Car dealership Google Ads cost per click
Across the US, a typical car dealership campaign on Google Ads pays about $2.20 a click. That ranks 138 of the 146 kinds of business measured here, where the one in the middle pays $5.40.
$2.20
Cost per click, US
2.4 million
Searches a month, US
$1.40 to $5.40
Google's top-of-page bids for the same searches
By service
Clicks for buying cars from owners cost the most at $10.50, 6.3 times those for used cars at $1.70. A campaign that takes every service pays somewhere between, set by which ones people search for most where it runs.
| Service | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Buying cars from owners | $10.50 | 120,000 |
| New cars | $3.00 | 110,000 |
| Used cars | $1.70 | 2.2 million |
By state
A click costs the most in Arizona at $3.10, 2.9 times one in Alaska at $1.10. The same searches cost more where more businesses bid on them and each customer is worth more.
Where people search most
| State | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $2.50 | 210,000 |
| California | $2.30 | 200,000 |
| Florida | $2.70 | 160,000 |
| New York | $1.90 | 130,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $2.00 | 120,000 |
| Ohio | $2.10 | 110,000 |
| North Carolina | $2.20 | 98,000 |
| Georgia | $2.30 | 94,000 |
| Illinois | $1.90 | 88,000 |
| Michigan | $1.90 | 76,000 |
Dearest and cheapest
| State | Cost per click |
|---|---|
| Arizona | $3.10 |
| Nevada | $2.90 |
| Florida | $2.70 |
| Colorado | $2.60 |
| District of Columbia | $2.60 |
| South Dakota | $1.50 |
| Montana | $1.40 |
| Maine | $1.40 |
| Hawaii | $1.20 |
| Alaska | $1.10 |
Every state with enough searches (51)
| State | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $3.10 | 47,000 |
| Nevada | $2.90 | 14,000 |
| Florida | $2.70 | 160,000 |
| Colorado | $2.60 | 37,000 |
| District of Columbia | $2.60 | 5,800 |
| Texas | $2.50 | 210,000 |
| Utah | $2.40 | 18,000 |
| Georgia | $2.30 | 94,000 |
| New Mexico | $2.30 | 10,000 |
| California | $2.30 | 200,000 |
| New Jersey | $2.30 | 66,000 |
| South Carolina | $2.30 | 43,000 |
| Maryland | $2.20 | 44,000 |
| North Carolina | $2.20 | 98,000 |
| Virginia | $2.20 | 64,000 |
| Oklahoma | $2.20 | 23,000 |
| Alabama | $2.10 | 42,000 |
| Ohio | $2.10 | 110,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $2.00 | 120,000 |
| Tennessee | $2.00 | 57,000 |
| Delaware | $2.00 | 10,000 |
| Indiana | $2.00 | 61,000 |
| Louisiana | $2.00 | 31,000 |
| Missouri | $2.00 | 47,000 |
| Oregon | $2.00 | 23,000 |
| Kansas | $2.00 | 21,000 |
| New York | $1.90 | 130,000 |
| Idaho | $1.90 | 10,000 |
| Michigan | $1.90 | 76,000 |
| Nebraska | $1.90 | 12,000 |
| Washington | $1.90 | 52,000 |
| Illinois | $1.90 | 88,000 |
| Arkansas | $1.80 | 19,000 |
| Minnesota | $1.80 | 42,000 |
| Kentucky | $1.80 | 35,000 |
| Mississippi | $1.80 | 18,000 |
| New Hampshire | $1.80 | 11,000 |
| Connecticut | $1.70 | 27,000 |
| Rhode Island | $1.70 | 6,700 |
| Iowa | $1.70 | 22,000 |
| Wisconsin | $1.70 | 41,000 |
| Massachusetts | $1.70 | 49,000 |
| Vermont | $1.70 | 5,200 |
| West Virginia | $1.60 | 17,000 |
| Wyoming | $1.60 | 3,300 |
| North Dakota | $1.60 | 3,900 |
| South Dakota | $1.50 | 4,600 |
| Montana | $1.40 | 4,300 |
| Maine | $1.40 | 10,000 |
| Hawaii | $1.20 | 5,700 |
| Alaska | $1.10 | 2,900 |
Against Google's own bids
Keyword Planner puts the top-of-page bids for these searches at $1.40 to $5.40: what advertisers bid to show above the results. A typical campaign pays $2.20, inside that range, because Google charges what it takes to beat the ad below and not the bid itself. Planning a budget on the top-of-page bid overstates what clicks will cost.
No published study measures this business on its own, so its price level is the median for its industry in LocaliQ's studies, moved a third of the way toward Google's prices scaled to what campaigns paid. Google's prices set how its services and the states compare.
Searches peak in July, at 34% above December, the slowest month. A budget sized for the slow months runs out sooner in the busy ones.
Priced near car dealership
Just above and below in the ranking
- Urgent care$2.30
- Limo and party bus$2.20
- Catering$2.20
- Nail salon$1.90
- Photography and video$1.90
- DJ and live music$1.60
Others in auto and vehicles
- Auto glass$7.90
- Auto body and collision$7.50
- Towing$4.40
- Auto repair$4.30
- Truck and diesel repair$3.80
- Window tint$3.60
- RV and boat repair$3.60
- Tire shop$3.50
Where the figures come from
Google's own search counts and click prices for the year to August 2026 (Keyword Planner, through DataForSEO), scaled to what campaigns paid in LocaliQ's published studies, rounded to ten cents. They are medians: half of campaigns pay more. The full method is on the benchmark page, and the budget calculator runs on the same data for any ZIP code.
Bringing your own cost per click down starts in the account:
Written by Grant Epley. Last reviewed October 11, 2026. Search data to August 2026.