Digital analytics writer Avinash Kaushik has a line worth keeping in mind every time an industry benchmark gets quoted: "The interesting thing about averages is that they hide the truth very effectively." Constant Contact's own Q1 2026 data put the average open rate across all industries at 30.8%, but that single number hides more than it reveals once you account for how it's measured.

Why the number moved so much

Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflates reported open rates industry-wide by an estimated 15 to 20 points: strip out MPP-counted opens and the real average drops closer to 20%, include them and it climbs toward 34%. Neither number tells you whether your list is healthy; they tell you how many of your subscribers use Apple Mail.

What counts as good in practice

25 to 30% is a reasonable target for a small shop's list once you expect some inflation from MPP. Retail and ecommerce tend to sit lower than that, nonprofits and niche newsletters higher, so compare yourself to your own history before comparing to an industry chart.

The number that matters more

Click rate is harder to inflate by accident, since it requires an actual action, which makes it a steadier signal of whether an email is working. A steady click rate with a declining open rate usually means fewer people are seeing the subject line at all, a list-health problem, not a content problem.

SendMerlin's reports show open and click rate per campaign, so the useful comparison isn't this article's numbers, it's last month's campaign against this month's. A rising trend on your own list beats matching someone else's average.

Frequently asked questions

My open rate is below 20%. Should I panic?

Check your click rate first. If clicks are steady, the issue is likely subject lines or a list that needs a win-back pass, not a fundamental problem with your emails.

Why does my open rate vary so much month to month?

List size, send time, subject line, and how many Apple Mail users happened to be on that send all move the number. One month's open rate is noise; a quarter's trend is signal.