How much should a small business expect to pay for a lead, and how much cheaper are leads from organic search than from paid ads? To answer that, we combined published paid search cost per lead benchmarks for 26 local business categories with published paid-to-organic cost ratios and estimated organic and blended cost per lead for each industry. Our analysis found that an organic search lead costs an estimated $70 on average across these industries, compared with $93.39 for a paid search lead, a saving of about 25%.
How we derived these figures: We started with each industry’s published paid search cost per lead from WordStream by LocaliQ, multiplied it by the organic-to-paid cost ratio for the closest industry in First Page Sage’s 2026 cost per lead report, and then blended the paid and organic figures using the lead mix implied by the same First Page Sage data. Every step is shown in the Methodology section below.
CPL Formula
CPL = Total Marketing Investment / Total Leads Generated
At a Glance
Avg. organic CPL
$70
Across 26 industries
Lowest organic CPL
$25
Auto Repair & Service
Highest organic CPL
$150
Roofing & Gutters
Biggest saving per lead
$78
Roofing & Gutters
Estimated Organic and Blended Cost Per Lead by Industry
The chart and table below show our estimated organic search CPL for each of the 26 industries, alongside the published paid search CPL it was derived from and our estimated blended CPL, sorted from lowest to highest organic CPL.
Estimated Organic CPL by Industry
Auto Repair & Service is the lowest at $25.
Auto Repair & Service
$25
Restaurants & Food
$26
Animal & Pet Services
$27
Pools & Spas
$39
Cleaning & Maid Services
$41
Retail & Gift Shops
$42
Personal Services
$46
Handyman Services
$47
Beauty & Personal Care
$52
Health & Fitness
$54
Physicians & Surgeons
$54
Window Cleaning
$58
Electricians
$58
Finance & Insurance
$68
Air Conditioning Installation & Repair
$79
Heating & Furnaces
$80
Plumbing
$80
Dentists & Dental Services
$80
Painting
$91
Real Estate
$91
Legal Services
$98
Blinds & Window Treatments
$98
Landscaping
$102
General Contractors
$109
Doors & Windows
$131
Roofing & Gutters
$150
| Industry | Paid Search CPL (Published) | Est. Organic CPL | Est. Blended CPL | Organic Saving vs Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Repair & Service | $28.50 | $25 | $27 | 11% |
| Restaurants & Food | $30.27 | $26 | $28 | 14% |
| Animal & Pet Services | $31.82 | $27 | $30 | 14% |
| Pools & Spas | $45.15 | $39 | $42 | 14% |
| Cleaning & Maid Services | $46.99 | $41 | $44 | 14% |
| Retail & Gift Shops | $47.94 | $42 | $45 | 12% |
| Personal Services | $53.52 | $46 | $50 | 14% |
| Handyman Services | $54.05 | $47 | $51 | 14% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $60.34 | $52 | $56 | 14% |
| Health & Fitness | $62.80 | $54 | $59 | 14% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $56.83 | $54 | $56 | 4% |
| Window Cleaning | $66.69 | $58 | $62 | 14% |
| Electricians | $93.69 | $58 | $76 | 38% |
| Finance & Insurance | $83.93 | $68 | $76 | 19% |
| Air Conditioning Installation & Repair | $127.74 | $79 | $104 | 38% |
| Heating & Furnaces | $129.02 | $80 | $105 | 38% |
| Plumbing | $129.02 | $80 | $105 | 38% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $83.93 | $80 | $82 | 4% |
| Painting | $138.38 | $91 | $115 | 34% |
| Real Estate | $100.48 | $91 | $96 | 9% |
| Legal Services | $131.63 | $98 | $115 | 26% |
| Blinds & Window Treatments | $113.30 | $98 | $106 | 14% |
| Landscaping | $117.92 | $102 | $110 | 14% |
| General Contractors | $165.67 | $109 | $138 | 34% |
| Doors & Windows | $200.34 | $131 | $167 | 34% |
| Roofing & Gutters | $228.15 | $150 | $190 | 34% |
Our analysis found that estimated organic CPL ranges from $25 for auto repair & service to $150 for roofing & gutters. Paid search costs set the baseline: industries with expensive paid search leads, like roofing and doors and windows, remain the most expensive to win through organic search as well, even after the organic discount.
Where SEO Saves the Most Per Lead
We calculated the dollar saving of an organic lead over a paid search lead (paid search CPL minus estimated organic CPL) for each industry. The chart below shows the ten industries where that saving is largest.
Savings Per Organic Lead vs Paid Search
Roofing & Gutters saves the most at $78 per lead.
