ROAS Benchmark Table — All Industries
The table below shows typical ROAS, strong ROAS, approximate COGS ranges, and the resulting break-even ROAS for each industry. The break-even ROAS is the minimum required to cover cost of goods — anything above it generates profit; anything below it loses money even with revenue coming in.
| Industry | Typical ROAS | Strong ROAS | Approx COGS % | Break-Even ROAS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | 3–5× | 6–10× | 50–70% | 2.0–3.3× | High COGS compresses margins; shipping/returns add hidden costs |
| SaaS | 2–4× | 4–8× | 15–25% | 1.2–1.3× | Low COGS means low break-even; LTV model warrants lower ROAS targets |
| Finance | 3–6× | 8–15× | 20–35% | 1.3–1.5× | High LTV justifies lower short-term ROAS; regulated CPCs inflate costs |
| Travel | 4–8× | 10–20× | 60–75% | 2.5–4.0× | High-ticket transactions inflate ROAS; booking margins vary widely |
| Retail | 3–6× | 6–12× | 55–70% | 2.2–3.3× | Mix of online/offline; omnichannel attribution often undercounts ROAS |
| Automotive | 5–10× | 12–20× | 75–85% | 4.0–6.7× | Very high COGS; dealer margin thin; attribution to online ads is difficult |
| Education | 2–4× | 5–8× | 20–40% | 1.3–1.7× | Long consideration cycles; LTV from cohort enrollment matters more than ROAS |
| Gaming | 2–5× | 6–12× | 25–45% | 1.3–1.8× | IAP and subscriptions create LTV tail; Day-7/Day-30 ROAS used over campaign ROAS |
| Mobile Apps | 1.5–3× | 4–7× | 20–35% | 1.2–1.5× | Targets D7/D30 ROAS, not D0; acquisition cost high vs initial conversion value |
| Healthcare | 3–6× | 7–14× | 30–50% | 1.4–2.0× | Heavy regulation; high CPM and CPC; attribution limited by HIPAA/privacy |
Break-Even ROAS = 1 ÷ (1 − COGS%). A business with 60% COGS breaks even at 1 ÷ (1 − 0.60) = 2.5×. Every dollar of ROAS above that number contributes to gross profit. Use our ROAS calculator to enter your exact COGS and see your personal break-even threshold.
ROAS Range by Industry — Visual Comparison
The chart below shows the typical-to-strong ROAS range for each industry. The orange marker indicates the approximate break-even threshold — campaigns to the right of it are profitable, campaigns to the left are losing money even with positive ROAS.
Why ROAS Varies So Much Between Industries
ROAS is a ratio — revenue divided by ad spend — so the same ROAS number means something completely different depending on your cost structure. The single biggest driver is COGS (cost of goods sold), which determines how much margin is left after the product or service is delivered.
The COGS connection: why it changes everything
Consider these three businesses, all running at a 4× ROAS:
The same 4× ROAS is wildly profitable for one business and unsustainable for another. This is why comparing your ROAS to an industry-average number without checking COGS can lead to very wrong conclusions.
LTV changes the calculation for subscription and SaaS businesses
For subscription products, apps, and SaaS, first-purchase ROAS is often deliberately low because the business is acquiring customers for their lifetime value, not their first transaction. A mobile game that spends $20 to acquire a user who generates $5 on Day 0 has a 0.25× "ROAS" on the acquisition campaign — but if that user generates $40 over 12 months, the true ROAS is 2×. This is why mobile app marketers track D7 and D30 ROAS (revenue 7 and 30 days after install) rather than immediate conversion value.
High-ticket verticals inflate the ROAS number without improving profitability
Automotive and travel show high typical ROAS figures (5–20×) because individual transactions are large. A single car sale or luxury hotel booking generates substantial revenue per ad click. But dealer margins in automotive are razor-thin (2–5% net), so even a 10× ROAS might represent a modest absolute profit. Always think about gross profit generated per dollar of ad spend, not just the ROAS multiple.
Start from your margin requirements, not from industry averages. Calculate your break-even ROAS (1 ÷ (1 − COGS%)), then set a target ROAS that delivers the gross profit margin your business needs to cover operating expenses and reinvest for growth. For most businesses, a target ROAS of 2–3× the break-even threshold is a healthy starting point.
What's your break-even ROAS?
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Model your break-even ROAS, estimate impressions for any CPM, or benchmark your spend against your industry.
