Cost per lead is what you paid to get one lead: total marketing spend divided by number of leads. Simple math, but it doesn't tell you if that lead made you money. This calculator adds your close rate and job value to show the real return, then shows what a missed call costs when you throw away a lead you already paid for.
Calculate Your Cost Per Lead ↓Enter your numbers below. We'll calculate your cost per lead, your cost per booked job, and your return, then show what a missed call is actually costing you.
Everyone overcomplicates this. It's one division problem.
Cost Per Lead = Total Marketing Spend ÷ Number of Leads
Spend $5,000 on Google Ads this month, get 40 leads back, and your cost per lead is $125. No hidden variables in the formula itself. What everyone skips is the part after: how many of those 40 leads actually became paying jobs, and what those jobs were worth. That's what the calculator above adds.
22 trades, sorted by the number that actually matters: how many dollars of customer lifetime value you get back for every dollar a booked job costs.
Download the full data set ↓ (CSV, free, no email required)Published rows use measured campaign data. Modeled rows are estimated. Close rate is measured for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and garage doors only. Ticket and lifetime value are modeled for every trade.
| Trade | CPC | Lead Conv. % | CPL | Close Rate % | Cost / Booked Job | Avg Ticket | Cost of Sale | CLTV | CLTV:CAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House cleaning / maid Published | $8.50 | 17.65% | $46.99 | 45% | $104 | $160 | 65.3% | $18,560 | 177.7:1 |
| Pools & spas Published | $5.81 | 10.89% | $45.15 | 40% | $113 | $165 | 68.4% | $17,401 | 154.2:1 |
| Landscaping Published | $8.76 | 6.42% | $117.92 | 35% | $337 | $180 | ⚠ 187.2% | $18,506 | 54.9:1 |
| Pest control Modeled | $16.70 | 12.00% | $139.17 | 38% | $366 | $150 | ⚠ 244.2% | $18,600 | 50.8:1 |
| General contracting Published | $5.31 | 2.61% | $165.67 | 22% | $753 | $25,000 | 3.0% | $32,292 | 42.9:1 |
| Storage Published | $7.46 | 4.65% | $120.30 | 50% | $241 | $145 | ⚠ 165.9% | $6,670 | 27.7:1 |
| Handyman Published | $7.10 | 13.45% | $54.05 | 42% | $129 | $425 | 30.3% | $3,079 | 23.9:1 |
| Roofing & gutters Published | $10.70 | 3.70% | $228.15 | 25% | $913 | $12,000 | 7.6% | $15,808 | 17.3:1 |
| Window cleaning Published | $9.12 | 13.58% | $66.69 | 48% | $139 | $275 | 50.5% | $2,406 | 17.3:1 |
| HVAC (AC install & repair) Published | $9.68 | 6.56% | $127.74 | 38% | $336 | $450 | 74.7% | $4,663 | 13.9:1 |
| HVAC (heating & furnaces) Published | $9.30 | 7.48% | $129.02 | 38% | $340 | $450 | 75.5% | $4,663 | 13.7:1 |
| Doors & windows Published | $8.76 | 4.41% | $200.34 | 25% | $801 | $9,500 | 8.4% | $10,925 | 13.6:1 |
| Water damage restoration Modeled | $18.50 | 9.00% | $205.56 | 48% | $428 | $4,500 | 9.5% | $5,114 | 11.9:1 |
| Plumbing Published | $10.49 | 7.63% | $129.02 | 43% | $300 | $350 | 85.7% | $2,989 | 10.0:1 |
| Painting Published | $13.74 | 10.80% | $138.38 | 30% | $461 | $3,800 | 12.1% | $4,598 | 10.0:1 |
| Solar Modeled | $17.67 | 3.50% | $504.86 | 13% | $3,884 | $29,000 | 13.4% | $34,438 | 8.9:1 |
| Appliance repair Modeled | $7.13 | 14.00% | $50.93 | 50% | $102 | $245 | 41.6% | $873 | 8.6:1 |
| Blinds & window treatments Published | $7.69 | 6.00% | $113.30 | 30% | $378 | $2,400 | 15.7% | $2,760 | 7.3:1 |
| Electrical Published | $12.18 | 9.08% | $93.69 | 41% | $229 | $300 | 76.2% | $1,487 | 6.5:1 |
| Garage doors Published | $5.75 | 5.66% | $81.45 | 31% | $263 | $1,200 | 21.9% | $1,533 | 5.8:1 |
| Tree service Modeled | $10.27 | 7.00% | $146.71 | 33% | $445 | $1,200 | 37.0% | $2,418 | 5.4:1 |
| Locksmith Modeled | $5.17 | 20.00% | $25.85 | 62% | $42 | $195 | 21.4% | $213 | 5.1:1 |
Three trades cost more to book the job than the first job pays back: pest control at 244.2% of ticket price, landscaping at 187.2%, and storage at 165.9%. When job cost outruns the first ticket like that, you don't make money on the first job at all, you only make money on the relationship that comes after it. Which means a dropped call in one of these trades doesn't just cost a lead. It kills the entire payback.