Roofing & Gutters
$78
Doors & Windows
$69
General Contractors
$57
Heating & Furnaces
$49
Plumbing
$49
Air Conditioning Installation & Repair
$49
Painting
$48
Electricians
$36
Legal Services
$34
Finance & Insurance
$16
| Industry | Saving Per Lead | Saving % | Saving Per 100 Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing & Gutters | $78 | 34% | $7,848 |
| Doors & Windows | $69 | 34% | $6,891 |
| General Contractors | $57 | 34% | $5,699 |
| Heating & Furnaces | $49 | 38% | $4,920 |
| Plumbing | $49 | 38% | $4,920 |
| Air Conditioning Installation & Repair | $49 | 38% | $4,871 |
| Painting | $48 | 34% | $4,760 |
| Electricians | $36 | 38% | $3,573 |
| Legal Services | $34 | 26% | $3,413 |
| Finance & Insurance | $16 | 19% | $1,607 |
Our analysis found that organic leads save an average of 36% over paid search in the trades and construction categories, compared with 13% in all other industries we analyzed. For a roofing & gutters business generating 100 leads, shifting those leads from paid search to organic search would save an estimated $7,848. In healthcare categories the saving is only about 4%, because First Page Sage found organic and paid healthcare leads cost almost the same.
How Local Lead Costs Compare With Mid-Market Benchmarks
To see how small local businesses compare with larger companies, we divided First Page Sage’s paid CPL for each industry (drawn from mid-market and B2B companies) by the paid search CPL that WordStream and LocaliQ report for the matching local category.
Mid-Market Paid CPL as a Multiple of Local Paid Search CPL
Heating & Furnaces vs HVAC is the closest match at 0.9x.
Heating & Furnaces vs HVAC
0.9x
Air Conditioning vs HVAC
0.9x
Dentists vs Healthcare
4.3x
Real Estate
4.9x
Legal Services
5.9x
Physicians vs Healthcare
6.4x
Finance & Insurance vs Financial Services
8.7x
Auto Repair vs Automotive
11.2x
| Comparison | Local Paid Search CPL | Mid-Market Paid CPL | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heating & Furnaces vs HVAC | $129.02 | $118 | 0.9x |
| Air Conditioning vs HVAC | $127.74 | $118 | 0.9x |
| Dentists vs Healthcare | $83.93 | $363 | 4.3x |
| Real Estate | $100.48 | $496 | 4.9x |
| Legal Services | $131.63 | $783 | 5.9x |
| Physicians vs Healthcare | $56.83 | $363 | 6.4x |
| Finance & Insurance vs Financial Services | $83.93 | $731 | 8.7x |
| Auto Repair vs Automotive | $28.50 | $319 | 11.2x |
Our analysis found that mid-market paid leads cost 4.3 to 11.2 times as much as local paid search leads in the same field, with HVAC the exception. Heating and air conditioning leads cost local businesses about the same as First Page Sage’s HVAC benchmark (0.91x and 0.92x), which suggests HVAC search competition is as intense at the local level as it is for larger firms.
Key Insights
- Across 26 local business industries, our analysis estimates an average organic CPL of $70, a blended CPL of $82 and a published paid search CPL of $93.39.
- Organic search leads are estimated to cost 4% to 38% less than paid search leads, depending on the industry.
- The largest dollar savings come from high-cost trades: Roofing & Gutters ($78 per lead), Doors & Windows ($69) and General Contractors ($57).
- Auto Repair & Service has the lowest estimated organic CPL at $25, and Roofing & Gutters has the highest at $150.
- Mid-market paid leads cost up to 11.2 times as much as local paid search leads, but HVAC leads cost local businesses about the same as larger firms.
Methodology
Inputs
- Paid search CPL (P): median search ads cost per lead by business category from WordStream by LocaliQ’s Google Ads Benchmarks 2025 (16,446 U.S. Google and Microsoft Ads campaigns, April 2024 through March 2025), and from LocaliQ’s Home Services Search Ads Benchmarks 2025 for home services subcategories (more than 3,200 campaigns, same period).
- Organic-to-paid ratio (r) and lead mix (s): paid, organic and blended CPL by industry from First Page Sage’s Average Cost Per Lead by Industry 2026 report, which weights blended CPL by the share of leads each channel type produced.
Formulas
r = First Page Sage organic CPL / First Page Sage paid CPL
s = (FPS paid CPL − FPS blended CPL) / (FPS paid CPL − FPS organic CPL)
Organic CPL = P × r
Blended CPL = s × Organic CPL + (1 − s) × P
Saving per lead = P − Organic CPL
s = (FPS paid CPL − FPS blended CPL) / (FPS paid CPL − FPS organic CPL)
Organic CPL = P × r
Blended CPL = s × Organic CPL + (1 − s) × P
Saving per lead = P − Organic CPL
Because First Page Sage weights blended CPL by lead share, s is the share of leads that came from organic channels in the mapped industry, which ranges from 47% to 52% across the categories we used. Industry averages in this report are simple averages across the industries, not weighted by market size.
