At a glance
0.17%
Overall Avg, all industries combined
A zero unsubscribe rate often indicates a suppressed unsubscribe mechanism or a disengaged list that reports spam instead of unsubscribing. Healthy lists have healthy churn. Design your email program to attract the right subscribers — and make it easy to leave for those who don't fit. It protects your deliverability.
Re-engagement campaigns are designed to surface inactive subscribers — high unsubscribes from these sends are intentional and healthy.
| Industry | Avg Unsub Rate | Benchmark | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare / Wellness | 0.08% | Excellent | High-value, permission-driven audience |
| Financial Services | 0.09% | Excellent | Compliance-aware marketers send less frequently |
| Education / Training | 0.10% | Excellent | High perceived value of content |
| SaaS / Technology | 0.12% | Good | Product-led content; users opted in for updates |
| B2B Services | 0.14% | Good | Moderate frequency; high relevance expectations |
| Nonprofit / Government | 0.10% | Excellent | Mission-driven subscribers have high loyalty |
| Travel / Hospitality | 0.16% | Good | Seasonal demand; unsubscribes spike after travel season |
| Real Estate | 0.18% | Average | Unsubscribes spike post-transaction |
| Publishing / Media | 0.18% | Average | Content fatigue if cadence is too high |
| Restaurant / Food | 0.21% | Average | High frequency promotions drive some churn |
| Ecommerce / Retail | 0.24% | Watch | High promotional frequency; seasonal spikes |
| Fashion / Apparel | 0.26% | Watch | Heavy promotional email cadence |
| Beauty / Cosmetics | 0.22% | Average | Above average but driven by heavy promotional sends |
| Legal Services | 0.13% | Good | Low frequency; high relevance |
| Automotive | 0.19% | Average | Post-purchase intent drop-off is natural |
| Email Type | Avg Unsub Rate | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Transactional (receipts, confirmations) | 0.02% | Expected emails; rarely unsub trigger |
| Welcome Series | 0.08% | Naturally filters non-fitting subscribers early |
| Abandoned Cart | 0.12% | Relevant and timely; low unsubscribe |
| Newsletter / Content | 0.14% | Content quality drives loyalty vs. churn |
| Product Announcement | 0.11% | Low if relevant to active users |
| Promotional / Sale | 0.28% | High — especially if discount expectations set |
| Re-engagement Campaign | 0.84% | Expected — design is to filter inactive subs |
| Survey / Feedback | 0.09% | Ask for input — low churn trigger |
These benchmarks are drawn from a multi-source benchmark cohort aggregated across industries and regions, covering the period Q1 2023 – Q4 2024. Figures on this page come from the Benchmarketing benchmark dataset: thousands of curated benchmark observations spanning channels, industries, and US metro areas, refreshed on a published schedule. Every statistic traces to a named source — no anonymous “studies show.” Data is sourced from:
The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method reads every marketing metric against four percentile bands — P25 (bottom quartile), median, P75 (top quartile), and elite (top ~10%) — for a specific industry and channel, instead of a single cross-industry average. Averages blend brand and non-brand campaigns, $500/month and $500,000/month accounts, and unrelated industries into a number almost nobody actually has.
Benchmarks reflect median values across large sample sets. Your industry, business model, and account maturity will cause variation. Use P25/P75 ranges to understand realistic distribution.
Read full methodologyUnder 0.25% per send is healthy for most industries. Under 0.1% is excellent. A single campaign above 0.5% warrants investigation into content relevance, list health, or unexpected frequency increases. ESPs like Mailchimp and HubSpot will flag accounts above 0.5% cumulative; above 1% risks account suspension and deliverability damage.
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Every statistic on this page traces to a named source below. Benchmarketing does not publish anonymous "studies show" figures. Rows labeled Benchmarketing are our own aggregated, curated benchmark data.
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Written by
Benchmarketing Research Team
Data & Analytics
Reviewed by
Performance Marketing Editorial
Senior Review
Last updated
Reviewed March 2026
Observation period: Q1 2023 – Q4 2024