Optimizing cost per lead in a vacuum is a classic rookie mistake, because a higher cost per lead very often means a higher quality lead. Three keywords for the same trade make the point better than any explanation.
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-per-click | $20 | Lower. Fewer advertisers bid on a broad term like this. |
| Lead rate | 5% | Lower. Broad terms pull in researchers and price-shoppers. |
| Cost-per-lead | $100 | CPC ÷ lead rate. $20 ÷ 5% = $100. |
| Sales conversion | 5% | Low. Most of these searchers were never in the market to buy. |
| Cost-per-acquisition | $2,000 | CPL ÷ sales conversion. $100 ÷ 5% = $2,000. |
TL;DR: Cheap leads. $2,000 to get a customer.
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-per-click | $45 | More than double example 1. Everyone bids on a term this specific. |
| Lead rate | 7.5% | Higher. The landing page matches the search exactly. |
| Cost-per-lead | $600 | $45 ÷ 7.5% = $600. Six times example 1. |
| Sales conversion | 30% | High. This searcher is actively shopping for this exact job. |
| Cost-per-acquisition | $2,000 | $600 ÷ 30% = $2,000. Same as example 1. |
TL;DR: 6x the cost per lead. Same $2,000 to get a customer.
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-per-click | $3.50 | The cheapest click on this whole page. |
| Lead rate | 4% | Some submit a form anyway, out of curiosity more than intent. |
| Cost-per-lead | $87.50 | $3.50 ÷ 4% = $87.50. The best-looking number on this page. |
| Sales conversion | 0.5% | Someone researching roof lifespan is years from buying. |
| Cost-per-acquisition | $17,500 | $87.50 ÷ 0.5% = $17,500. Needs 200 leads to sell one job. |
TL;DR: Cheapest leads on the page. $17,500 to get a customer.
The keyword with the best-looking CPL report is the worst keyword on this page. It looks like a winner and quietly eats the budget while nobody's watching.
CPL is an input, not a result. Judge a keyword, a channel, or a campaign on cost per acquisition against what the customer is actually worth. The "Cost / Booked Job" column in the benchmark table above is where this shows up trade by trade: two trades can carry a similar cost per lead and land in completely different places once you follow it through to a booked job. See our honest ranking of lead sources for contractors for what different channels cost before you optimize any of this, and the real numbers on answering service cost for what it costs to make sure a lead you already paid for gets picked up at all.
Cost per lead is your total marketing spend divided by the number of leads it produced.
Spend $5,000 and get 40 leads, your CPL is $125. It tells you what a lead cost to produce, not whether it ever became a customer.
Cost Per Lead = Total Marketing Spend ÷ Number of Leads
$5,000 in ad spend and 40 leads is a $125 cost per lead. Close rate and job value decide whether $125 is a good deal.
There isn’t one. Cost per lead is an input, not a result.
"Roofers" costs $100 a lead and converts at 5%. "Asphalt shingle roof replacement near me" costs $600 and converts at 30%. Both land at a $2,000 cost per acquisition.
$90.92 across all trades, on Google Ads.
By trade: electricians $93.69, HVAC $127.74, plumbing $129.02, roofing $228.15. Source is LocaliQ’s 2025 benchmarks, 3,211 campaigns.
Tighter targeting, a landing page that matches the search, and answering every call.
The third one is the cheapest. Google’s Local Services Ads documentation says missed calls hurt your responsiveness ranking, which raises the price of every lead after that.
Want the full picture? Run your numbers through the Customer Lifetime Value Calculator →