Industry mapping
Each industry uses the published paid search CPL for its own WordStream or LocaliQ category. First Page Sage covers only 30 mostly mid-market industries, so each industry is matched to the closest First Page Sage industry. Local consumer categories with no close match use First Page Sage’s Consumer & Local Services sector average (paid $184, organic $159, blended $172).
| Industry | Paid CPL Source Category | First Page Sage Mapping | r | s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Conditioning Installation & Repair | Air Conditioning Installation & Repair (LocaliQ) | HVAC | 0.619 | 0.489 |
| Animal & Pet Services | Animals & Pets (WordStream) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Auto Repair & Service | Automotive: Repair, Service & Parts (WordStream) | Automotive | 0.893 | 0.500 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | Beauty & Personal Care (WordStream) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Blinds & Window Treatments | Blinds & Window Treatments (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Cleaning & Maid Services | Cleaning / Maid / Butler Services (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | Dentists & Dental Services (WordStream) | Healthcare | 0.959 | 0.467 |
| Doors & Windows | Doors & Windows Sales (LocaliQ) | Construction | 0.656 | 0.485 |
| Electricians | Electricians & Electrical Contractors (LocaliQ) | HVAC | 0.619 | 0.489 |
| Finance & Insurance | Finance & Insurance (WordStream) | Financial Services | 0.808 | 0.493 |
| General Contractors | Construction & Contractors (General) (LocaliQ) | Construction | 0.656 | 0.485 |
| Handyman Services | Handyman Services (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Health & Fitness | Health & Fitness (WordStream) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Heating & Furnaces | Heating & Furnaces (LocaliQ) | HVAC | 0.619 | 0.489 |
| Landscaping | Landscaping (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Legal Services | Attorneys & Legal Services (WordStream) | Legal Services | 0.741 | 0.498 |
| Painting | Paint & Painting (LocaliQ) | Construction | 0.656 | 0.485 |
| Personal Services | Personal Services (WordStream) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | Physicians & Surgeons (WordStream) | Healthcare | 0.959 | 0.467 |
| Plumbing | Plumbing (LocaliQ) | HVAC | 0.619 | 0.489 |
| Pools & Spas | Pools & Spas (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Real Estate | Real Estate (WordStream) | Real Estate | 0.907 | 0.522 |
| Restaurants & Food | Restaurants & Food (WordStream) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
| Retail & Gift Shops | Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts (WordStream) | eCommerce | 0.882 | 0.500 |
| Roofing & Gutters | Roofing & Gutters (LocaliQ) | Construction | 0.656 | 0.485 |
| Window Cleaning | Window Cleaning (LocaliQ) | Consumer & Local Services (sector average) | 0.864 | 0.480 |
Assumptions
- The ratio between organic and paid CPL in a First Page Sage industry applies to the matching local category, even though local paid search CPL is much lower in absolute terms.
- Plumbing and electrical contractors are mapped to First Page Sage’s HVAC benchmark as the closest residential trade; roofing, painting, doors and windows, and general contractors are mapped to Construction.
- “Paid” means paid search. Blended CPL combines paid search and organic channels only and excludes social, referral and other channels.
- WordStream reports medians, while First Page Sage reports averages; we treat both as typical values.
Limitations
- Organic and blended CPL figures are modeled estimates, not observed results from local businesses.
- 11 of the 26 industries share one sector-level ratio, so their organic savings percentages are identical by construction.
- The paid search inputs cover April 2024 through March 2025, while the First Page Sage ratios cover January 2022 through August 2026.
- First Page Sage publishes whole-dollar figures, so ratios carry small rounding error.
- Lead definitions differ between sources; a WordStream conversion may be a form fill or call, while First Page Sage defines a lead as a direct connection with a prospective customer.
Sources
- Marino, Susie. “Google Ads Benchmarks 2025: Competitive Data & Insights for Every Industry.” WordStream by LocaliQ. Last updated May 18, 2026. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks
- LocaliQ. “Home Services Search Ads Benchmarks.” WordStream by LocaliQ. June 2025. https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ws-guide-home-services-benchmarks-2025.pdf
- Bailyn, Evan. “Average Cost Per Lead by Industry, 2026.” First Page Sage. October 8, 2026. https://firstpagesage.com/reports/average-cost-per-lead-by-industry
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