Pick your industry, set a budget and see the clicks, leads, sales and profit you could expect. It’s built on 13,474 real Google Ads campaigns, converted to Australian dollars, with every source shown. No email wall. No sign-up.
Start with your industry. We load the typical cost per click and conversion rate for it, in Australian dollars. Then change any number to match your business. Everything updates as you type.
About your business
Gross margin is what you keep from a sale after the cost of the product or job, before ads. Not sure? Start with 40% for retail and 50% for services.
Your estimated month
Benchmarks: WordStream by LocaliQ 2026 (13,474 US search campaigns, medians). Costs converted to Australian dollars at the RBA rate of 0.7032 on 24 September 2026. The likely range assumes your cost per click and conversion rate each land up to 20% better or worse than the numbers above. How accurate is this?
It takes about a minute. The benchmark numbers get you started. Your own numbers make it useful.
We load the median cost per click and conversion rate for it. Not listed? Start with All industries.
Leads and enquiries for service businesses. Online sales for stores. The results change to match.
Drag the slider or type an amount. This is your ad spend, paid straight to Google. Add a management fee if you pay one.
How many leads become customers, what a customer is worth and your margin. The closer these are to real life, the better the answer.
Already running Google Ads? Replace the cost per click and conversion rate with your own figures from the last 90 days. That turns a benchmark into a forecast. Then hit Copy link to these results to share the exact scenario with your team or your accountant.
Revenue isn’t profit. A 3x return on ad spend sounds great until you remember that most of that revenue pays for products, staff and delivery. That’s why this calculator shows profit and break-even, not just revenue.
Here’s the quick maths. If your gross margin is 40%, you keep A$40 from every A$100 sale. To cover A$100 of ads, you need A$250 in sales. That’s a break-even ROAS of 2.5x. At a 25% margin, you need 4x. The lower your margin, the harder your ads have to work.
So the question isn’t “what ROAS is good?” It’s “what ROAS do I need?” The calculator answers that for you.
The starting numbers come from the WordStream by LocaliQ Google Ads Benchmarks 2026 report, published in May 2026. WordStream is one of the most widely quoted sources of Google Ads data, and its partner LocaliQ publishes the same industry figures.
The report covers 13,474 search campaigns over 12 months. Each industry needed at least 52 active campaigns to be included. WordStream reports medians rather than simple averages, so one huge account or one broken account can’t drag the numbers around.
This is money actually spent and results actually recorded. A lot of cost figures online are keyword tool estimates. These aren’t.
The currency. The report is in US dollars. We convert every cost to Australian dollars at the Reserve Bank of Australia rate of 0.7032 US dollars per Australian dollar on 24 September 2026. So the overall median click of US$5.42 becomes A$7.71. Conversion rates and click-through rates are percentages, so they don’t change.
US search campaigns run through WordStream by LocaliQ.
1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Each with at least 52 active campaigns.
So a few huge or tiny accounts can’t skew the numbers.
Across all 23 industries: a median click-through rate of 6.64%, a cost per click of US$5.42 (A$7.71), a conversion rate of 8.18% and a cost per lead of US$66.69 (A$94.84).
Honest answer: close enough to plan with, not close enough to bet the business on. Here’s why we trust these numbers as a starting point, and where your real results could land higher or lower.
What about the “A$2 to A$4 per click” you see quoted? You’ll find Australian averages like that on plenty of websites. We couldn’t find the data behind them, so we haven’t used them. We’d rather show you a number with a source than a number that sounds nice.
Our advice: use the benchmark to decide whether Google Ads is worth testing. Use your own data to decide how much to spend. The range in the calculator shows how much the answer can move.
The benchmark is a starting point. Swap in real numbers from these three places and the calculator becomes a proper forecast.
Free with any Google Ads account. Search your main keywords, set the location to your city or suburbs and look at the top of page bid range. Google describes this as roughly the bid you’d need to show at the top of the results. Google also warns its forecasts are less accurate for small areas and new advertisers.
Set the date range to the last 90 days and read the average cost per click and conversion rate for your best campaigns. Real data from your own account beats any benchmark. Make sure your conversion tracking is set up first, or the numbers will mislead you.
Check how visitors from Google Ads convert on your website. If your site turns more visitors into leads or sales than the benchmark, you’ll beat these numbers. If it turns fewer, fix the page before you raise the budget.
