Based on the SearchLight Home Services LSA Benchmark, tracking $6.72M in Google Local Service Ads spend across 888 contractors and 126,650 leads in February 2026, the average cost per lead (CPL) for home services Local Service Ads is $53.
That number tells you what you paid to make the phone ring. It tells you nothing about what happened after. The average book rate on LSA leads is 43.9%. The average cost per paying customer is $233. The average ticket is $1,826. The closed ROAS across the dataset is 7.84x. These downstream metrics determine whether a $53 lead was worth $53.
This page breaks down LSA cost per lead by service category, compares LSA economics directly to Google Ads, and connects CPL to the metrics that actually determine profitability: book rate, match rate, cost per paying customer, and average ticket value.
For Google Ads-specific benchmarks using a similar dataset, see our companion analysis: What Is a Good Cost Per Lead for HVAC Google Ads? (2026 Benchmarks).
Google LSA Cost Per Lead by Service Category (February 2026)
The following benchmarks cover all LSA campaigns tracked by SearchLight in February 2026, broken out by the service line (if available in LSA channel name). Accounts that cover multiple trades without specifying a single service line are grouped under General / All Trades.
| Service Category | CPL | Accounts | Spend | Book Rate | Avg Ticket | ROAS |
| Electrical | $39 | 112 | $335K | 43.4% | $1,434 | 8.52x |
| HVAC | $51 | 409 | $1.52M | 44.0% | $2,110 | 9.55x |
| General / All Trades | $54 | 464 | $2.51M | 43.9% | $1,831 | 7.84x |
| Plumbing | $57 | 230 | $2.03M | 44.5% | $1,714 | 6.85x |
| Drain / Sewer | $59 | 23 | $314K | 39.5% | $1,521 | 5.50x |
| Water Heater* | $71 | 2 | $15K | 35.0% | $2,484 | 5.13x |
| Blended Average | $53 | 888 | $6.72M | 43.9% | $1,826 | 7.84x |
*Water Heater: only 2 accounts in the sample. Directionally useful but not statistically robust. Likely falls under Plumbing and/or General/All Trades.
Electrical leads are the least expensive in the dataset at $39 per lead. Electrical LSA campaigns generated an 8.52x closed ROAS with a $1,434 average ticket and 43.4% book rate.
HVAC leads average $51 per lead with the highest ROAS. At 9.55x closed ROAS, HVAC LSA campaigns outperform every other trade in the dataset on a return basis. The $2,110 average ticket was the second-highest in the sample, only behind water heaters.
Plumbing lagged in ROAS. The three lowest GLSA ROAS by service comprised Plumbing, Drain/Sewer and Water Heater.
General / All Trades campaigns dominate LSA budgets. At $2.51M in spend and 464 accounts, general LSA campaigns represent 37.3% of total LSA spend in the dataset. The $54 CPL and 7.84x ROAS sit at the dataset average, which is expected since these campaigns blend all trades together.
Drain / Sewer has the lowest book rate. At 39.5%, drain and sewer campaigns convert leads to booked appointments at the lowest rate in the dataset. The $59 CPL is above average, and the 5.50x ROAS is the weakest among major categories.
Why Cost Per Lead Alone Is the Wrong Metric
Cost per Lead is a useful metric for budget planning, but only if you can measure what happens after a lead comes in. E.g. what percentage of those leads turned into revenue and how much did they spend on average.
Two contractors can both have a $55 cost per lead on LSA and be in completely different positions:
Contractor A pays $55 per lead with a 48% book rate, a $2,800 average ticket, and a 45% match rate. Their cost per paying customer is $180, and their ROAS is 15.6x.
Contractor B pays $55 per lead with a 30% book rate, a $1,200 average ticket, and a 25% match rate. Their cost per paying customer is $440, and their ROAS is 2.7x.
Same CPL. Completely different economics. The metrics that bridge the gap between CPL and profitability are book rate (the percentage of leads that result in a booked appointment), match rate (the percentage of leads attributed to a paying customer in the CRM), cost per paying customer (total spend divided by paying customers), and average ticket (revenue per paying customer).
