Email Marketing Benchmarks 2026 - Open Rates, CTRs, and More by Industry
How do your email campaigns compare to industry averages? We analyzed millions of emails sent through Mailsend.dev to compile the most accurate 2026 benchmarks across 20+ industries.
Overall Email Marketing Benchmarks (All Industries, 2026)
These are the aggregate averages across all industries and list sizes. Use these as your baseline before drilling into your specific vertical below.
Email Benchmarks by Industry (2026)
Find your industry below to see specific benchmarks. These figures are averages from campaigns sent through Mailsend.dev in Q1-Q2 2026.
| Industry | Open Rate | CTR | Bounce Rate | Unsub Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | 22.4% | 2.8% | 0.3% | 0.21% |
| SaaS / Software | 28.1% | 3.2% | 0.4% | 0.18% |
| Marketing Agencies | 19.8% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 0.25% |
| Healthcare | 34.2% | 3.8% | 0.3% | 0.14% |
| Financial Services | 29.6% | 2.9% | 0.4% | 0.16% |
| Media / Publishing | 36.1% | 5.2% | 0.2% | 0.12% |
| Education | 31.4% | 3.4% | 0.3% | 0.19% |
| Non-Profit | 38.7% | 4.1% | 0.2% | 0.10% |
| Real Estate | 26.3% | 3.0% | 0.6% | 0.23% |
| Retail / Consumer | 20.1% | 2.4% | 0.4% | 0.22% |
| Travel & Hospitality | 24.8% | 2.6% | 0.3% | 0.20% |
| Professional Services | 27.9% | 3.1% | 0.4% | 0.17% |
Source: Mailsend.dev internal data, Q1-Q2 2026. Based on 2.4 billion emails across 18,000+ customer accounts.
How to Beat Your Industry Benchmarks
Improve open rates: Clean your list of inactive subscribers, test subject lines with A/B testing, send from a recognizable From name, and segment your list to send more relevant campaigns. See A/B testing →
Improve CTR: One clear CTA per email outperforms multiple competing calls to action. Personalize the offer to the recipient's segment, and test button placement and text. See personalization →
Reduce bounce rate: Use double opt-in, validate emails on import, suppress hard bounces immediately, and run a list hygiene campaign to remove invalid addresses. See list hygiene guide →
Reduce unsubscribes: Segment your list and only send relevant content to each group. Reduce send frequency for disengaged subscribers instead of continuing to blast them. See segmentation →