Net promoter score benchmarks differ by publisher. One reading: +32 global average NPS, 150,000+ organizations (SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data). By industry: 65 median NPS for manufacturing, the highest of 11 industries. At the other end: 30 average NPS for software, the lowest of 11 industries.
Publishers disagree: our calculation finds 20 points between CustomerGauge’s B2B average (52) and SurveyMonkey’s global average (32), while their medians sit 2 points apart. Below are 40+ sourced NPS benchmarks, each checked in November 2026 against its original publisher and free to cite.
Key Net Promoter Score Benchmarks
| Category | Statistic | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global average NPS | +32 global average NPS, 150,000+ organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| Global median NPS | +44 global median NPS, 150,000+ organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| Top quartile | +72 or higher: top quartile of organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| Bottom quartile | 0 or lower: bottom quartile of organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| B2C against B2B | 49 B2C against 38 B2B median NPS, 599 companies | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| B2B, all sectors | 52 all-sector B2B NPS in 2026, 340 CX programs | CustomerGauge, 2026, vendor data |
| B2B software and SaaS | 41 average NPS for B2B software and SaaS at Retently | Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data |
| Highest-scoring industry | 65 median NPS for manufacturing, the highest of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Lowest-scoring industry | 30 average NPS for software, the lowest of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Top organization score, US | 55 NPS: highest single score among 371 US organizations | Qualtrics, Apr 2026, vendor data |
| Email survey response rate | 49.17% average response rate for email surveys | SurveyMonkey, Jul 2026, vendor data |
| Promoter link to returns | About 2x shareholder return for NPS leaders in six US industries | NPS Prism, 2025 report, vendor data |
Every figure comes from its original publisher, checked in November 2026, with data from 2023 or later. A net promoter score benchmark is one publisher’s reading of one customer base, so each row names its owner.
What Is a Good NPS Score? Range and Bands
So what is a good net promoter score? It depends on the publisher. SurveyMonkey: Good above 20, exceptional above 70. Qualtrics: Good above 0, excellent above 50, world class above 80. CustomerGauge: Good above 0, excellent above 50, world-class at 70 or higher.
NPS is the share of promoters minus the share of detractors. Bain splits answers as follows: 9 to 10 promoters, 7 to 8 passives, 0 to 6 detractors (Bain & Company (current page)). The net promoter score range runs from -100, all detractors, to +100, all promoters. NPS is one of nine customer satisfaction metrics to track.
Good, excellent and top-tier cut-offs by publisher
| Publisher | Good | Excellent | Top tier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualtrics (attributes its ladder to Bain) | Above 0 (favorable above 20) | Above 50 | World class above 80 | Qualtrics (current page) |
| SurveyMonkey | Above 20 (below 0 signals room for improvement) | Not stated | Exceptional above 70 | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| CustomerGauge | Above 0 | Above 50 | World-class at 70 or higher | CustomerGauge, 2025 edition, vendor data |
Takeaway: Read a band as that publisher’s convention, and compare with one publisher only.
The NPS Numbers That Matter in 2026
What Is the Average Net Promoter Score?
SurveyMonkey’s 2025 figures for the average net promoter score: +32 global average NPS, 150,000+ organizations. The median is higher: +44 global median NPS, 150,000+ organizations.
| Publisher | What it measures | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyMonkey | Bottom quarter of organizations | 0 or lower: bottom quartile of organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| SurveyMonkey | Average across organizations, method not stated | +32 global average NPS, 150,000+ organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| SurveyMonkey | Median across organizations | +44 global median NPS, 150,000+ organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| SurveyMonkey | Top quarter of organizations | +72 or higher: top quartile of organizations | SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data |
| Survicate | Median of company scores across 11 industries | 42 median NPS across 11 industries, 599 companies | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| CustomerGauge | B2B programs only, self-reported, all sectors | 52 all-sector B2B NPS in 2026, 340 CX programs | CustomerGauge, 2026, vendor data |
A quarter of organizations score 0 or lower and a quarter score 72 or higher
SurveyMonkey customers worldwide, 2025, vendor data
| Item | SurveyMonkey customers worldwide, 2025, vendor data |
|---|---|
| Bottom quarter | 0 |
| Average | 32 |
| Median | 44 |
| Top quarter | 72 |
The figures differ by base: SurveyMonkey averages platform customers, Survicate takes a median of its own, and CustomerGauge averages self-reported B2B programs.
