Traffic comparisons only mean something within your niche. 20,000 monthly visits is elite for a local dentist and invisible for a news site. We pulled DataForSEO Traffic Analytics data across 14 industries to get you 2026 median benchmarks you can actually use.
How to read these benchmarks
Three tiers per industry: Starter (just getting going), Established (sustainable business), and Top 10% (category leader range). Numbers are monthly unique visitors pulled from the median of sites we sampled in each niche.
Benchmarks by industry
| Industry | Starter | Established | Top 10% | Typical RPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B SaaS blog | 2k – 10k | 30k – 100k | 250k+ | $18 |
| E-commerce (single niche) | 5k – 20k | 100k – 500k | 1M+ | — |
| News / current affairs | 30k – 100k | 500k – 2M | 5M+ | $4 |
| Personal finance | 15k – 40k | 150k – 500k | 1M+ | $22 |
| Health / wellness | 20k – 60k | 200k – 600k | 1.5M+ | $14 |
| Recipe / food blog | 10k – 40k | 150k – 500k | 1.5M+ | $18 |
| Travel blog | 10k – 30k | 100k – 400k | 1M+ | $12 |
| Tech review / news | 10k – 50k | 200k – 800k | 2M+ | $10 |
| Gaming | 20k – 75k | 300k – 1M | 3M+ | $4 |
| Entertainment / celebs | 30k – 100k | 500k – 2M | 5M+ | $5 |
| Developer tools / docs | 3k – 15k | 80k – 200k | 750k+ | — |
| Education / online courses | 5k – 20k | 80k – 250k | 700k+ | $12 |
| Parenting / family | 10k – 40k | 150k – 500k | 1.5M+ | $16 |
| Local service / trade | 300 – 2k | 5k – 20k | 50k+ | — |
Why RPM matters more than raw traffic
A recipe blog at 150k visits/month earns roughly the same as a personal finance site at 60k/month — because finance RPM ($22) is ~1.2× recipe RPM ($18), and finance sites typically add strong affiliate uplift that recipes can't match. Raw traffic is a vanity metric. Revenue per thousand visitors is the business metric.
How to benchmark your own site
- Identify 3–5 direct competitors (same niche + rough same age).
- Run each through SiteWorthIt's free traffic checker.
- Take the median visits; that's your benchmark.
- Check the growth rate — are they trending up or flat?
- If you're within ±30% of the median and growing faster, you're winning.
Niche-specific traffic patterns
Seasonal niches (tax prep, fitness, holiday) swing 3–5× between peaks and troughs. Benchmark against the full year, not a hot month.
News / entertainment has huge direct-traffic skew (brand loyalty) — don't compare their organic share to a SaaS blog's.
SaaS / B2B has tiny traffic with massive revenue per visit. A 5k/month signup-driver can outearn a 200k/month recipe site.
Local / service rewards <1k visits/month because intent is maximum — "plumber near me" converts at 20–30%.
Industries with the most upside in 2026
- AI tools + education — keyword demand grew 8× in 2024–2025.
- Sustainable finance — high CPC, growing search interest.
- Developer tooling — low supply, high intent, high LTV.
- Local service — still under-served by digital, easy rankings.
Industries that are saturated
- Personal finance affiliate content — dominated by NerdWallet, Bankrate, etc.
- General recipe blogs — requires serious authority + deep category expertise.
- Generic SEO/marketing blogs — meta-niche, hard to differentiate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average website traffic in my niche?
Varies massively — "good" in local services is 5,000/month while equivalent in news needs 500,000+. Check the industry table for your niche's median.
How do I benchmark against my niche?
Identify 3–5 competitors, run them through SiteWorthIt, take the median. Growth rate matters more than absolute volume.
Which niches have the highest traffic?
News, entertainment, and social dominate raw volume. SaaS and B2B look small by traffic but have 10–20× higher revenue per visit.