LSA makes this distinction even more important than Google Ads, since LSA charges by lead, not by click. You are paying for conversations. Whether those conversations turn into revenue depends entirely on what happens after the lead comes in.
LSA vs. Google Ads: Side-by-Side Economics (February vs. January 2026)
The most common question contractors and agencies ask is whether LSA leads are worth more or less than Google Ads leads. The answer requires comparing not just CPL but the full downstream funnel.
The following table compares LSA performance from February 2026 with Google Ads performance from the January 2026 SearchLight Benchmark (816 contractors, $14.9M in Google Ads spend).
| Metric | LSA | Google Ads (Branded) | Google Ads (Non-Branded) | Google Ads (PMax) | Google Ads (Blended) |
| Cost Per Lead | $53 | $34 | $149 | $72 | $104 |
| Book Rate | 43.9% | 55.3% | 37.6% | 32.2% | 41.7% |
| Match Rate | 42.8% | 68.4% | 42.1% | 35.8% | 48.4% |
| Cost / Customer | $233 | $104 | $804 | $447 | $472 |
| Avg Ticket | $1,826 | $2,398 | $2,516 | $2,521 | $2,465 |
LSA generates leads at roughly half the cost of blended Google Ads. At $53 per lead, LSA is 49% less expensive than the $104 blended Google Ads CPL. Compared to non-branded Google Ads specifically ($149), LSA is 64% less expensive.
LSA book rate is higher than Google Ads non-branded. LSA leads book at 43.9% compared to 37.6% for non-branded Google Ads.
LSA average tickets are lower. The $1,826 average ticket on LSA leads is 26% lower than the $2,465 average on Google Ads.
LSA cost per paying customer is dramatically lower. At $233 per paying customer, LSA is 51% cheaper than the $472 blended Google Ads cost per paying customer and 71% cheaper than the $804 non-branded cost per paying customer. The combination of cheaper leads and higher book rates makes LSA the most cost-efficient customer acquisition channel for most home services contractors.
How Google Local Service Ads Pricing Works
LSA uses a fundamentally different pricing model than Google Ads. Understanding the mechanics is necessary to interpret the benchmarks above.
Pay-per-lead, not pay-per-click. Google charges you when a potential customer calls or messages through your LSA listing. You are not charged for impressions, profile views, or clicks that do not result in a contact. This is why LSA CPL and Google Ads CPL are not directly comparable without context.
Google sets the lead price. Unlike Google Ads where you bid on keywords, LSA lead pricing is set by Google based on your trade, your market, and competition in your service area. You control your weekly budget cap, not your per-lead bid. Google allocates leads within your budget.
Lead disputes and credits. Google allows you to dispute leads that are spam, wrong service area, or otherwise unqualified. Industry data suggests contractors receive approximately 6-7% of their LSA spend back in credits for disputed leads. Source. The data in this benchmark reflects gross spend before credits.
What a Good LSA Cost Per Lead Actually Looks Like
A “good” LSA cost per lead depends entirely on what happens after the lead arrives. The question is not “is my CPL low?” It is “does my CPL produce profitable customers at a cost my business can sustain?”
For most HVAC and plumbing businesses operating at roughly 25% EBITDA margins, the math works like this: if your average ticket is $1,800 and your margin is 25%, each job generates $450 in profit. Your cost per paying customer needs to be below $450 to be profitable on a first-job basis.
If your book rate is 44% and your match rate is 43%, roughly 19% of your LSA leads become paying customers. That means you can afford a CPL of up to about $85 before first-job acquisition becomes unprofitable.
The February 2026 data shows the average LSA CPL at $53, well below that $85 threshold. This is why LSA is such a cost-effective channel for home services contractors. The margin of safety between actual CPL and breakeven CPL is substantial.
That said, CPL varies significantly by market. A $53 national average can mask $30 CPLs in smaller markets and $90+ CPLs in competitive metros. Contractors in high-competition markets should benchmark against their specific trade and geography, not the national average.