Takeaway: Pick one publisher and one method, and never average the estimates.
Is B2B NPS Lower than B2C?
Survicate’s 2025 data splits scores by business model: 49 B2C against 38 B2B median NPS, 599 companies.
B2B net promoter score benchmarks
| Segment | Average | Source |
|---|---|---|
| All industries | 49 B2C against 38 B2B median NPS, 599 companies | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Software | 29 median NPS for B2B software against 47 for B2C | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Healthcare | 70 B2C against 38 B2B median NPS in healthcare | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
Takeaway: The B2B gap is a direction in one platform’s data, not a constant. Our calculation finds 11, 18 and 32 point B2C-over-B2B gaps, so check your own sector first.
Which Companies Have the Highest NPS Scores?
No free source ranks every brand, so top scores come from different methods. Qualtrics’ US ranking gives 55 NPS: highest single score among 371 US organizations. NPS Prism’s bank ranking gives 64 relationship NPS: Navy Federal, top US bank in 2025.
No owner publishes a free 2023-or-later score for Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Starbucks or Chick-fil-A; the circulating figures are in the debunk table below. Costco’s reading is in the table.
| Company or group | Statistic | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Highest of 371 US organizations | 55 NPS: highest single score among 371 US organizations | Qualtrics, Apr 2026, vendor data |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | 64 relationship NPS: Navy Federal, top US bank in 2025 | NPS Prism, Mar 2026, vendor data |
| Costco | 49 NPS: Costco in QuestionPro’s Q1 2025 panel | QuestionPro, Apr 2025, vendor data |
| Fast food brands, best against worst | 54-point gap between best and worst fast food brand | Qualtrics, Apr 2026, vendor data |
Takeaway: Brand scores differ by method and period, so compare within one method.
What Response Rate Makes an NPS Reliable?
Channel matters most: 49.17% average response rate for email surveys, against 3.65% average response rate for popup surveys.
Reliability comes from responses received, not the rate. Our calculation gives about plus or minus 8 points on a 30 NPS from 400 responses.
These NPS response rate benchmarks are SurveyMonkey rates for all survey types, not NPS-only. The wording itself is covered in our net promoter score questions guide. The margin method: Z = 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval on an NPS (MeasuringU (current page)).
| Measure | Benchmark | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Email surveys | 49.17% average response rate for email surveys | SurveyMonkey, Jul 2026, vendor data |
| SMS surveys | 18.54% average response rate for SMS surveys | SurveyMonkey, Jul 2026, vendor data |
| In-app surveys | 34.37% average response rate for in-app surveys | SurveyMonkey, Jul 2026, vendor data |
| Popup surveys | 3.65% average response rate for popup surveys | SurveyMonkey, Jul 2026, vendor data |
Takeaway: Plan invitations from your channel’s rate: a popup needs far more views than an email needs sends.
Does a Higher NPS Mean Faster Growth?
A higher NPS is associated with higher shareholder returns, but no current study tests whether it causes faster growth.
- About 2x shareholder return for NPS leaders in six US industries (NPS Prism, 2025 report, vendor data). The source states it as a heading, not a test.
Older, larger growth multiples are in the debunk table below.
Takeaway: Treat the link as an association, not a forecast.
Net Promoter Score Benchmarks by Industry: Averages and Ranges
NPS benchmarks by industry vary by publisher, so each row below names its owner, base and year.