Every industry in the report, with costs in both US and Australian dollars. Hit Use on any row to load it into the calculator.
| Industry | Click-through rate | Conversion rate | Cost per click (US$) | Cost per click (A$) | Cost per lead (US$) | Cost per lead (A$) | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All industries (overall median) | 6.64% | 8.18% | US$5.42 | A$7.71 | US$66.69 | A$94.84 | |
| Shopping, collectibles and gifts | 8.28% | 4.01% | US$4.14 | A$5.89 | US$49.40 | A$70.25 | |
| Fashion, apparel and jewellery | 6.64% | 4.50% | US$4.44 | A$6.31 | US$97.51 | A$138.67 | |
| Furniture | 6.57% | 2.99% | US$3.97 | A$5.65 | US$106.70 | A$151.73 | |
| Home and home improvement | 6.47% | 8.05% | US$8.33 | A$11.85 | US$90.92 | A$129.29 | |
| Automotive: repair, service and parts | 5.56% | 15.51% | US$4.35 | A$6.19 | US$29.96 | A$42.61 | |
| Automotive: for sale | 8.28% | 6.01% | US$2.27 | A$3.23 | US$44.26 | A$62.94 | |
| Dentists and dental services | 5.66% | 10.67% | US$8.00 | A$11.38 | US$72.97 | A$103.77 | |
| Physicians and surgeons | 6.61% | 12.43% | US$4.76 | A$6.77 | US$40.04 | A$56.94 | |
| Health and fitness | 5.81% | 6.94% | US$6.17 | A$8.77 | US$67.36 | A$95.79 | |
| Beauty and personal care | 6.75% | 10.35% | US$4.62 | A$6.57 | US$39.25 | A$55.82 | |
| Legal services | 5.87% | 5.55% | US$9.87 | A$14.04 | US$131.63 | A$187.19 | |
| Business services | 6.10% | 4.85% | US$5.87 | A$8.35 | US$93.69 | A$133.23 | |
| Industrial and commercial | 6.57% | 8.20% | US$5.87 | A$8.35 | US$75.19 | A$106.93 | |
| Finance and insurance | 9.83% | 2.64% | US$3.39 | A$4.82 | US$74.44 | A$105.86 | |
| Real estate | 7.61% | 3.70% | US$3.22 | A$4.58 | US$102.51 | A$145.78 | |
| Careers and employment | 5.88% | 3.05% | US$5.81 | A$8.26 | US$67.36 | A$95.79 | |
| Education and training | 7.56% | 13.14% | US$4.81 | A$6.84 | US$77.48 | A$110.18 | |
| Restaurants and food | 6.83% | 8.05% | US$2.05 | A$2.92 | US$30.57 | A$43.47 | |
| Travel | 9.32% | 5.83% | US$2.14 | A$3.04 | US$44.70 | A$63.57 | |
| Arts and entertainment | 12.75% | 5.91% | US$1.63 | A$2.32 | US$26.84 | A$38.17 | |
| Sports and recreation | 8.75% | 7.69% | US$2.77 | A$3.94 | US$44.26 | A$62.94 | |
| Personal services | 7.16% | 12.34% | US$7.17 | A$10.20 | US$54.60 | A$77.65 | |
| Animals and pets | 7.49% | 16.22% | US$4.06 | A$5.77 | US$31.50 | A$44.80 |
Source: WordStream by LocaliQ, Google Ads Benchmarks 2026. 13,474 US search campaigns, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, median figures. Australian dollar figures converted at the RBA rate of 0.7032 US dollars per Australian dollar on 24 September 2026.
Every industry in one printable table, converted to Australian dollars, plus a one-page budget case you can hand straight to your boss.
Get the free PDF See all downloadsThe benchmark is the middle of the pack. These six habits are how accounts end up in the better half. More in our Google Ads management guide.
Show ads only in the suburbs, cities or states you can serve. Set location targeting to people in your area, not just people interested in it.
If Google can’t see your leads, it can’t find you more of them. Call tracking alone often uncovers leads you didn’t know you had.
Send each ad to a page about exactly what was searched. A focused landing page turns more of the same clicks into leads.
Add negative keywords like free, jobs, DIY and course where they don’t fit. Check your search terms every week at the start.
For online stores, a clean Merchant Center feed lifts Shopping ads. We explain how in our eCommerce growth guide.
Connect your CRM so Google learns which leads became customers. See how on our Google Ads Melbourne page.
Google Ads costs
Short answer
Google Ads costs whatever budget you set, and you only pay when someone clicks your ad. Across all industries, the typical click costs about A$7.71 (US$5.42). At that price, A$3,000 a month buys roughly 390 clicks and about 32 leads, or around A$95 per lead. If an agency runs your account, add its management fee on top.