Comparison to Industry Benchmarks
Most published LSA cost per lead benchmarks are generic and do not include downstream metrics like book rate, match rate, or cost per paying customer. For context:
| Source | Benchmark | Scope |
| The Media Captain (2025) | $30–$80 (home services) | 100+ clients, LSA only |
| LocaliQ (2025) | $52 HVAC / $28 cleaning / $71 roofing | 50,000+ service businesses, LSA |
| Buzzz.co (2025) | $15–$100 range | 200+ service businesses, LSA |
| SearchLight (Feb 2026) | $53 blended / $39–$71 by trade | 888 contractors, $6.72M LSA spend, with downstream metrics |
The SearchLight data is based on $6.72M in observed LSA spend across 888 home services contractors and includes downstream metrics that the other benchmarks do not provide.
Data Source
Source: SearchLight Home Services LSA Benchmark
Sample: 888 home services contractors, 1,774 LSA campaigns, $6.72M in Google Local Service Ads spend
Period: February 1–28, 2026
Leads tracked: 126,650
Closed revenue tracked: $52.7M
Methodology: Spend-weighted calculations. SearchLight tracked conversions with offline conversion data where available. Normalized across markets. Outlier filtering applied. Cost per lead is calculated as total spend divided by total leads within each segment. Trade categorization is based on channel naming conventions; channels covering multiple trades without a single-trade identifier are grouped under General / All Trades.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average cost per lead for Google Local Service Ads in 2026?
The average cost per lead for home services Google Local Service Ads is $53 as of February 2026, based on $6.72M in observed spend across 888 contractors. This blended figure includes HVAC ($51 per lead), plumbing ($57 per lead), electrical ($39 per lead), and drain/sewer ($59 per lead). The average book rate across all LSA leads is 43.9%.
What is a good cost per lead for plumbing LSA?
The average cost per lead for plumbing Local Service Ads is $57 as of February 2026, based on 230 accounts and $2.03M in spend. Plumbing LSA leads have a 44.5% book rate and a $1,714 average ticket, producing a 6.85x closed ROAS.
What is a good cost per lead for HVAC Local Service Ads?
HVAC Local Service Ads averaged $51 per lead in February 2026 with a 44.0% book rate and $2,110 average ticket, producing a 9.55x closed ROAS. February is heating season, which contributes to both the strong conversion rates and higher average tickets on HVAC LSA campaigns.
How much does a Local Service Ads lead cost for electrical contractors?
The average cost per lead for electrical Local Service Ads is $39 as of February 2026, based on 112 accounts and $335K in spend. Electrical is the cheapest trade in the LSA dataset. Electrical leads have a 43.4% book rate and a $1,434 average ticket, producing an 8.52x closed ROAS.
Are Local Service Ads less expensive than Google Ads?
Yes. Local Service Ads generated leads at $53 per lead in February 2026, compared to $104 blended ($149 non-branded) for Google Ads in January 2026. LSA is 49% cheaper on a blended basis and 64% cheaper than non-branded Google Ads. The cost per paying customer is also dramatically lower: $233 for LSA versus $472 for blended Google Ads. The trade-off is lower average ticket values on LSA ($1,826 vs. $2,465), which reflects LSA’s heavier weighting toward service and repair calls.
What is the cost per lead for drain and sewer LSA campaigns?
Drain and sewer LSA campaigns average $59 per lead with a 39.5% book rate and $1,521 average ticket, producing a 5.50x closed ROAS. The book rate is the lowest in the dataset, suggesting drain/sewer searchers may comparison-shop more aggressively before booking.
How does book rate affect whether my LSA CPL is profitable?
Book rate is the most important metric for determining whether a cost per lead is acceptable. A $60 CPL with a 48% book rate costs $125 per booked appointment. A $40 CPL with a 30% book rate costs $133 per booked appointment. The cheaper lead is actually more expensive per booked job. In February 2026, the average LSA book rate was 43.9%. Contractors with book rates above 50% see dramatically better LSA economics.
Last Updated: March 2026