What's a Good ROAS for a Home Service Business? Benchmarks by Trade and Channel

The median HVAC contractor on Google Ads is running a 4.37x ROAS right now, based on SearchLight tracking $40 million in actual Google Ads spend across 1,041 HVAC and plumbing contractors in Q4 2025.

If you’re sitting below 2.77x, you’re in the bottom quartile and you’re probably losing money on every campaign you run.

What does ROAS actually mean for a home service business?

ROAS stands for return on ad spend. If you spend $1,000 on Google Ads and book $5,000 in jobs from it, your ROAS is 5.0x.

The number that matters is your break-even ROAS - the point where you’re not losing money but you’re not really winning either. Most HVAC and plumbing businesses operating at roughly 25% EBITDA margins need a 4.0x ROAS just to break even on Google Ads.

Gross margins in home services average 33% across all trades, according to WebFX’s 2026 benchmarks, which means your break-even point shifts depending on your trade. Roofing and remodeling run tighter margins than cleaning or handyman, and that directly changes what ROAS number you need to stay profitable.

What is a good ROAS for HVAC contractors?

The SearchLight benchmark - tracking $14.9M in Google Ads spend across 816 HVAC and plumbing contractors in January 2026 - puts the median ROAS at 4.37x. Top-quartile performers exceed 10.24x. Bottom quartile falls below 2.77x.

If you’re below 2.77x, stop running the campaign and fix it before you spend another dollar.

The average blended CPL for HVAC on Google Ads is $104. That number hides a big spread: branded search averages $34 per lead, non-branded search averages $149 per lead, and Performance Max campaigns land around $72 per lead.

Heating repair campaigns specifically generated a 3.69x closed ROAS in January 2026 with a $3,225 average ticket. AC repair came in at 2.94x with a $231 CPL.

That gap between heating repair and AC repair ROAS matters when you’re planning your slow-season budget. More on slow season marketing strategy if you want to keep the phone ringing year-round.

What is a good ROAS for plumbing Google Ads?

Plumbing is actually one of the stronger performers. The median plumbing contractor converts 18.4% of leads to paying customers, pays $333 per customer acquired, and closes jobs at a $1,680 average ticket.

That math produces a 5.54x ROAS - meaning every dollar you spend on plumbing Google Ads generates $5.54 in closed revenue at the median. That data comes from SearchLight tracking $14.6M in non-branded Google Ads spend across 524 plumbing contractors from January through March 2026.

The average non-branded CPL for plumbing is $183 - high, but manageable when your average ticket clears $1,600. If you’re running Google Ads for plumbing and your ROAS is below 3.0x, you likely have a lead conversion problem rather than an ad problem. Read up on why your leads aren’t converting before you cut your ad budget.

What is a good ROAS for roofing Google Ads?

Roofing is the trickiest trade to measure because the sales cycle is long. The gap between closed ROAS (2.46x) and opportunity ROAS (17.82x) in roofing reflects leads still sitting in pipeline - not failed campaigns. SearchLight tracked roughly $310K in roofing spend across 15 contractors in Q1 2026 to get these numbers.

Non-branded roofing campaigns average $124 per lead - actually the lowest among HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. Branded search drops to $44 per lead and generates a 6.22x ROAS, but the problem is branded campaigns only account for 9% of total roofing spend.

The roofing contractor pattern we’ve seen across dozens of campaigns looks like this: one contractor spending $300-$500/month concludes “Google Ads doesn’t work.” Their competitor three miles away spending $3,000/month closes 8-10 jobs per month and calls it their best marketing channel.

The difference is scale and attribution, not the platform. If you’re doing any storm damage roofing lead generation, your opportunity ROAS will look inflated for 60-90 days until those jobs close. Track it accordingly.

How do Google LSA leads compare to regular Google Ads by trade?

Google Local Services Ads are a different animal. You pay per lead, not per click, and the CPLs are significantly lower. Here’s how the two channels stack up across trades:

Trade	Google Ads CPL	Google LSA CPL	Meta Ads CPL
HVAC	$104 (blended avg)	$45-$85	~$27.66
Plumbing	$183 (non-branded)	$40-$75	~$27.66
Electrical	$128 (non-branded)	$35-$70	~$27.66
Roofing	$124 (non-branded)	$50-$95	~$27.66
Cleaning/Maid	$47 (LocaliQ avg)	N/A	~$27.66

Sources: SearchLight Q1 2026; HomeServiceDirect 2026 LSA guide; LocaliQ Facebook Ads benchmark.

Meta’s $27.66 average CPL versus Google’s $70.11 average is a real cost arbitrage opportunity. The catch is that Facebook home improvement leads convert at only 5.22% according to LocaliQ’s Facebook benchmark data - lower intent, more nurturing required.

That’s why speed to lead matters so much on social. If you’re not calling a Facebook lead within five minutes, your close rate will crater.

