Industry benchmarks for Local Services
Break-even ROAS for local services is about 1.7x on a $480 average job with 40% labor and materials cost. Local Services Ads and search campaigns produce cost per lead of $25-90 depending on trade, with plumbing and HVAC at the top and cleaning or landscaping at the bottom. Lead-to-booked-job conversion runs 25-45%, and speed to first contact is the dominant variable: responding within five minutes roughly doubles booking rate against a one-hour response. Average achieved ROAS in the category is around 3.4x, helped by high intent and low competition per postcode.
Booking rate, not cost per click, is where the money is. Moving lead-to-job conversion from 28% to 40% cuts effective cost per acquisition by 30% and drops break-even ROAS proportionally, which usually costs nothing but a call-answering process and same-day quotes. Job value is the second lever: attaching a maintenance plan or a second-service upsell lifts average ticket 20-35% and pulls break-even under 1.4x. Exclude out-of-area and job-seeker calls from your conversion counts, or reported ROAS will read 20-40% higher than reality.
Frequently asked questions
Break-Even ROAS Calculator for Local Services, answered.
What is a good ROAS for local services?
Above 1.7x is profitable on a typical 60% margin job, and well-run local accounts average around 3.4x.
How do I calculate ROAS when the sale happens on the phone?
Use booked job revenue, not lead count. Track call outcomes back to the campaign, then divide closed revenue by spend for that period.
Does call answering speed really affect ROAS?
Yes. Five-minute response times roughly double booking rate versus one hour, which nearly halves your effective cost per job.