What a Google Ads Click Costs for Local Businesses: 42 Trades Compared

Google Ads click, middle trade, US 2026

$14.321

Low Hair salon $1.25High Personal injury lawyer $126.57

A Google Ads click for a local business costs $14.32 in the middle of the 42 trades I priced. A hair salon pays $1.25 for someone searching "hair salon near me." A personal injury firm pays $126.57 for "personal injury attorney," and $290.37 when the search is "accident lawyer near me"1.

I bought clicks for local businesses for years while Clickflame was a Google Partner agency. The price of a click is the first number to know, because it tells you what one call is going to cost before you spend a dollar.

What $1,000 Buys in Each Trade

Same budget, very different results. At the average price, $1,000 buys 167 clicks for a mechanic, 25 for a plumber and 8 for a personal injury lawyer.

The Most Expensive Clicks

Average cost per click on each trade's main search. The pattern is simple: the more one job is worth to the business, the more a click costs.

1. Personal injury lawyerpersonal injury attorney$126.57
2. DUI lawyerdui lawyer near me$67.14
3. Water damage restorationwater damage restoration$55.09
4. Foundation repairfoundation repair near me$52.38
5. AC and heatingac repair near me$46.35
6. SEO agencyseo services$45.88
7. Garage door repairgarage door repair near me$45.75
8. Rooferroof repair near me$40.26
9. Plumberplumber near me$39.28
10. Remodelingbathroom remodel near me$33.31
11. Pest controlpest control near me$31.29
12. Flooringflooring installation near me$27.09

The Cheapest Clicks

1. Hair salonhair salon near me$1.25
2. Car detailingcar detailing near me$2.90
3. Dog groomingdog grooming near me$3.05
4. Pre-purchase car inspectionpre purchase car inspection$4.77
5. Mechanicmechanic near me$5.98
6. Private investigatorprivate investigator near me$7.05
7. Veterinarianveterinarian near me$7.34
8. Lawn carelawn care near me$8.92
9. Handymanhandyman near me$9.08
10. Auto glasswindshield replacement near me$9.28

One Word Can Double the Price

The search behind the click matters as much as the trade. People who type "emergency" are ready to hire right now, and every company in town knows it:

• "plumber near me" averages $39.28 a click. "emergency plumber" averages $74.89, about 1.9 times as much1.
• "personal injury attorney" averages $126.57. "car accident attorney" averages $237.28, and the top-of-page bid for it runs as high as $495.001.
• On my side of the business, "mechanic near me" averages $5.98 and "mobile mechanic near me" $5.62. Car repair is one of the cheapest trades to advertise, and that is one reason a mobile mechanic can still make ads pay.

Busy Season Changes the Math

Search demand swings through the year, and with it how many calls the same budget can bring in. Searches for "ac repair near me" ran from 110,000 in November 2025 to 368,000 in September 2026. "Furnace repair near me" ran from 27,100 in May 2026 to 135,000 in September 20261.

Price Your Own Ad Budget

Pick your trade and put in your own numbers: your budget, how many clicks it usually takes to get one call, and how many calls it takes to book one job. The prices are this month's averages1. The last box uses Google's top-of-page bid range, the 20th to 80th percentile of what advertisers bid to show at the top2.

The number that matters is the cost of one booked job, not the cost of a click. A $1.25 click that never calls is worth less than a $39.28 click that books a water heater.

Bail Bonds Has No Price, Because Google Will Not Sell It

I went through bail agent school in 2023, so I know this one up close. You will not find a bail bonds row in this study. Google does not allow ads for bail bond services, including bondsmen, bail financing and bounty hunters3, and it has banned them since 20184. Keyword Planner returns no price for "bail bonds" at all1. A bail agent has to win the call with a Google Business Profile, a real website and referrals.

Local Services Ads Charge by the Lead, Not the Click

Plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, lawyers and many other trades can also run Local Services Ads, the boxes with the Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge. Those charge for each valid lead, such as a call or message, instead of each click5. Google does not publish one price for them; it depends on the trade, the city and the bid. I wrote about the newest change to that billing, Google charging for calls you miss, on the Clickflame blog.

What My Own Industry Pays

For the record, my own trade is not cheap to advertise either. "seo services" averages $45.88 a click and "local seo services" $24.121. Clickflame works mostly organic today and runs ads only when a client asks, and these prices are a big part of why. A page that ranks keeps bringing calls after the budget is gone. A click is gone the second it is paid for.

Every Trade and Search in This Study

US, English, Google Search. "Avg. click" is Google's average cost per click. "Top of page bid" is the low (20th percentile) to high (80th percentile) range advertisers bid to show above the organic results2. "Ad competition" is Google's 0 to 100 score for how many advertisers bid on the search compared with all searches.