Contractor Marketing Pros audited over 200 HVAC companies over three years and found that Google LSAs specifically averaged $50-$60 per call, with a 55% close rate - putting cost per sale around $110. Their assessment: “predictable and profitable.”

What conversion rates should you expect by trade?

LocaliQ analyzed 3,211 US-based home service search ad campaigns running from April 2024 through March 2025. The average conversion rate for home services is 7.33%. But that average covers a massive range.

Cleaning and maid services convert at 17.65%, window cleaning hits 13.58%, and handyman services come in at 13.45%. Those trades have short sales cycles and low purchase anxiety.

Construction and Contractors convert at just 2.61%, roofing and gutters at 3.70%, and doors and windows sales at 4.41%. Premium jobs take longer - that’s a sales cycle reality, not a campaign failure.

The same LocaliQ data shows CPL for Roofing and Gutters sits at $228.15 - the highest of any category. That’s because CPC is higher ($10.70) and conversion rates are lower. If you’re running roofing ads and wondering why your CPL looks nothing like the HVAC contractor next door, this is why.

Understanding your conversion rate also means understanding where leads fall off your website. Website traffic not converting is one of the most common problems we see - great CPL, terrible close rate, invisible leak somewhere in the funnel.

Does the ad channel change your ROAS expectations?

Yes, significantly. Here is what the channel mix looks like for HVAC specifically, based on January 2026 SearchLight data:

• Branded search: $34 CPL, highest ROAS, lowest volume
• Non-branded search: $149 CPL, mid ROAS, highest volume
• Performance Max: $72 CPL, variable ROAS, growing share

The mistake most contractors make is running non-branded campaigns only and wondering why their ROAS looks weak. Branded campaigns are 65-78% cheaper per lead and generate 3x the ROAS - across both roofing and HVAC data.

If you’re using ServiceTitan, syncing your ad data directly into your CRM gives you actual closed-revenue attribution instead of guessing based on leads. The ServiceTitan Google Ads integration closes the loop between your campaigns and real booked revenue.

One contractor in a ContractorTalk forum thread put it simply: “Google Ads work really well if implemented correctly - I’m averaging about a 4 to 1 ROI at the moment.” He specifically noted that tight keyword targeting was the difference, with his HVAC client switching from bidding on “AC repair” to “heating and cooling” and getting twice as many leads for the same spend.

If you want to know whether SEO or PPC is the better long-term play for your trade, that’s a separate conversation - but both need proper tracking to know if they’re actually working.

Tracking which website visitors came from paid ads and whether they ever became paying customers is the step most contractors skip entirely. Website visitor identification tools fill that gap by connecting ad clicks to actual people, not just anonymous sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ROAS should an HVAC contractor target on Google Ads?

The median ROAS for HVAC contractors is 4.37x based on SearchLight tracking $40M in Google Ads spend across 1,041 contractors in Q4 2025. Anything below 2.77x is bottom-quartile performance. Top performers exceed 10.24x, typically by combining branded campaigns, tight geographic targeting, and fast lead follow-up.

What is the average cost per lead for plumbing Google Ads?

The average non-branded CPL for plumbing Google Ads is $183, based on SearchLight tracking $14.6M in spend across 524 plumbing contractors in Q1 2026. The median plumbing contractor closes those leads at a $1,680 average ticket, producing a 5.54x ROAS. Branded plumbing search campaigns run significantly cheaper than non-branded.

Why is roofing ROAS hard to measure accurately?

Roofing has a long sales cycle - leads sit in pipeline for weeks or months before closing. SearchLight Q1 2026 data shows a 2.46x closed ROAS versus a 17.82x opportunity ROAS for roofing campaigns. That gap represents jobs still in process, not lost revenue. Measure roofing ROAS over 90 days minimum, not 30.

Are Google LSA leads worth it compared to regular Google Ads?

LSA leads are cheaper in almost every trade - HVAC runs $45-$85 per LSA lead versus $104 blended on regular Google Ads. The tradeoff is volume and control, since you can’t manage keywords or ad copy with LSAs. Most contractors who scale use both channels, with LSAs handling high-intent local searches and regular search ads covering broader keyword sets.

What is the average home services conversion rate for Google Ads?

LocaliQ analyzed 3,211 home service campaigns from April 2024 through March 2025 and found the average conversion rate is 7.33%. Cleaning services convert at 17.65% and handyman at 13.45%. Roofing sits at 3.70% and construction at 2.61%. Premium trades with longer decision cycles always convert lower - that is expected, not a red flag.

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Pull your Google Ads data from the last 90 days and calculate your actual ROAS using real closed revenue, not leads. If you are under 4.0x in HVAC or under 5.0x in plumbing, something in your funnel is leaking. PipelineOn helps you identify exactly where by tracking which visitors came from paid ads, what they did on your site, and whether they ever became paying customers.