Facebook ads cost per lead by industry, checked
In WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks, the median Facebook lead campaign paid $27.39 a lead (452 US leads campaigns, April 2025 to June 2026). Nearly every agency page and AI answer repeats these tables. We read the last three editions cell by cell: 4 figures appear twice to the cent, and one of them is the figure quoted for law firms.
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Cost per lead by industry, three editions
Medians for US Facebook campaigns using the leads objective, as printed. WordStream labels them averages and says they are technically medians. A dash means the edition has no row for that industry; repeated marks a figure printed in another cell too.
| Industry | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Entertainment | $14.59repeated | $18.17repeated | — |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | — | $18.17repeated | $104.58 |
| Automotive — For Sale | $35.52 | — | — |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | — | — | $81.45 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $50.91 | $51.42 | $42.10 |
| Business Services | — | — | $16.95 |
| Career & Employment | $12.30 | $17.64 | — |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $61.56 | $76.71 | $32.46 |
| Education & Instruction | $26.31 | $28.22 | $31.82 |
| Finance & Insurance | — | — | $38.09repeated |
| Furniture | $39.25repeated | $40.04 | $39.25repeated |
| Health & Fitness | $27.11 | $52.98 | $57.40 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $42.95 | $41.26 | $24.29 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $35.87 | $37.34 | $24.53 |
| Personal Services | $38.09repeated | $30.57 | $20.49 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $32.14 | $47.47 | $57.97 |
| Real Estate | $13.74 | $16.61 | $13.87 |
| Restaurants & Food | — | $3.16 | — |
| Sports & Recreation | $15.49 | $19.30 | $14.59repeated |
| All industries | $27.39 | $27.66 | $21.98 |
Samples: 2026, 452 US leads campaigns, April 2025 to June 2026; 2025, 726 US leads campaigns, April 2024 to June 2025; 2024, 2,946 campaigns of every objective, February 2023 to April 2024. Read on wordstream.com on November 3, 2026.
4 figures that appear twice
- $14.59: Arts & Entertainment (2026) and Sports & Recreation (2024)
- $39.25: Furniture (2026) and Furniture (2024)
- $38.09: Personal Services (2026) and Finance & Insurance (2024)
- $18.17: Arts & Entertainment (2025) and Attorneys & Legal Services (2025)
The 44 category figures run from about $3 to $105, printed to the cent. By chance, fewer than one exact repeat would be expected among them; 4 is far more than chance explains, and points to cells copied by mistake. Which figure in each pair is right, the tables do not say.
The one that matters most for practices is the 2025 law-firm figure. That table prints $18.17 for attorneys, the same as Arts & Entertainment in the row above it. The 2024 edition had put attorneys at $104.58, the highest of any industry, and the 2026 edition has no legal row. On November 2, 2026, Bing’s AI answer to “how much do Facebook ads cost for a law firm” still quoted the 2025 figure.
How far one industry’s figure moves from year to year
- Dentists & Dental Services: $61.56 (2026), $76.71 (2025), $32.46 (2024). The highest is 2.4 times the lowest.
- Health & Fitness: $27.11 (2026), $52.98 (2025), $57.40 (2024). The highest is 2.1 times the lowest.
- Physicians & Surgeons: $32.14 (2026), $47.47 (2025), $57.97 (2024). The highest is 1.8 times the lowest.
- Beauty & Personal Care: $50.91 (2026), $51.42 (2025), $42.10 (2024). The highest is 1.2 times the lowest.
- Real Estate: $13.74 (2026), $16.61 (2025), $13.87 (2024). The highest is 1.2 times the lowest.
With a few hundred campaigns split across a dozen industries, each median rests on a small group. Treat any one figure as a rough starting point. Your own cost per lead after a few weeks is the number to plan on; Meta says an ad set usually leaves its learning phase after about 50 results in the week after its last significant edit (Meta Business Help Center).
The figure Oak Reel uses for each practice
- Law firms · $104.58, Attorneys & Legal Services, 2024
- Medical practices · $32.14, Physicians & Surgeons, 2026
- Dental practices · $61.56, Dentists & Dental Services, 2026
- Chiropractors · $27.11, Health & Fitness (nearest category), 2026
- Med spas · $50.91, Beauty & Personal Care (nearest category), 2026
- Therapists · $27.11, Health & Fitness (nearest category), 2026
- Real estate agents · $13.74, Real Estate, 2026
- Plastic surgeons · $32.14, Physicians & Surgeons, 2026
- Dermatologists · $32.14, Physicians & Surgeons, 2026
The 2026 edition for everything it covers, and the 2024 edition for law firms. Put your own budget and client value into the Facebook ad cost calculator, or see what has to be true for the ads to pay.
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