Email Open Rate Benchmark
Industry benchmark for email open rates.
1 min readLast updated Apr 2026
Quick Reference
CategoryKey Benchmarks Reference
Related Terms1
Industry benchmark for email open rates.
Why It Matters
Open rate indicates subject line effectiveness and list health. Low open rates signal deliverability issues or list fatigue that hurt all email performance.
Benchmarks
Good Performance
20%+
Top Performers
30%+
Practical Example
Scenario
A home goods brand reviews their email performance.
Calculation
Campaigns: 22% open rate (good). Flows: 45% open rate (excellent). List-wide average: 28%Result
Above-benchmark performance across programs, with flows significantly outperforming due to relevance and timing
Pro Tips
- 1Compare flows vs. campaigns separately—flows should have higher open rates due to relevance
- 2Monitor Apple MPP (Mail Privacy Protection) impact—open rates may be inflated for Apple Mail users
- 3Segment open rates by list tenure—new subscribers should have higher opens than year-old subscribers
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Panicking about open rates post-iOS 15—focus more on click rates and conversion now
Using open rate as the primary metric when clicks and revenue matter more
Not cleaning lists of chronically un-engaged subscribers, which tanks deliverability