ROAS Benchmarks by Sub-Segment — Going Deeper Than Industry Averages
Industry-level averages mask significant variation within each vertical. These sub-segment benchmarks reflect the range you should expect based on product type and channel mix:
| Industry | Sub-Segment | Avg. ROAS | Key Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | Fashion / Apparel | 3.8–5.5× | High SKU count; strong Meta retargeting |
| Beauty / Cosmetics | 4.5–7.0× | High repeat purchase; strong TikTok | |
| Electronics | 2.8–4.5× | Lower margin; high competition | |
| Finance | Insurance | 5.0–8.0× | High LTV; Google Search dominant |
| Mortgages | 4.0–7.0× | Highest CPC but highest LTV | |
| Neo-banking | 6.0–9.0× | App acquisition; Meta strong | |
| SaaS | Enterprise B2B | 2.0–3.5× | Long cycle; LTV measured in years |
| SMB self-serve | 4.0–6.0× | Faster conversion; Google + Meta | |
| B2C productivity | 4.5–7.0× | App install + freemium conversion | |
| Travel | Airlines (direct) | 4.5–7.0× | Strong Google; brand protection key |
| Hotels (independent) | 3.5–5.5× | OTA competition; direct booking incentive | |
| Healthcare | Dental / Elective | 5.0–8.0× | High procedure LTV; Google Search |
| Telehealth | 4.0–6.5× | Subscription model; Meta works well |
The 5 Most Common ROAS Mistakes by Industry
These are the patterns that consistently cause advertisers to misread their ROAS performance — and make the wrong decisions as a result:
| Industry | Common Mistake | The Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | Setting a single ROAS target across all products regardless of margin | Set ROAS targets by margin tier — high-margin products can accept lower ROAS; low-margin needs higher ROAS to break even |
| SaaS | Evaluating ROAS on trial signups without tracking trial-to-paid conversion | Calculate ROAS on paid customers only; a 10× free trial ROAS that converts at 5% is a 0.5× paying customer ROAS |
| Finance | Comparing ROAS across Google and Meta without accounting for attribution overlap | Use a data-driven attribution model and track total business ROAS (total revenue ÷ total spend) as primary metric |
| Travel | Measuring ROAS on booking revenue instead of net commission/margin | A flight booking generating $400 revenue at 2% margin is $8 actual profit — ROAS must be calculated on the profit figure |
| Legal | Measuring cost-per-lead without tracking lead-to-case close rate | A $50 lead with 1% close rate and $25K case value = $5,000 per case / $50K ad spend. Real ROAS = revenue from closed cases ÷ ad spend |
Related: ROAS Calculator | What Is a Good ROAS? | Average ROAS by Platform | CPA vs ROAS — Which to Optimise?
Methodology & Data Sources
Industry ROAS benchmarks are aggregated from managed campaign performance data, Google Ads industry benchmark reports, Meta Business insights, and published third-party studies from Wordstream, Nielsen, and platform-specific performance reports. Figures represent averages across well-managed campaigns — poorly optimized accounts significantly underperform these benchmarks. Sub-segment data reflects narrower sample sizes and carries wider confidence intervals.
Last updated: May 2026. View full methodology →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good ROAS?
There is no single "good ROAS" — it depends entirely on your COGS and business model. The only meaningful benchmark is whether your ROAS exceeds your break-even threshold (1 ÷ (1 − COGS%)). A 3× ROAS is excellent for a SaaS product with 20% COGS (break-even at 1.25×), catastrophic for a grocery business with 75% COGS (break-even at 4×). Across paid social and search, the industry average is roughly 2–4×, but use your own break-even as the floor — not the average.
Is 3× ROAS good?
It depends on your margin. For SaaS, software, or digital products with low COGS (15–25%), a 3× ROAS is comfortably profitable — you're generating 2× your break-even threshold. For physical goods ecommerce with 60% COGS, 3× is marginally profitable but leaves very little room for operating expenses. For grocery or food brands with 70–80% COGS, 3× ROAS means you're actively losing money on every sale. Calculate your personal break-even ROAS first using the tool above, then evaluate 3× against that number.
Why is SaaS ROAS typically lower than ecommerce?
Two reasons. First, SaaS has very low COGS (typically 15–25%), which means break-even ROAS is only 1.2–1.3×. A SaaS company doesn't need a 4× ROAS to be profitable — 2× is already strong. Second, SaaS businesses often use customer lifetime value (LTV) rather than first-year revenue to evaluate marketing efficiency. A user who pays $100/month for 24 months is worth $2,400, even if their first month generates only $100 in reported "revenue" against the acquisition cost. That LTV perspective justifies accepting lower reported ROAS targets than an ecommerce model would.
Why do ecommerce brands need higher ROAS than SaaS?
Because the cost of goods sold is fundamentally higher. Most physical product ecommerce businesses carry COGS of 40–70%, which means 40–70 cents of every revenue dollar is already spoken for before ad costs, shipping, returns, storage, and operations. A SaaS company delivering a software product has COGS of 15–25%, leaving far more margin to absorb ad spend. The math is simple: higher COGS → higher break-even ROAS → higher target ROAS required to generate actual profit. An apparel brand at 55% COGS needs to run 2.22× ROAS just to cover the product cost, before a single dollar of operating expense is accounted for.
How do I know if my ROAS benchmark is actually realistic for my business?
Start by calculating your break-even ROAS from your actual COGS. Then check whether your current ROAS is above or below that threshold. If you're above it, you have gross profit — the question is whether that gross profit covers your total operating costs. If you're below it, no amount of volume growth will make the unit economics work. Industry benchmarks are useful for context, but they can't substitute for your own numbers. Use the calculator above to find your floor, then use the full ROAS calculator to model what a profitable campaign actually needs to achieve at your margin level.