How Much Do Contractor Leads Cost? Prices by Trade in 2026

High-ticket trades support the highest lead prices because a single closed job justifies significant acquisition spend. Solar runs $90 to $220 per exclusive lead against a roughly $22,000 average job and a 20% close rate. General contracting runs $80 to $190 against a $35,000 average project value at a 15% close rate. Remodeling runs $85 to $200 against a $28,000 average job at 18%. Water damage restoration runs $90 to $250 against a $9,500 average job at a notably higher 38% close rate, since restoration work is often urgent and non-discretionary.

Deck construction and window replacement sit at the lower end of this tier: decks run $55 to $140 against an $11,000 average job at 25% close rate, and window replacement runs $70 to $160 against a $9,500 average job at 25%. In every high-ticket trade, a lead price that looks expensive in isolation is usually cheap relative to job value — the real risk in this tier is a low close rate eating into an otherwise favorable ratio.

Mid-ticket trades balance moderate job values against moderate close rates and represent the largest share of exclusive lead volume in most markets. Roofing runs $75 to $165 against a $12,000 average job at a 28% close rate — among the strongest cost-per-job ratios in the mid tier because roof damage is often insurance-driven and time-sensitive. HVAC runs $60 to $130 against a $7,500 average job at 32%, with prices climbing toward the top of the range during peak summer and winter demand windows.

Concrete runs $50 to $120 against a $6,000 average job at 30%. Electrical runs $35 to $95 against a $2,200 average job at 40%. Landscaping and lawn care run $25 to $70 against a $3,500 average job at 35%. Moving runs $30 to $80 against a $1,400 average job at 35%. These trades reward volume — the per-lead price is manageable enough that most operators can afford the 20 to 30 monthly leads needed to see a statistically meaningful close rate.

High-frequency trades have lower average job values but very high close rates, because the jobs are typically urgent, low-consideration, and hard to shop around extensively. Locksmith leads run $15 to $45 against a $220 average job at a 60% close rate — the highest close rate of any trade we track, since a locked-out customer books the first available responder. Garage door runs $20 to $55 against a $950 average job at 50%. Junk removal runs $18 to $50 against a $450 average job at 50%.

Plumbing runs $35 to $90 against an $1,800 average job at 45%. Pest control runs $25 to $65 against a $550 average job at 45%. Tree service runs $30 to $75 against a $1,500 average job at 42%. These trades produce the lowest cost per acquired job of any tier in dollar terms, even though the per-job margin is smaller than high-ticket trades, because so few leads are wasted on non-converting inquiries.

Exclusivity is the single largest price driver: an exclusive lead sold to one business costs two to four times what the same inquiry costs when sold to three to five competitors, because you are buying the entire conversion opportunity rather than a fraction of it. Lead type matters next — a live-transferred phone call or a pre-scheduled appointment costs meaningfully more than a web form fill, because it arrives further along the buying decision with less follow-up work required.

Geography is the third factor: dense metros with heavy contractor competition for the same search terms and ad inventory push prices up, while lower-competition rural ZIPs generally price lower. Job value is the fourth factor — a $22,000 solar install supports a much higher lead price than a $450 junk-removal haul, because the acquisition cost is a smaller percentage of revenue. Volume commitment is the fifth factor: contractors who commit to a steady monthly volume typically unlock lower unit pricing than those buying leads sporadically, since predictable volume lets the lead generator plan ad spend more efficiently.

Shared leads sold to three to five contractors carry a lower sticker price but convert at roughly 5% to 12%, versus 25% to 40% typical for exclusive inventory. Marketplace leads — sold on platforms with essentially unlimited competing bidders — convert lower still, frequently under 5%, because the consumer may receive calls from a dozen or more businesses within minutes of submitting one form. On sticker price alone, shared and marketplace leads look like the cheaper option; on cost per acquired job, the number that actually determines profitability, exclusive inventory is usually the better buy.

Take roofing as an example: an exclusive lead at $120 with a 28% close rate produces a cost per acquired job of roughly $430. A shared roofing lead at $40 with an 8% close rate produces a cost per acquired job of roughly $500 — more expensive despite a lead price one-third as high, because three times as many leads are needed to land the same job. This pattern holds across most trades we track, which is why cost per acquired job, not cost per lead, should be the number in your budget spreadsheet.

Before committing budget to any lead price, run the break-even calculation: divide the midpoint lead price by your average job value to find the close rate required just to cover the cost of the lead itself. For roofing, a $120 midpoint lead against a $12,000 average job requires only a 1% close rate to break even — well below the 28% typical close rate on exclusive inventory, which is why roofing leads pencil so favorably for most operators.

For a thinner-margin trade like garage door service, a $38 midpoint lead against a $950 average job requires about a 4% close rate to break even, again comfortably below the 50% typical close rate for the trade. The general formula is: break-even close rate = lead price ÷ average job value, expressed as a percentage. Any trade where your actual close rate meaningfully exceeds this break-even threshold has room to absorb a higher lead price, additional follow-up staffing, or a temporary dip in close rate without becoming unprofitable — which is the buffer you want before scaling monthly volume.

Run this same math against your own actual numbers rather than the trade averages here: your specific average job value, your specific close rate over your last 90 days of leads, and the actual lead price you are quoted. The averages in this article are useful for budgeting a first campaign, but your own historical close rate is the number that should govern how much volume you commit to once you have 20 to 30 leads of real data.

A reasonable first-month budget buys enough volume to produce a statistically meaningful close rate — generally 20 to 30 leads in your trade and market. Using mid-ticket midpoint pricing, that lands most trades between $1,500 and $4,000 for the first month. High-frequency, lower-priced trades like locksmith or junk removal can hit that lead count for closer to $600 to $1,200, while high-ticket trades like solar or general contracting should budget $3,000 to $6,000 to see the same 20 to 30 lead sample size.

Resist the temptation to judge a campaign on the first five or ten leads — small samples produce misleadingly high or low apparent close rates in either direction. Track cost per acquired job weekly, compare it against your break-even threshold, and adjust volume or targeting only after you have enough leads to trust the trend. Our lead pricing page has current, market-specific ranges by ZIP footprint and monthly volume if you want to model a specific budget before committing.