Calculators
Local Service Ads ROI Calculator
Local Service Ads charge per lead, not per click — which makes the maths unusually clean. Enter your average job value, your close rate on inbound calls, and what a lead costs in your category, and this tells you what a given budget should return. Free, no email required, and the formula is published below.
If you don't know your cost per lead yet, the calculator suggests a range by trade so you can model it before committing.
How the maths works
Local Service Ads bill per lead, so the chain is short:
Budget ÷ cost per lead = leads. Leads × close rate = booked jobs. Booked jobs × job value = revenue.
Two adjustments most calculators miss:
Disputes. You can dispute wrong numbers, spam, out-of-area calls and services you don't offer. Successful disputes refund the charge, so your effective lead count is higher than budget ÷ cost per lead suggests. Most businesses never file disputes and quietly pay for junk — if that's you, set the dispute rate to zero and see what it costs.
Repeat business. A plumbing customer who returns twice is worth double on the first acquisition. If you don't track that, leave it at 1 and the result is conservative.
Worked example. An HVAC company: $850 average job, 45% margin, 50% close rate on inbound calls, $40 per lead, $2,000 monthly budget:
| Billable leads | $2,000 ÷ $40 = 50 |
| Usable after 12% disputed | 57 |
| Booked jobs | 57 × 50% = 28 |
| Revenue | 28 × $850 = $23,800 |
| Gross profit | $10,710 |
| Profit after ad spend | $8,710 |
| Return on ad spend | 11.9x |
| Cost per booked job | $71 |
At those numbers the constraint isn't budget — it's whether they can service 28 extra jobs a month.
The number that actually matters
Break-even close rate. It tells you the minimum percentage of leads you must convert for the channel to make money at your job value.
If your break-even is 22% and you're closing 50%, you have enormous headroom and should probably spend more. If your break-even is 40% and you're closing 35%, no budget will fix it — the problem is what happens when the phone rings, not how many times it rings.
This is why we look at intake before recommending spend increases. More leads into a business that converts poorly just increases the losses.
What this doesn't account for
- Capacity. The model assumes you can service the work. If you can't, the honest answer is a smaller budget or a bigger crew
- Seasonality. HVAC in July isn't HVAC in October. Model your peak and your trough separately
- Verification time. LSA takes 3 to 4 weeks to approve before anything runs. Nothing happens in month one
- Ranking. LSA position depends on review rating and responsiveness, not just budget. A weak review profile caps how much volume your budget can actually buy — see the review guide
- Lead quality variance. Junk happens. That's what the dispute rate models, and it varies by category and market
Frequently asked questions
How much do Local Service Ads cost per lead?
It varies by category and market — legal runs far higher than plumbing. The calculator prefills a range by trade so you can model before committing, but your real figure only emerges once you're running. See the LSA guide for the full picture.
What's a good ROAS for Local Service Ads?
Anything above 4x is healthy for a service business with typical margins. Above 8x usually means you're under-invested and leaving work on the table. Below 2x, look at your close rate before your budget.
Should I include repeat business in job value?
If you track it, yes — use the repeat factor. If you don't, leave it at 1 and treat the result as a conservative floor.
Do disputed leads really get refunded?
Yes, for genuine cases — wrong numbers, spam, out-of-area, services you don't provide. You have to actually file them, and most businesses never do. Filing weekly is standard practice and materially changes your effective cost per lead.
What's the minimum budget for LSA to work?
About $1,000 a month. Below that you won't generate enough lead volume for the numbers to stabilise, and a bad week distorts the whole month.
Why is my break-even close rate so high?
Usually a low job value relative to lead cost, or thin margins. If the break-even is close to your actual close rate, LSA is marginal for you and local SEO may be the better investment.
Want the real numbers for your market?
We'll pull actual cost-per-lead data for your category and service area, and tell you honestly whether LSA is your best first channel. Thirty minutes, free.
Schedule a consultation · (615) 669-0707
Written by Jared DeValk, founder of Nashville Digital. Last reviewed September 2026.