Average NPS score by industry
| Industry | Base | Average or median | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | Survicate median, 2025 | 65 median NPS for manufacturing, the highest of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Healthcare | Survicate median, 2025 | 61 median NPS for healthcare, second of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Retail and e-commerce | Survicate median, 2025 | 55 B2B and 54 B2C median NPS in retail and e-commerce | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Airlines | NPS Prism relationship NPS, 2026 | 43 average relationship NPS for airlines, 40K+ flyers | NPS Prism, 2026, vendor data |
| US banks | NPS Prism institution average, 2025 | 33 average NPS across US banks (NPS Prism) | NPS Prism, Mar 2026, vendor data |
| Big box retail, US | Qualtrics US consumer panel average, Q3 2025 | 37 NPS: big box retail, highest US industry average | Qualtrics, Apr 2026, vendor data |
| US grocers | NPS Prism relationship NPS, 2026 | 34 average relationship NPS for US grocers in 2026 | NPS Prism, 2026, vendor data |
| Telecom: wireless, internet, streaming | NPS Prism relationship NPS, 2025 to 2026 | 20 wireless, 16 internet, 17 streaming (relationship NPS) | NPS Prism, 2026, vendor data |
| Software | Survicate average, 2025 | 30 average NPS for software, the lowest of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Utilities | NPS Prism average, 2026 (type not stated) | 15 average NPS across 30+ US utility parent companies | NPS Prism, 2026, vendor data |
| All industries tracked at Retently, range of averages | Retently averages, 2026 | 26 to 68: range of industry averages at Retently | Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data |
Inside one publisher the spread is wide: our calculation finds 24 points between the highest and lowest US industry averages at Qualtrics.
Takeaway: Compare your score with your own industry’s row and its base only.
NPS Score by Industry: Six Sectors Compared
Six sectors follow, one block each. The list gives the NPS industry averages and medians first.
Industry averages and medians at a glance
- B2B SaaS and software: 41 average NPS for B2B software and SaaS at Retently.
- Financial services and insurance: 46 average NPS for insurance at Retently, down from 80.
- Healthcare: 65 average NPS for B2B healthcare in CustomerGauge’s 2026 survey.
- Telecom: CustomerGauge’s B2B data shows 34 blended B2B telecom NPS, against 54 in the 2026 survey.
- Retail and e-commerce: 55 B2B and 54 B2C median NPS in retail and e-commerce.
- Utilities and energy: 13 NPS: utilities, lowest US industry average.
#1 B2B SaaS and Software
B2B software and SaaS sit here: 41 average NPS for B2B software and SaaS at Retently (Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data). The estimates compete and are never averaged.
| Publisher | What it measures | Statistic | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survicate | Average NPS, software, B2B and B2C combined, 2025 | 30 average NPS for software, the lowest of 11 industries | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Survicate | Median NPS, B2B software only, 2025 | 29 median NPS for B2B software against 47 for B2C | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
| Retently | Average NPS, B2B software and SaaS, 2026 | 41 average NPS for B2B software and SaaS at Retently | Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data |
| Survicate | Top performers in software, 2025 | 52 NPS for top software performers against a 30 average | Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data |
The answer depends on the base. Our calculation shows a score of 35 sits 6 below Retently’s B2B software and SaaS average and 6 above Survicate’s B2B software median.
Takeaway: Compare with the leaders in your sector, then turn 7s and 8s into 9s and 10s.
#2 Financial Services and Insurance
Insurance: 46 average NPS for insurance at Retently, down from 80 (Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data).
Banks read differently: 33 average NPS across US banks (NPS Prism) (NPS Prism, Mar 2026, vendor data). Our calculation finds 31 points between Navy Federal and the US bank average.
Takeaway: Insurance and banks come from different publishers and bases, so compare each only with its own type.
#3 Healthcare
Net promoter score healthcare benchmarks
CustomerGauge’s B2B survey: 65 average NPS for B2B healthcare in CustomerGauge’s 2026 survey (CustomerGauge, Aug 2026, vendor data). Retently’s 2026 benchmark: 37 average NPS for healthcare at Retently, down from 53 (Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data).
Takeaway: Publisher gaps exceed most sector gaps, so read the base before the number.
#4 Telecom
CustomerGauge’s B2B reading: 34 blended B2B telecom NPS, against 54 in the 2026 survey (CustomerGauge, Aug 2026, vendor data). Blended means averaged across its report editions. Our calculation finds 20 points between blended and 2026 telecom.
Consumer telecom reads far lower in NPS Prism’s data: 20 wireless, 16 internet, 17 streaming (relationship NPS). B2B programs and consumer panels measure different customers.
Takeaway: Check which edition and which customer base a telecom table quotes before comparing a score.