Trade and search	Searches a month	Avg. click	Top of page bid	Ad competition
Home repair
Plumberplumber near me	823,000	$39.28	$12.22to $82.33	43
emergency plumber	90,500	$74.89	$24.42to $110.00	8
drain cleaning near me	110,000	$44.22	$14.43to $78.01	11
water heater installation	33,100	$29.63	$8.25to $60.00	10
Electricianelectrician near me	368,000	$22.65	$5.73to $55.00	65
AC and heatingac repair near me	201,000	$46.35	$15.00to $100.95	28
hvac repair	74,000	$35.41	$17.00to $100.00	15
furnace repair near me	74,000	$27.05	$6.58to $66.44	12
Rooferroof repair near me	90,500	$40.26	$14.59to $69.26	29
roofing contractor near me	90,500	$24.37	$13.29to $75.00	9
Garage door repairgarage door repair near me	165,000	$45.75	$13.73to $77.05	41
Water damage restorationwater damage restoration	90,500	$55.09	$18.20to $99.99	8
mold removal near me	18,100	$38.14	$5.92to $38.98	13
Foundation repairfoundation repair near me	49,500	$52.38	$9.26to $61.57	20
Appliance repairappliance repair near me	165,000	$10.10	$1.67to $9.73	54
Handymanhandyman near me	110,000	$9.08	$2.98to $12.51	63
drywall repair near me	18,100	$12.70	$3.74to $18.42	55
Septic pumpingseptic tank pumping near me	33,100	$18.03	$2.46to $19.39	47
Home services
Pest controlpest control near me	165,000	$31.29	$8.63to $51.41	53
termite treatment	40,500	$24.20	$5.03to $33.14	83
bed bug exterminator	110,000	$24.70	$5.75to $27.43	33
Moversmovers near me	301,000	$27.02	$9.18to $37.76	43
Junk removaljunk removal near me	110,000	$16.12	$3.31to $23.01	39
dumpster rental near me	165,000	$8.49	$1.94to $9.51	44
Tree servicetree service near me	135,000	$15.17	$3.16to $20.93	47
tree removal near me	49,500	$18.07	$3.52to $21.19	47
Pool servicepool service near me	33,100	$15.83	$3.19to $20.45	35
Gutter cleaninggutter cleaning near me	40,500	$13.94	$5.89to $23.15	62
Carpet cleaningcarpet cleaning near me	110,000	$13.40	$2.23to $12.89	58
Pressure washingpressure washing near me	110,000	$10.48	$3.95to $20.00	43
House cleaninghouse cleaning near me	60,500	$10.35	$3.03to $15.64	41
Window cleaningwindow cleaning near me	60,500	$10.25	$3.14to $18.89	39
Lawn carelawn care near me	74,000	$8.92	$3.29to $14.47	42
landscaping near me	90,500	$8.75	$3.25to $15.33	50
Building
Remodelingbathroom remodel near me	90,500	$33.31	$13.68to $55.00	23
kitchen remodel near me	90,500	$20.22	$6.58to $41.68	14
general contractor near me	135,000	$10.70	$5.52to $31.69	47
Flooringflooring installation near me	14,800	$27.09	$6.29to $51.88	29
Solarsolar panel installation	74,000	$25.22	$3.75to $30.84	20
House painterhouse painters near me	110,000	$13.74	$5.70to $34.06	46
Fencefence installation near me	27,100	$13.31	$4.16to $24.60	28
Concreteconcrete contractor near me	60,500	$11.76	$3.19to $16.43	41
Car and lock
Locksmithlocksmith near me	673,000	$15.09	$2.82to $15.00	62
car lockout	8,100	$15.70	$2.79to $11.87	47
Towingtow truck near me	368,000	$11.72	$2.76to $10.55	67
towing near me	246,000	$9.08	$2.34to $9.74	58
Auto glasswindshield replacement near me	60,500	$9.28	$2.49to $15.67	55
auto glass repair near me	60,500	$8.14	$2.15to $11.57	59
Mechanicmechanic near me	673,000	$5.98	$2.00to $7.90	70
auto repair near me	450,000	$5.48	$2.01to $8.43	48
mobile mechanic near me	201,000	$5.62	$1.60to $5.01	74
Pre-purchase car inspectionpre purchase car inspection	5,400	$4.77	$1.52to $6.00	44
used car inspection near me	590	$3.93	$1.28to $4.28	71
Car detailingcar detailing near me	301,000	$2.90	$1.53to $5.44	68
Legal and pro
Personal injury lawyerpersonal injury attorney	90,500	$126.57	$64.90to $323.89	16
car accident attorney	40,500	$237.28	$97.31to $495.00	18
accident lawyer near me	14,800	$290.37	$113.49to $525.00	29
DUI lawyerdui lawyer near me	60,500	$67.14	$8.12to $102.19	15
criminal defense attorney near me	90,500	$52.82	$4.45to $66.15	12
SEO agencyseo services	49,500	$45.88	$10.14to $41.21	11
local seo services	6,600	$24.12	$7.55to $30.55	8
web design near me	14,800	$18.64	$5.64to $23.72	4
Private investigatorprivate investigator near me	22,200	$7.05	$1.38to $7.06	34
Health and pets
Dentistdentist near me	1,830,000	$14.71	$4.87to $22.92	51
emergency dentist	135,000	$18.59	$3.68to $20.30	43
dental implants near me	90,500	$38.76	$10.46to $50.20	17
Chiropractorchiropractor near me	673,000	$10.02	$2.85to $16.00	45
Veterinarianveterinarian near me	550,000	$7.34	$2.39to $10.36	55
Dog groomingdog grooming near me	450,000	$3.05	$1.08to $4.77	56
Hair salonhair salon near me	1,500,000	$1.25	$0.57to $2.80	50

How We Got These Numbers

We pulled Google Keyword Planner data for 70 searches through the DataForSEO Google Ads API on November 1, 2026, for the whole United States in English1. Searches a month is the 12-month average from October 2025 to September 2026. Google rounds search counts into bands, so two searches can show the same number. Your own cost per click will be different. It depends on your city, your Quality Score, your ad schedule and who else is bidding that day.