Median across 13,474 search campaigns in the WordStream by LocaliQ 2026 benchmarks, converted at A$1 = US$0.7032. Your costs depend on your industry, location and ads.Ad spend is the big one. The rest depends on who runs your account.
| Cost | What it covers | How it's priced |
|---|---|---|
| Ad spend | Clicks on your ads, paid straight to Google | You set a daily budget and can change or pause it any time |
| Management | Building, running and improving your campaigns | Usually a flat monthly fee or a percentage of ad spend. Get it in writing |
| Setup | Conversion tracking, call tracking and landing pages | One-off work. Sometimes included in management, so ask before you sign |
| Tools | Call tracking or reporting software | Optional monthly subscriptions |
Tip: have your ad spend billed to your own card, in a Google Ads account you own. Then you can always see exactly what Google charged, with no markup hiding in the middle.
Median cost per click in Australian dollars. On a computer, hover a row for the US figure and conversion rate.
Source: WordStream by LocaliQ, Google Ads Benchmarks 2026, US search campaigns, converted at A$1 = US$0.7032. All 23 industries are in the benchmark table.
Google Ads is an auction, but the highest bid doesn't automatically win. Google ranks ads on six things:
You rarely pay your full bid. Google charges just enough to beat the ad ranked below yours, so a better ad and page can cut what you pay. Google's Ad Rank guide
You set an average daily budget. On a busy day Google can spend up to twice that amount.
It balances out over the month. You're never charged more than 30.4 times your daily budget in a month, which is the average number of days in a month.
Set A$100 a day and you might see A$180 on a busy Monday, but your monthly ad spend tops out at A$3,040.
Work backwards from the results you need, not from a round number.
Want 20 leads a month at about A$95 each? Plan on around A$1,900 a month in ad spend.
Run your own numbers in the calculator, or get a free audit and we'll build a budget from your real data.
Straight answers to the questions people ask about the numbers.
It’s built on median results from 13,474 real US search campaigns over the 12 months to March 2026, converted to Australian dollars. That makes it a solid starting point for planning. Your real results depend on your location, industry, account quality and website, so we show a likely range and let you replace any number with your own.
The benchmark report is in US dollars, and your budget is in Australian dollars. Converting at the Reserve Bank rate keeps the maths honest. A WordStream study using Google Keyword Planner found Australian cost per click estimates about 5% below the US, so the two markets are broadly comparable.
It depends on your margin. Your break-even ROAS is 1 divided by your gross margin. At a 40% margin you need 2.5x just to break even. At 25% you need 4x. The calculator works this out for you and tells you whether you’re above or below the line.
Enough to get useful data. That usually means enough to buy at least a few hundred clicks a month in your main campaign. Use the calculator to see what that costs in your industry, then set a budget you can hold for two to three months while the account learns.
No. The benchmarks come from search campaigns. Shopping and Performance Max are priced differently and online stores often pay less per click. If you run an online store, use your own Shopping cost per click in the calculator.
Yes and yes. There’s no email wall and no sign-up. Hit Copy link to these results and anyone with the link sees the exact same scenario.
We update them when a new benchmark report comes out. The report date and the exchange rate date are shown on this page, so you always know how current the numbers are.
Yes. Our free audit replaces the benchmarks with your real data from Google Ads, Google Analytics and your website, and shows you what to fix first. There’s no lock-in contract if you decide to work with us.
Every number on this page, and where it came from.
About the author
Director and Lead Consultant, Anahaw Media
John Conigliaro is the Director and Lead Consultant at Anahaw Media, a Perth digital marketing agency focused on performance. A Filipino-Australian digital marketer now based in Perth, WA, with more than 15 years’ experience across Singapore and Australia, he has led agencies in Australia on technical execution and growth strategy, founded a globally recognised eCommerce brand, and managed almost 300 campaigns, from small businesses to multinational brands, including Canon, Uniqlo, Benefit Cosmetics, Asiana Airlines, Changi Recommends, APM and Golfbox. He completed an MBA and a dissertation on Digital Transformation, holds a specialisation in Computer Applications from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB), and is also a consumer tech critic and publisher. His mission is to use his talent and passion for digital marketing to change businesses for the better, in how they win customers and how they build their brand.
Send us your website and Google Ads account. We’ll swap the benchmarks for your real numbers and show you what to fix first. Free, with no lock-in.
Free guides
Plain-English, step-by-step guides from our team. Use them to do it yourself, or to know what good looks like before you hire anyone. See all guides
How to Set a Google Ads Budget (Work Backwards from Profit)How to set a Google Ads budget from profit, close rate and lifetime value, plus how daily budgets, learning periods and scaling…Read the guide 
How to Structure a Google Ads Account That ScalesHow to structure Google Ads campaigns, ad groups, match types and negatives so your budget goes where it should and the account…Read the guide 
How to Set Up Google Ads Conversion Tracking ProperlyHow to set up Google Ads conversion tracking you can trust: what to count, values, One vs Every, GTM vs GA4, enhanced…Read the guide 
