it's working. Their gut tells them it isn't. The data tells the truth.

Here are the benchmarks we use to evaluate accounts across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, GC, and roofing in 2026 — pulled from real client data across 200+ businesses.

Cost per lead (CPL) by trade

• ·HVAC service call: $60-$140 (good: $70-90)
• ·HVAC install / replacement: $180-$420 (good: $220-280)
• ·Plumbing emergency: $80-$180 (good: $100-130)
• ·Plumbing drain / standard: $40-$95 (good: $50-70)
• ·Electrical service: $90-$200 (good: $110-150)
• ·Electrical panel upgrade: $250-$500 (good: $300-380)
• ·GC / remodel: $200-$600 (good: $280-400)
• ·Roofing replacement: $150-$400 (good: $200-280)

Website conversion rate

What % of website visitors become leads (form fill or phone call)?

• ·Below 1.5%: site is broken or traffic is junk. Investigate.
• ·1.5-3%: average. Room to improve via CRO.
• ·3-5%: good. You're doing the basics right.
• ·5-8%: excellent. Top decile.
• ·8%+: outstanding — usually a tightly targeted niche site.

Review velocity

How many new Google reviews per month?

• ·Under 3/month: you're losing ground to competitors.
• ·3-7/month: average for active businesses.
• ·8-15/month: strong. You'll see Map Pack lift.
• ·15+/month: dominant. You'll outrank competitors with 5x more total reviews.

Map Pack share

What % of your primary service queries put you in the Top 3 of Google Maps?

• ·0-25%: invisible. You're losing 70%+ of local search demand.
• ·25-50%: average. Room for huge growth.
• ·50-75%: strong. Ranking on most queries.
• ·75-100%: dominant. Local search is locked.

Marketing spend as % of revenue

• ·Established business ($2M+, slow growth): 4-7%.
• ·Scaling business ($1-3M, aggressive growth): 7-12%.
• ·Hyper-growth (doubling year over year): 12-18%.

Closing thought

Benchmarks are a starting point — not a target. The right target is the one that gets you to your revenue goal. But knowing where you stand against your industry is the foundation of every honest marketing conversation. If your agency can't show you these numbers for your account, find a new agency.