#5 Retail and E-commerce
Qualtrics’ 2024 data gives 34.3 NPS: US grocers, highest industry in 2024 (Qualtrics, Sep 2025, vendor data). NPS Prism’s 2026 reading: 34 average relationship NPS for US grocers in 2026. Our calculation shows 0.3 points between two grocery readings.
Survicate’s own-customer medians: 55 B2B and 54 B2C median NPS in retail and e-commerce.
Takeaway: Two panels and two years land close together, so name each base and pick neither.
#6 Utilities and Energy
Qualtrics’ US data gives 13 NPS: utilities, lowest US industry average (Qualtrics, Apr 2026, vendor data). NPS Prism’s reading is close, from a separate panel and period: 15 average NPS across 30+ US utility parent companies.
Takeaway: Two publishers read utilities low, so benchmark a utility against other utilities.
What to Do If Your NPS Looks Like This
Seven signals in your own data point to a first move, each tied to a published stat.
| Signal | What to do first | The stat behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Your NPS is at or below 0 | Read every detractor comment and group them by cause before you change anything | 0 or lower: bottom quartile of organizations (SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data) |
| You score 30 to 40 in B2B software | Compare yourself with one publisher’s B2B software figure, stop quoting the global average, and work on moving passives (7 to 8) up to promoters | a score of 35 sits 6 below Retently’s B2B software and SaaS average and 6 above Survicate’s B2B software median (Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data, Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data) |
| Your relationship score and your product or transaction score are far apart | Compare each score only with the same type of score and track the two separately | 39 checking and savings, 35 credit cards, 42 payments (product NPS) (NPS Prism, 2026, vendor data) |
| You have a few hundred responses or fewer, or your response rate is below your channel’s average | Widen the sample before you act, and plan invitations from the channel’s response rate | about plus or minus 15 points on a 30 NPS from 100 responses (MeasuringU (current page)) |
| Your score moved a few points since last quarter | Check the interval on the change before you react, and hold the decision until the move clears it | a 4-point quarterly move on 150 responses sits inside a plus or minus 17 point margin (MeasuringU (current page)) |
| Your NPS is high but referrals or renewals are flat | Track a behaviour (renewals, referrals) beside the score and check what your promoters actually do | 36-point gap between likely to recommend (86%) and sharing (50%) (Qualtrics, Sep 2025, vendor data) |
Example A, margin of error. Our calculation gives about plus or minus 8 points on a 30 NPS from 400 responses. With a larger sample, our calculation gives about plus or minus 5 points on a 30 NPS from 1,000 responses.
Example B, invitations needed. Our calculations at SurveyMonkey’s channel averages:
- Email: about 814 email invitations for 400 responses.
- SMS: about 2,157 SMS invitations for 400 responses.
- Popup: about 10,959 popup views for 400 responses.
Margins use our adjusted-Wald calculation with Z from MeasuringU (current page). Invitations apply SurveyMonkey’s all-survey-type response rates, not NPS-only. These are our calculations, not published figures.
Takeaway: Widen the sample first, then check the interval before you react to a move.
NPS Stats You’ll See Quoted That Don’t Hold Up
These numbers circulate in roundups without a source or with a stale one.
