Email Open Rate Benchmarks
Compare your email open rates against industry benchmarks. See how you stack up and get recommendations to improve your performance.
Enter Your Metrics
% of emails opened
% of emails clicked (optional)
Email Open Rate Benchmarks by Industry
| Industry | Open Rate | Click Rate | vs Your Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government | 28.8% | 3.5% | - |
| Hobbies | 28.5% | 5% | - |
| Religion | 27.6% | 3.4% | - |
| Non-profit | 26.6% | 2.7% | - |
| Sports & Recreation | 24.6% | 3.2% | - |
| Agriculture | 23.4% | 2.9% | - |
| Education | 23.4% | 2.9% | - |
| Architecture & Construction | 22.5% | 2.5% | - |
| Home & Garden | 22.2% | 2.8% | - |
| Media & Publishing | 22.1% | 4.6% | - |
| Legal | 22% | 2.8% | - |
| Professional Services | 21.9% | 2.5% | - |
| Healthcare | 21.7% | 2.5% | - |
| Arts & Entertainment | 21.5% | 2.4% | - |
| Insurance | 21.4% | 2.1% | - |
| SaaS / Software(Your Industry) | 21.3% | 2.4% | - |
| Business & Finance | 20.5% | 2.6% | - |
| Food & Beverage | 20.5% | 2% | - |
| Travel & Transportation | 20.4% | 2.2% | - |
| Real Estate | 19.9% | 1.8% | - |
| Manufacturing | 19.8% | 2.2% | - |
| Restaurant | 19.8% | 1.3% | - |
| Technology | 19.8% | 2% | - |
| Computers & Electronics | 19.3% | 2.1% | - |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 19.2% | 1.9% | - |
| E-commerce / Retail | 18.4% | 2.3% | - |
| Marketing & Advertising | 17.4% | 1.9% | - |
Understanding Email Open Rate Benchmarks
Email open rates are one of the most important metrics for measuring email marketing success. But what constitutes a "good" open rate varies significantly by industry, audience, and email type.
What is Email Open Rate?
Open rate is calculated as:
Open Rate = (Emails Opened / Emails Delivered) x 100Note that open rates are tracked using a tiny invisible image (tracking pixel) that loads when the email is opened. This means open rates can be affected by:
- Image blocking in email clients
- Apple Mail Privacy Protection (iOS 15+) which pre-loads tracking pixels
- Preview panes counting as opens
- Multiple opens by the same person
Factors That Affect Open Rates
Subject Line
47% of recipients decide to open based solely on subject line
Sender Name
68% of recipients use sender name to decide whether to open
Send Time
Best times vary by audience, but Tuesday-Thursday tend to perform well
List Quality
Engaged, opt-in subscribers have dramatically higher open rates
How to Improve Your Open Rates
- Write compelling subject lines: Use curiosity, urgency, personalization, or questions
- Optimize preview text: The preview text (preheader) is your second chance to hook readers
- Segment your list: Send relevant content to specific audience segments
- Clean your list regularly: Remove inactive subscribers to improve deliverability
- A/B test everything: Test subject lines, send times, and sender names
- Build sender reputation: Consistent, valuable emails improve trust and opens over time
- Optimize for mobile: 46% of emails are opened on mobile devices
The Impact of Apple Mail Privacy Protection
Since iOS 15 (September 2021), Apple Mail Privacy Protection pre-loads tracking pixels for Apple Mail users, inflating open rates. If a significant portion of your subscribers use Apple Mail:
- Your reported open rates may be 15-30% higher than actual
- Focus more on click rates and conversions as accuracy metrics
- Segment Apple Mail users separately if possible
Subject Line Best Practices
- Keep it short: 6-10 words or 40-50 characters work best
- Personalize: Using first name increases opens by 26%
- Create urgency: Time-limited offers drive action
- Ask questions: Engages curiosity
- Use numbers: "5 Tips" performs better than "Tips"
- Avoid spam triggers: FREE, URGENT, Act Now, etc.
- Test emojis: Can increase opens, but test with your audience
Want to Boost Your Email Open Rates?
Our team writes high-converting email campaigns that consistently outperform industry benchmarks. Let us help you get more opens, clicks, and conversions.
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