What roofing, HVAC, solar, plumbing, and remodeling contractors actually pay per lead on Google Ads, Local Services Ads, and Meta — and what a good number looks like for your trade.
Cost per lead for home service businesses ranges from $30 to $500, depending on trade and channel. Roofing and HVAC run highest on non-branded Google Ads search ($124–$149 per lead in 2026 data). Local Services Ads cost 40–50% less than standard search. Solar carries the widest range due to longer sales cycles. Web Pinnacles client campaigns have landed as low as $11.67 per lead — 572 leads in 31 days for a roofing client, against a $124 trade benchmark.
Non-branded Google Ads search is the most expensive channel for every trade below — and the most directly comparable to "cold" customer acquisition. Local Services Ads and Meta typically run lower, with tradeoffs in lead volume and qualification.
| Trade | Google Ads (non-branded) | Google Local Services Ads | Meta Ads | Web Pinnacles client result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing | $124 avg range $80–$256 |
$50–$162 | $115+ | $11.67 |
| HVAC | $149 avg | $60–$120 | $115+ | — |
| Solar | $150–$300 | Limited availability | $30–$90 | — |
| Plumbing | $167 avg | $40–$90 | ~$73 | — |
| Remodeling | $250–$450 | Limited availability | $60–$150 | — |
Branded search (people already searching your business by name) runs 60–70% cheaper than non-branded across every trade — but branded volume is capped by how many people already know you. Figures aggregated from PPC and Local Services Ads benchmark platforms tracking live home service contractor spend, Q1 2026.
Same channel, five different cost structures. Sales cycle length, average ticket size, and seasonal demand swing CPL more than the platform you advertise on.
Roofing CPL has the widest spread of any trade — nearly 10x between top and bottom performers. Storm-prone markets with active insurance claims look nothing like markets running on elective replacement, and that gap dominates the number more than agency skill does.
HVAC CPL swings hardest with the calendar. Summer cooling failures and winter heating emergencies both spike demand and CPC at once, which is why blended annual averages understate what contractors pay during peak weeks.
Solar carries the longest sales cycle of any home service trade, which is the entire reason its CPL range is so wide. A homeowner who fills out a form today may not sign a contract for weeks — pre-appointment education matters as much as the ad that captured them.
Plumbing converts faster than any other trade on this page — 12–16% of website visitors become leads, against a 3–7% range for roofing and remodeling. Emergency intent is what makes the higher CPL still profitable: same-day jobs close without a long nurture sequence.
Remodeling sits in the same premium-CPL bracket as roofing — kitchen and bath leads commonly run $250–$450 — because the average project value justifies it. A $400 lead is cheap against a $20,000 kitchen remodel, which is why CPL alone is the wrong metric to optimize for in this trade. Cost per booked consultation matters more.
A low CPL means nothing if the lead never books. These are the numbers that determine whether a cheap lead is actually a good one.
| Metric | Paid Ads (Google / Meta) | Local SEO (organic) |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first leads | 7–14 days | 3–6 months for ranking movement |
| Cost per lead, ongoing | Fixed, per click/lead | Near-zero once ranked |
| Site conversion rate | 5–15% (trade-dependent) | 5–15% (trade-dependent) |
| Lead-to-booked-job cycle | ~60 days avg | ~60 days avg |
| Compounding value | Stops when spend stops | Builds over time |
See the full local-vs-paid breakdown in Why Home Service Businesses Fail at Local SEO. Most contractors need both running at once — speed from paid, compounding cost efficiency from organic.
One verified result, against the trade benchmark it competes with. No blended averages, no rounding up.
A roofing contractor was paying $47 per lead through a generic agency before switching to the Booked-Job Pipeline™. Inside 31 days, cost per lead dropped to $11.67 — 90% below the $124 non-branded benchmark for roofing — with every lead attributed to its source.
Benchmarks are averages across many accounts and markets. Your actual CPL depends on your specific market, competition, and campaign maturity. Book a free audit for numbers specific to your business.
Book your free 20-minute audit. We'll show you your real cost per lead, where it compares to these benchmarks, and what's leaking budget before we touch a dollar of your spend.