| The statistic | Where it circulates | What the trail shows |
|---|---|---|
| “Bain & Company suggests above 0 is good, above 20 favorable, above 50 excellent, above 80 world class” | qualtrics.com, perceptive.co.nz, hellocustomer.com, companywatch.net, acxpa.com.au (5 pages found) | Bain prints no such ladder on any of its pages; Qualtrics, Perceptive, HelloCustomer, Company Watch and ACXPA each credit it to Bain with no link, and the earliest copy we found is Qualtrics, 2021. |
| “Excellent starts at 50, 60 or 70, and world class at 70 or 80” | customergauge.com (two pages), qualtrics.com, sybill.ai, surveymonkey.com | The 2025 pages disagree: CustomerGauge says excellent above 50 and world class at 70, Qualtrics 50 and 80, SurveyMonkey exceptional above 70. Bain, which owns the method, prints none of them. |
| “Software and online services NPS: lower quartile 17, median 44, upper quartile 68; technology 22 / 50 / 70; healthcare 37 / 62 / 82 (SurveyMonkey benchmark data of over 150,000 organizations)” | surveymonkey.com (seed), 1 page | SurveyMonkey’s industry benchmark page gives no data year, fieldwork period or method; its healthcare and software figures sit 1 to 14 points from Survicate’s 2025 figures (healthcare 61 vs 62, software 30 vs 44; Survicate’s software 30 is an average and its healthcare 61 a median; the 62 is SurveyMonkey’s); the page is undated. |
| “NPS leaders outperformed the stock market by 2.8 times, as Bain is quoted” | npsprism.com, sybill.ai | Bain’s 2.8x covers a hand-picked list of 12 companies from a 2011 book, tracked 2011 to 2020 and shown in a February 2022 chart; no newer edition repeats it. |
| “NPS leaders grow 2.5x faster than competitors” | sybill.ai | No owner report carries 2.5x; the nearest published claim is “more than twice the rate of their competitors” from a 2011 book. |
| “Tesla’s NPS is 97, also quoted as 73 to 78” | customergauge.com top-100 list, sybill.ai, many roundups | CustomerGauge lists 97 with no year and credits “Satmetrix, 2020” without a study; the owner poll it cites is a 99% recommend rate, not an NPS. The 73 to 78 range has no source. |
| “Apple’s NPS is 72 (or 68 to 72, 60 to 72)” | sybill.ai and roundups | Apple’s 72 is Apple Retail’s store NPS from a 2011 book (320 stores); the 68 to 72 and 60 to 72 ranges name no source. |
| “Retail promoters spend 3.5x more, omnichannel 1.8x, loyalty 2.2x” | media.bain.com digest and pages citing the Bain retail family | The multiples come from Bain’s 2017 US retail advocacy study; its 2017 newsletter names the study but does not print them, and no newer edition exists. |
What the 2026 Numbers Say
Three rules hold. Publishers disagree by several points, sometimes far more, on the same measure. Software and B2B sit lower than consumer and healthcare-style sectors in the platform data. Only a same-industry, same-method comparison is fair.
Which publisher’s industry row, and which survey type, is your own score being compared with today? Enter your promoter, passive and detractor counts in the NPS calculator to get your score and its likely range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 40 a good NPS score?
Our calculation: 60% promoters and 20% detractors give an NPS of 40, per the Bain & Company (current page) formula. That clears the good cut-offs the publishers print but falls short of excellent, so a 40 is solid, not a leader’s score. Different mixes give the same 40, so check the shares behind it.
Should NPS be 0 to 10 or 1 to 10?
Bain, which owns the method, scores answers from 0 to 10 (Bain & Company (current page)). It says a one-to-ten scale invites mistakes at the low end. People pick a low number by error, and a zero is never a good score. A one-to-ten version would not be comparable with published benchmarks, so keep the zero-to-ten question.
What is a good NPS score for a call center?
57% of surveyed Australian contact centres use NPS, down from 66% in 2023 (ACXPA, Jul 2024). Call center NPS benchmarks are not published by an original owner with a 2023 or later year, so no current score is quotable. Benchmark a contact center against its own earlier waves, using the same survey type, until an owner publishes a figure.
Is a Net Promoter Score of 20 good?
SurveyMonkey’s ladder: Good above 20, exceptional above 70 (SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data). A 20 sits right on that good line and below the global average. Qualtrics’ ladder: Good above 0, excellent above 50, world class above 80. CustomerGauge’s: Good above 0, excellent above 50, world-class at 70 or higher. A 20 clears good in both but stops well short of excellent. Call it acceptable.
Is 7 a good NPS score?
7 and 8 count as passive answers, neither promoter nor detractor, under Bain’s method (Bain & Company (current page)). As an NPS score a 7 it clears the bottom quartile (SurveyMonkey, 2025, vendor data). It still sits below the median in that dataset and below SurveyMonkey’s good cut-off.
What is a good NPS score for SaaS?
29 is Survicate’s B2B software median (Survicate, Dec 2025, vendor data), and 41 is Retently’s B2B SaaS average (Retently, Apr 2026, vendor data). That 29 to 41 band is the B2B SaaS range. The two measure different customer bases, so pick one publisher and compare against it, not a blend.
