What is a lead actually worth to your shop?
Three numbers you already know (average ticket, gross margin, close rate) set the most you can afford to pay for a lead. Run your math, then check it against the published benchmarks for your trade.
Your trade
Leads that become booked jobs
Prefills are illustrative starting points drawn from typical trade ranges, not client data. Edit every number to match your shop.
Your break-even cost per lead
$0
Pay more than this per lead and the math loses money before the truck rolls.
- Gross profit per booked job
- $0
- Cost per booked job
- $0
- Profit left per job after lead cost
- $0
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A calculator estimates. Your ad accounts know. The free audit reads your actual Google Ads, Meta Ads, and conversion tracking, then reports what a lead really costs you and what a booked job really costs you. Request a Free Audit. Five business days, no cost, no commitment.
The math, written out
Gross profit per booked job = average job ticket × gross margin. This is what a job actually puts in your pocket before marketing.
Break-even cost per lead = gross profit per booked job × close rate. A lead is a chance at a job, so its value is the profit of the job discounted by how often a lead becomes one.
Cost per booked job = cost per lead ÷ close rate. This is the number your dashboard never shows you, and the one that decides whether the ads pay.
Illustrative example, not client data: at a $6,000 average ticket, 50 percent gross margin, and a 25 percent close rate, a lead is worth up to $750 at break-even. Paying $130 for it is comfortable. At a $300 tune-up ticket the same math collapses, which is why what job types your ads point at matters more than what you spend.
Published cost-per-lead benchmarks for the trades
The calculator compares your break-even against these figures: published, dated, with named sources and real sample sizes. Nothing else qualifies.
| Trade | Cost per lead | Source and window |
|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning / HVAC | ~$128 | LocaliQ, 3,211 US home services campaigns, Apr 2024 to Mar 2025 |
| Plumbing | ~$129 | LocaliQ, same dataset |
| Roofing | ~$228 | LocaliQ, same dataset |
| HVAC + plumbing blended | $104 | Searchlight Digital, 816 contractors, $14.9M in tracked Google Ads spend, published Jan 2026 |
Two things before you compare your account to any of these. First, a lead is not a booked job: these figures count form fills and calls, so at a one-in-four close rate a $128 lead is a $512 booked job before the truck rolls. Second, read every benchmark as a range check, not a target. An account can beat the benchmark with bad tracking and trail it with great tracking.
No published dataset with a credible sample size exists yet for garage door or restoration cost per lead. For those trades, your own break-even math is the only benchmark worth using.
Put this calculator on your site
Run a trade association site, a supplier portal, or a blog for contractors? Embed the calculator free. Copy the snippet below; the tool loads from our site, so your page stays current when the benchmarks update.
<iframe src="https://www.getsuperiormarketing.com/tools/lead-value-calculator/embed/" width="100%" height="900" style="border:1px solid #E5E5E5;border-radius:12px;" title="Lead Value Calculator" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
<p>Calculator by <a href="https://www.getsuperiormarketing.com/tools/lead-value-calculator/">Superior Marketing</a></p>Keep the credit line under the calculator; it tells your readers where the tool lives and where the benchmark figures come from.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per lead for my trade?
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The published figures put HVAC at roughly $104 to $128 per lead, plumbing at $104 to $129, and roofing around $228. But "good" depends on your math, not the market's: an installer closing high-ticket replacements can profitably pay far more than a shop selling tune-ups. Work out your break-even above, then use the market figures as a sanity check.
Why is my break-even so much higher than the market price?
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That gap is the point. If your break-even is $1,250 and the market charges $128, every lead carries over $1,100 of expected gross profit, which is what funds your growth. A big gap is not a reason to relax; it is a reason to buy more of the right leads and to make sure your tracking counts them correctly.
What close rate should I use?
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Booked jobs divided by total leads, over the last 90 days if you have it. Pull it from ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, or whatever back-end you run. If you genuinely do not know it, start at 25 percent as an illustrative default, then replace it: the break-even moves dollar for dollar with this number.
Does the calculator store my numbers?
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No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or stored anywhere.
Stop guessing what a lead is worth.
The free audit reads your real Google Ads, Meta Ads, and conversion tracking, then puts a dollar figure on what a lead and a booked job actually cost you.
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