By The Run My Ads team · Updated · 5 min read
The short answer
There is no set price. Meta sells ads by auction, so you pay what it takes to reach people, and your cost per lead is simply what you spent divided by the leads you got. The most cited public benchmark, WordStream's study of 2,946 campaigns, found a median cost per lead of $38.09 for Finance and Insurance lead campaigns, against $21.98 across all industries.[1] Newer all-industry medians sit around $27.[2][3] Your number can land well above or well below that, depending on your product, your offer, your form and how fast you call.
How Facebook charges you
You do not buy leads from Meta. You set a daily budget, Meta shows your ad to people in an auction against every other advertiser who wants the same eyeballs, and you are charged as the ad is shown. Leads are what you get back. That is why two agents with the same budget can end the week with very different results.
The math you will use every week is short:
- Cost per lead = what you spent ÷ how many people filled in your form.
- Cost per booked appointment = what you spent ÷ how many of those people booked a time with you.
- Cost per sale = what you spent ÷ how many policies you wrote.
Example with made-up round numbers: you spend $50 a day for 7 days, which is $350. Twenty people fill in your form. That is a cost per lead of $17.50. If 5 of them book a call, your cost per booked appointment is $70.
Cost per lead is the number everyone quotes, but it is the easiest one to fool yourself with. A cheap lead that never answers the phone is not cheap. That is why we judge ads on cost per booked appointment, not on clicks or raw leads.
What the published benchmarks say
Three large, public data sets are worth knowing. All three report medians, so half the campaigns did better and half did worse.
| Source | What was measured | Median cost per lead |
|---|---|---|
| WordStream 2024[1] | Finance and Insurance lead campaigns, 2023 to 2024 | $38.09 |
| WordStream 2024[1] | All industries, lead campaigns | $21.98 |
| WordStream 2025[2] | All industries, 726 US lead campaigns, 2024 to 2025 | $27.66 |
| LocaliQ[3] | All industries, leads objective, latest edition | $27.39 |
Two more numbers from the 2024 study explain why insurance costs more than most. Finance and Insurance had a median cost per click of $4.57 on lead campaigns, the second highest of any industry, and a form fill rate of 5.98%, lower than most industries in the study.[1] The 2025 study found Finance and Insurance had the highest cost per click of any industry on traffic campaigns and one of the lowest click rates.[2] In plain words: fewer people stop for an insurance ad than for a pizza ad, and the ones who do cost more to reach.
Keep in mind what these benchmarks are. "Finance and Insurance" mixes mortgages, credit cards, auto insurance and life insurance, and the campaigns came from the agencies' own clients. They are a sanity check, not a forecast for your account.
What life, final expense and mortgage protection agents see
There is no public, audited benchmark just for life insurance leads on Facebook. What we can tell you is what we have seen. In our own Family Equity Protection mortgage protection campaigns over two weeks in September 2026, the all-in cost per lead was about $14. Other tests ran higher. That is our experience with one product, not a price and not a promise.
There is also a public clue from the lead vendor side. One vendor publishes Facebook-generated final expense leads at "as low as $16" each, with a 20 lead minimum.[4] A vendor that stays in business usually pays less in ad cost than it charges, so its own cost per lead is likely lower than that. Where that leaves you depends on whether you can run ads as well as a vendor running them all day, which is the real question in buying leads vs running your own ads.
What moves your cost the most
In our experience, these five things matter far more than any trick in the ad settings:
- The offer. An ad that says what someone gets ("see what a policy that pays off your mortgage would cost") beats an ad that says who you are.
- The visuals. A clear photo or short video of a real-looking person usually beats a stock graphic. Fresh visuals matter because people tire of the same ad.
- The form. A short Meta form brings more leads at a lower cost per lead. A few extra questions bring fewer, more serious leads. Neither is right for everyone; test both and compare cost per booked appointment.
- Speed to call. The lead is warmest in the first few minutes. A cheap lead called the next day often turns into an expensive one.
- Patience. In our experience a new ad needs about a week of data before you can judge it, and changing it every day sets it back.
Insurance ads also run under Meta's financial products and services special ad category, which removes age, gender and ZIP code targeting.[5] That changes how you write the ad more than what it costs. We cover it in is insurance a special ad category on Facebook?
How much should you budget to find out?
Enough to get a real read in a week. If you expect a cost per lead somewhere near the benchmarks, a budget that buys only a handful of leads tells you very little either way. Pick a daily budget you are fine spending for seven days without touching it, and decide in advance what cost per booked appointment would make it worth continuing. When you are ready to scale, our rule is to raise the budget in steps of about 20% at a time, to help keep delivery steady.
About this guide. Run My Ads sells ad software and a Done-For-You Ads plan that delivers leads, so we have a stake in this topic. We have tried to show both sides, cite every number to a public source, and label our own numbers as ours.
Common questions
What is the average cost per lead for insurance on Facebook?
WordStream's 2024 study of 2,946 campaigns found a median cost per lead of $38.09 for Finance and Insurance lead campaigns, against $21.98 for all industries. Newer all-industry medians are about $27. Your own cost depends on your product, offer, form and follow-up.
Why do insurance ads cost more than ads for other businesses?
Fewer people stop for an insurance ad than for an everyday purchase, and many advertisers compete for the same people. The 2024 WordStream data shows Finance and Insurance with one of the highest costs per click and a below-average form fill rate.
Is cost per lead the right number to judge my ads on?
It is a start, but cost per booked appointment and cost per sale tell you more. A lead that never answers is not cheap at any price.
Can anyone promise me a cost per lead?
No. Meta sells ads by auction and prices change with competition, season and your ad. Anyone who promises a fixed ad cost per lead is guessing or selling you leads at a set price, which is a different product.
Sources
- Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2024. WordStream (LocaliQ). 2,946 campaigns, February 2023 to April 2024; figures are medians.
- Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2025. WordStream (LocaliQ). 726 US lead campaigns, April 2024 to June 2025; figures are medians.
- Facebook Advertising Benchmarks. LocaliQ.
- Lead Platform (published lead prices and terms). Insurance Toolkits.
- Special Ad Category (Marketing API documentation). Meta for Developers.