Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Education advertisers in the United States spent most of the year paying slightly above-market CPCs, with a pronounced late‑year surge and a sharp reset at the start of 2026. Across the period, U.S. Education CPCs averaged about 1.15 versus the 1.11 global benchmark—roughly a 4% premium—while showing nearly double the month‑to‑month volatility of the broader market. November delivered the clear high point; January 2026 marked an unusually deep trough, breaking from the global path with a steeper decline.
This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Education in the United States compared to the global benchmark.
CPC trends for U.S. Education opened at 1.23 in January 2025 and closed at 0.73 in January 2026, a 40% slide from start to end. The median hovered at an average of 1.15 across the 13-month window, ranging from a high of 1.35 in November 2025 to a low of 0.73 in January 2026. The sharpest month-over-month swing arrived at the turn of the year: a −0.44 drop from December to January (−37% month over month). Other notable movements included a November lift of +0.25 from October (+23%) and an April dip of −0.16 from March (−13%).
Volatility—the average absolute month‑to‑month change—landed at 0.14 for U.S. Education CPCs, compared with 0.07 for the global benchmark, indicating choppier country-specific ad costs. Across the year, CPCs were above the global median in 9 of 13 months, roughly at parity in May and August, and notably below in April, October, and January 2026.
The rhythm followed familiar Facebook Ads benchmarks. Q1 was comparatively elevated (January–March averaging about 1.26), before softening into April (1.08) and stabilizing through early summer. July rebounded to 1.25, August eased, and September–October settled in a narrow band around 1.10–1.16. Q4 brought classic pressure: a November spike to the annual peak of 1.35, followed by a December step-down to 1.17. The deepest reset arrived in January 2026 at 0.73—well below the prior-year start and the period average.
Relative to the global CPC analysis, U.S. Education remained modestly above market most months. The average gap was +4%, with the widest premium in February (+15%) and the narrowest gap at near parity in May and August. At its weakest point, January 2026, the United States undercut global CPCs by roughly 13% (0.73 vs. 0.85). Both markets shared a pronounced November spike, but December diverged: the United States held higher CPCs (1.17) while the global benchmark fell more sharply to 1.05. Overall declines from January 2025 to January 2026 were steeper in the United States (−40%) than globally (−25%), underscoring the more volatile U.S. path.
Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks for CPC in the Education industry in the United States highlights a market that typically runs slightly above global levels, with stronger Q4 pressure, sharper resets at year‑turn, and more pronounced swings than the global trend. These country-specific CPC trends provide a clear frame to compare Education ad performance in the United States to global patterns.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the Education industry, Facebook ad costs can be moderate, with higher costs for professional and specialized courses. For campaigns targeting United States, advertisers often face higher costs due to high competition and purchasing power. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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Late November (Thanksgiving & Black Friday weekend), December (Christmas), Back-to-school (July–September), Summer travel season (Memorial Day onwards)
CPM and CPC might rise around major holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, especially in travel and entertainment. Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend triggers massive spikes in retail ad competition. December ad demand typically peaks—retail campaigns require significantly higher budgets. Back-to-school promotions drive increased competition. Juneteenth may see regional engagement rise.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
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