Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
February 2025 - February 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Public Safety advertising across all countries moved through 2025 with dramatic swings in Facebook Ads CPC, oscillating between bargain-level costs in Q1 and sharp price escalations in spring and late Q3–Q4. While the global benchmark stayed relatively steady around the mid‑1.10s for most of the year, Public Safety’s CPCs spiked in April–May and again in September and December, pushing the category slightly above market on average but with far greater volatility than the global trend. Standout months included May (the yearly peak) and September–December, while February and October marked the deepest troughs.
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 Public Safety across all countries compared to the global benchmark.
Public Safety CPC opened the year at 0.74 in January and ended much higher at 1.62 in December, a 121% rise across the year. The category averaged 1.21 in 2025, ranging from a low of 0.62 in February to a high of 2.25 in May. The month-to-month volatility averaged 0.58 points, nearly ten times the global benchmark’s 0.06, underscoring a choppy cost environment.
Key movements:
Across the same period, the global CPC benchmark averaged 1.13, with a narrow band near 1.10 most months, a lift to 1.32 in November, and a dip to 1.05 in December.
The rhythm of 2025 shows a familiar first‑quarter softness for Public Safety, followed by a pronounced spring escalation that carried into early summer. After a mid‑year reset in July–August, costs surged again in September, briefly dropped in October, and then rebuilt into December. The global series reflected milder seasonality: steady through most of the year, a typical Q4 lift in November, and a year‑end easing in December. Public Safety deviated from that pattern with a relatively muted November and a stronger‑than‑usual December spike.
Relative to the global benchmark, Public Safety CPC averaged about 7% higher for the year (1.21 vs. 1.13) but alternated between below‑market and above‑market levels:
While the global trend was broadly stable and ended the year slightly lower than it began (−6% from January to December), Public Safety’s trajectory climbed sharply (+121%), with larger and more frequent swings.
Closing
Understanding Facebook Ads CPC benchmarks for the Public Safety industry across all countries highlights a year marked by significant spikes in April–May and late Q4, contrasted against a steady global backdrop. These CPC trends provide a clear view of category-specific ad costs and how Public Safety industry ad performance diverged from global patterns throughout 2025.
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 Public Safety industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. 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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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
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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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