Published CAC averages run from $86 for ecommerce to $1,500 to $3,000 for wealth management. You own several operating companies, and each one reports a customer acquisition cost with a benchmark attached to prove the number is fine. That benchmark usually came from a blog post.
I'll give you the published averages first, with the source on every figure. Then I'll show you why I wouldn't set a target from any of them. They don't measure the same thing. And that's before you ask what your own customers are worth to you after the first year, the second year and every year after that.
What are the published average CAC figures by industry?
The table below lists what the sources in this article print, each with the scope the publisher gave it.
| Segment | Published CAC | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | $86 | Combined B2B CAC, lowest of the general industries tracked | Web Tonic |
| Real estate | $791 | Combined B2B CAC, highest of 16 general industries | Web Tonic |
| B2B SaaS | $239 | Combined average, organic and inorganic | Web Tonic |
| Fintech SaaS | $1,450 | Highest sub-industry CAC tracked | Web Tonic |
| Mid-market B2B SaaS | $600 to $1,200+ | A range across SaaS models | Factors.ai |
| Health and beauty | $127 | Ecommerce brands with fewer than four employees, 2021 data | Shopify |
| Electronics | $377 | Same small-brand ecommerce sample | Shopify |
Look at the scope column before you look at the dollar column. A $127 health and beauty figure comes from shops with fewer than four employees selling consumer goods. It says nothing about a health-tech company selling to hospitals.
Why can't you compare one industry's average to another's?
You can't compare them because the publishers count different costs, different customers and different years. One roll-up reports combined B2B CAC. Another reports a 2021 sample of tiny stores.
There is a second problem inside a single number. Factors.ai gives the formula as total sales costs plus total marketing costs, divided by new customers acquired. Whether a source includes salaries, tools, agency fees or only ad spend changes the answer. Most blog benchmarks don't say which they used.
The sources also admit the data is thin in places. Focus Digital notes that most banks, especially local banks, are not tracking their CAC as granularly as they should be. If the industry doesn't track it well, the average of what it tracks is a guess with decimals.
What do the numbers look like in financial services, marketing tech and healthcare?
Financial services and marketing tech have published figures. Healthcare, in the sources I can cite, does not.
For financial services, Focus Digital puts wealth management between $1,500 and $3,000. Web Tonic lists fintech SaaS at $1,450. Those are two different businesses with similar-looking numbers, and neither tells you what a client is worth after the first year.
For marketing technology, the closest figures are software ones. Web Tonic reports a combined B2B SaaS CAC of $239, while Factors.ai describes a range of $600 to $1,200+ for mid-market B2B SaaS. A gap that wide inside one category tells you the average depends on who sells to whom.
For healthcare and health tech, I found no sourced CAC figure in the research behind this piece. I'm not going to fill that gap with a number. If a vendor quotes you a healthcare benchmark, ask for the sample, the year and the cost definition. If they can't give all three, you have nothing to compare against.
What should you track instead of an industry average?
Track payback and the ratio of lifetime value to CAC, both measured on your own customers. These two numbers answer the question a benchmark can't: does the money you spend to win a customer come back?
The common floor is a ratio of at least 3 to 1. Simon-Kucher says a common benchmark is to aim for an LTV to CAC ratio of at least 3:1, and Factors.ai says the same. Treat it as a floor to test against. It is not a target to chase.
Payback matters because it shows time. Web Tonic reports a median CAC payback period of 16 months, with a strong quartile at 10 months and a weak quartile at 24. Still, payback travels across industries in a way the dollar figure doesn't, because it is measured in months.
Here is why the dollar figure misleads. Factors.ai gives an example of a company that spends $1,000 to acquire a customer, where 90% of customers take a $150-a-year plan. At that rate the company needs more than 6 years to recover the acquisition cost. The CAC could sit at the industry average and the business would still lose money on its mix.
How do you read CAC across several companies you own?
You read it next to what happens after the sale, one company at a time, using the same definitions everywhere. A single CAC from marketing can't show you the constraint. Marketing, sales, operations and finance each hold a piece, and the blind spot sits in the next department's data.
I laid this out in Customer Acquisition Cost: What the Number Hides. A channel with a high CAC can be your best one, and a channel with a low CAC can be the reason operations is on fire. The cheapest lead is often the most expensive customer.
For a portfolio, the useful move is to put every company on the same worksheet, with the same cost definition, the same period and the same cohort rules. Then each company's payback sits next to the others. The odd one out is obvious without a benchmark.
| Question | Where the answer lives |
|---|---|
| What did we spend to win this cohort? | Marketing and sales cost, same definition in every company |
| How many stayed, and for how long? | Finance and operations records for the same cohort |
| How many months until the cohort paid back its cost? | Cohort revenue against cohort cost |
| Which channel sent the customers who left early? | Channel tags matched to refunds and churn |
A gap in any row is a finding. If nobody can match a channel to refunds, that is the first thing to fix, and it costs nothing to learn.
What mistakes do people make with CAC benchmarks?
The first mistake is picking the benchmark that makes your number look fine. If you own a company at $900 and you find a source that says $1,450, you'll stop asking questions. The source measured different customers. The comfort is unearned.
The second is counting only ad spend. Salaries, tools and agency fees are part of the cost of winning a customer, and if you leave them out, your CAC looks low while your margin quietly shrinks over the following quarters.
The third is judging a company on one blended number. Web Tonic's own data splits B2B SaaS into organic at $205 and inorganic at $341. A blend hides which door your customers come through and what each door costs.
The fourth is ignoring the customer after the sale. A low CAC with high refunds, support load or churn is a bill. It arrives later, in a different department's report.
FAQ
How do you calculate customer acquisition costs?
Add your total sales and marketing costs for a period, then divide by the new customers you won in that period. Zendesk gives an example: $150K on marketing plus $100K on sales, divided by 300 customers, is $833.
What is a good CLV to CAC ratio?
At least 3 to 1 is the common floor, meaning you earn $3 for every $1 spent winning a customer. Factors.ai says a good ratio is at least 3:1. Test it on your own cohorts, not an industry average.
What are the key metrics for customer acquisition?
Track CAC, customer lifetime value, the ratio between them, and payback in months. Add retention and refunds for the same cohort, because they show whether the customers you paid for stayed. Cost per lead alone shows none of that.
What does CAC mean in business?
CAC means customer acquisition cost, the total spent to win one new paying customer. Simon-Kucher describes it as the total cost of gaining a new customer, including marketing, sales and related costs.
What should you do today?
Pick the one company in your group you worry about most. Pull its last four quarters of new customers, total the full sales and marketing cost for each quarter, and note how many of each cohort are still paying. Then work out how many months each cohort took to pay back its cost. If you want a second set of eyes on what you find, the assessment is where I ask about it. Either way, that single payback number will tell you more than the table at the top of this page.
Jeff Barnes · Growth Operating Partner · Greater Seattle-Tacoma