What the Numbers Say About Average Bounce Rate by Industry

What is the average bounce rate by industry?

Reported industry medians for average bounce rate by industry range from 35.76% among apparel and footwear sites to 48.38% among information technology and services sites, based on Databox data from September 2024. That dataset puts the median bounce rate across all industries measured at 44.04%. The figures come from Databox's aggregated customer data and are cited in Semrush's guide "What Is Bounce Rate? And How to Reduce It," by Carlos Silva, updated January 20, 2026 (semrush.com/blog/bounce-rate), checked September 9, 2026. This page reports the benchmark figures only; for what bounce rate measures and what counts as a good number for a given page, see what is a good bounce rate and bounce rate vs exit rate.

What is the average bounce rate for each industry?

The table below lists every industry median in the Databox dataset as cited by Semrush, alongside the overall cross-industry median for comparison.

Source: Databox data from September 2024, as cited in Semrush, "What Is Bounce Rate? And How to Reduce It," updated January 20, 2026, checked September 9, 2026.

Why do bounce rate benchmarks vary between reports?

Two published benchmark tables can show different numbers for the same industry because they rarely share a bounce definition, a measurement window or a sample of sites. A dataset built from GA4 properties reports a structurally lower bounce rate than a dataset built from Universal Analytics properties, since GA4 counts a session as a bounce only when it is not engaged, while the older definition counted any single-page session regardless of time spent. A benchmark also reflects whichever set of companies contributed data to it, so a panel weighted toward larger sites or a specific region will not match a panel built differently, even inside the same named industry.

How reliable is an industry bounce rate benchmark?

An industry benchmark is only as reliable as its sample size, its bounce definition and how recently it was measured, and none of those three details travel with a bare percentage once it gets repeated across articles. The Databox figures cited here come from an aggregated customer dataset dated September 2024, which is now roughly two years old relative to this page, and industry-wide averages shift as more sites migrate to GA4's engagement-based definition. Use a published benchmark to judge whether your bounce rate is in a plausible range for your industry, not as a precise target to hit.

Should you compare your bounce rate to an industry average?

An industry average is useful as a sanity check, to confirm your bounce rate is not wildly outside what similar businesses report, but it should not replace your own trailing-period comparison. A single site-wide bounce rate compared against a single industry median ignores page type entirely, and a landing page, a blog post and a pricing page inside the same site have different natural bounce rates regardless of what industry the business sits in. Segment your own bounce rate by page type and traffic source before lining it up next to any external number, the same way what is a good bounce rate recommends for reading the metric on a single page.

How do you build a benchmark from your own data instead?

Track bounce rate by page type, traffic source and month inside your own analytics, and use last quarter's numbers as the comparison point instead of an industry figure that may be measuring a different bounce definition on a different kind of site. Flowsery's real-time analytics reports bounce alongside traffic source, goals and user journeys from one script, with no data sampling, so the trend line comes from the same counts every time instead of a benchmark study repeated across articles with its own sampling choices. Pair that trend with average session duration benchmarks to see whether a change in bounce rate reflects real engagement or just a definition change somewhere in the stack.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average bounce rate across all industries?

Databox data from September 2024, cited in Semrush's bounce rate guide updated January 20, 2026, puts the cross-industry median at 44.04%. Individual industries in that dataset range from 35.76% for apparel and footwear to 48.38% for information technology and services.

Which industry has the lowest average bounce rate?

Apparel and footwear reports the lowest median in the Databox dataset at 35.76%, followed by ecommerce and marketplaces at 38.61% and food at 38.93%. These figures reflect one dataset from September 2024 and may not match a benchmark built with a different sample or bounce definition.

Which industry has the highest average bounce rate?

Information technology and services reports the highest median in the Databox dataset at 48.38%, just above SaaS at 48.27% and education at 46.28%. A higher median in these categories does not automatically mean a problem, since it reflects the mix of page types typical in that industry.

Why might my bounce rate not match my industry's benchmark?

A benchmark blends every page type and traffic source across many sites into one number, while your bounce rate is shaped by your specific mix of landing pages, blog posts and transactional pages. Confirm you and the benchmark are using the same bounce definition, GA4 versus the older single-page-session rule, before treating a gap as a real problem.

Is a published bounce rate benchmark still accurate years after it was measured?

Treat any dated benchmark as a snapshot rather than a current figure, since bounce rate medians shift as more sites adopt GA4's engagement-based definition and as user behavior changes. The industry figures on this page are dated September 2024 and should be read as a rough range rather than a live number.

Should I use an industry benchmark or my own trailing data to judge bounce rate?

Use your own trailing months as the primary comparison, and treat an industry benchmark only as a sanity check that your number sits in a plausible range. Segment your own bounce rate by page type and source first, since a blended industry median cannot account for how your specific pages are built.

Where does the bounce rate data by industry on this page come from?

The figures come from a Databox aggregated customer dataset from September 2024, cited in Semrush's guide "What Is Bounce Rate? And How to Reduce It" by Carlos Silva, updated January 20, 2026, and checked September 9, 2026.

What should I check before trusting an industry bounce rate benchmark?

Confirm whether it measures GA4 non-engaged sessions or the older single-page-session rule, check how recently it was measured, and treat the industry match as a loose neighborhood rather than an exact fit. Set your own trailing-month baseline once that range looks reasonable.

Is there a tool that tracks bounce rate by page type and traffic source instead of an industry average?

Flowsery's real-time analytics reports bounce rate alongside traffic source, goals and user journeys from one script, with no data sampling, so the trend comes from the same counts every time instead of a benchmark study's own sampling choices.

How does bounce rate relate to average session duration?

Pairing your bounce rate trend with average session duration benchmarks shows whether a change reflects real engagement or just a shift in how a platform defines a bounce. Bounce rate alone can move for reasons unrelated to visitor behavior, such as a site migrating to GA4's engagement-based definition.