One of the crucial widespread questions creators ask or get requested: “Is my engagement charge good?”
The reality is, it will depend on what number of followers you’ve got. A 5% engagement charge means one thing very totally different for an account with 500 followers in comparison with one with half one million.
That’s why we analyzed greater than 27 million Instagram posts from 273,000 accounts to see how engagement charges shift as creators develop. The result’s a transparent image of what “good” appears to be like like at each stage — from lower than 1,000 followers all the best way as much as 1 million or extra.
On this article, we’ll break down the typical engagement charge by follower tier and share what the numbers really imply in follow.
⚡If you wish to discover extra metrics like attain, posting frequency, and progress charge, try our Instagram benchmarks web page.
🔢 The typical Instagram engagement charge
Earlier than we get into follower tiers, right here’s what the common account appears to be like like on Instagram right this moment. These numbers provide you with a fast benchmark for the “typical” account.
- Median engagement charge: 4.3%
- Common posting frequency: 17 posts per thirty days (~4 posts per week)
- Common follower progress charge: 3.3% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 242
From right here, the true perception comes from seeing how these averages shift relying on follower dimension.
🧮 Learn the way we calculate engagement charges in What’s Engagement Fee?
🪜 Tier-by-tier breakdown of engagement charges
Listed here are the engagement charges to anticipate at every follower tier on Instagram from nano to mega accounts.
0 to 1K followers: Construct the behavior of consistency
- Engagement charge: 5.2%
- Posting frequency: 13 posts per thirty days or ~3 posts per week
- Development charge: 5.1% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 33
Engagement charges are excessive at this stage as a result of the individuals following you’re seemingly mates, friends, or early supporters. However the true unlock isn’t within the numbers — it’s in making a rhythm that units you up for sustainable progress.
So in case you’re simply beginning out, your focus ought to be much less on neighborhood administration and extra on constructing the self-discipline to submit recurrently. Our analysis has discovered that extra posts equal extra progress. Particularly, posting between 3 and 5 occasions weekly can greater than double follower progress charge, in comparison with posting one or two occasions weekly.
🟢 Do that: Concentrate on constructing the behavior of posting. Decide a manageable cadence (round three posts per week is the typical right here) and deal with it as follow. Use this stage to experiment with codecs, captions, and concepts with out the stress of efficiency.
📖 Be taught extra concerning the impression of posting frequency in your progress in How Usually Ought to You Submit on Instagram in 2025? What Knowledge From 2 Million Posts Tells Us
1k to 5K followers: Begin scaling consistency
- Engagement charge: 4.6%
- Posting frequency: 16 posts per thirty days or ~4 posts per week
- Development charge: 2.5% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 185
When you’ve constructed the behavior of posting, this stage is about scaling that consistency. You’re beginning to attain past your speedy circle, and a drop in engagement charge is pure as your viewers diversifies.
What issues most right here is displaying up usually sufficient for brand new followers to acknowledge and bear in mind you. One of many main beneficial properties at this follower tier is that the extra you submit, the extra attain you’ll obtain on every submit.
🟢 Do that: Intention for round 4 posts per week (the typical on this tier) and begin paying nearer consideration to what codecs or subjects spark probably the most attain. Small optimizations at this stage compound shortly into regular progress.
5k to 10K followers: Optimize your content material combine
- Engagement charge: 4.1%
- Posting frequency: 20 posts per thirty days or ~5 posts per week
- Development charge: 2.6% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 507
At this stage, you’ve moved previous the early-experiment part and into actual momentum. Engagement charges dip barely, however your attain is climbing — every submit now lands in entrance of a whole bunch of individuals. Consistency is predicted, however what separates regular progress from actual traction is what you submit.
Reels get probably the most attain on Instagram, pulling in 39% extra attain than carousels and an enormous 122% greater than single-image posts. In the meantime, carousels get probably the most engagement, incomes 12% extra engagement than reels and 114% greater than single-image posts.
🟢 Do that: Determine which codecs (Reels, carousels, single-image posts, Tales) drive probably the most engagement and attain, then lean into them. Preserve testing, however begin making strategic decisions about the place to double down so your effort and time scale along with your viewers.
📖 Be taught extra about which Instagram codecs carry out finest in Knowledge Reveals Instagram Reels are Greatest For Attain — However Not Engagement
10k to 50K followers: Double down on what works
- Engagement charge: 3.7%
- Posting frequency: 23 posts per thirty days or ~5–6 posts per week
- Development charge: 2.3% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 1,073
By this level, you’ve discovered some traction — sure content material varieties or themes are constant hits along with your viewers.
Engagement charges are nonetheless above the Instagram median, and your attain has crossed into the hundreds per submit. The problem right here is much less about determining what works and extra about doing extra of it with intention.
🟢 Do that: Look again on the posts which have pushed probably the most engagement and attain, then systematize the way you create and share them. Construct repeatable codecs (like recurring sequence, templates, or hooks) so you may preserve momentum with out reinventing the wheel each week.
50k to 100K followers: Enhance quantity strategically
- Engagement charge: 3.6%
- Posting frequency: 31 posts per thirty days or ~1 submit per day
- Development charge: 1.7% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 3,090
At this stage, your account has momentum, however sustaining progress requires extra output.
The typical posting frequency right here jumps to day by day — displaying that creators with bigger audiences keep prime of thoughts with their audiences by displaying up persistently.
Engagement charges at this tier maintain regular, and attain continues to rise into the hundreds.
🟢 Do that: Transferring towards day by day posting can assist you keep aggressive, however it doesn’t imply you need to sacrifice high quality. Repurpose your strongest codecs, experiment with variations, and suppose when it comes to sequence or themes that preserve your viewers coming again with out burning you out.
100k to 500K followers: Construct techniques for scale
- Engagement charge: 3.5%
- Posting frequency: 47 posts per thirty days or ~1–2 posts per day
- Development charge: 2.2% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 7,127
At this stage, attain begins to scale dramatically. Your common submit is touchdown in entrance of greater than 7,000 individuals. However with larger visibility comes the demand for a gentle stream of content material.
Many creators on this tier are posting greater than as soon as a day, and those who develop sustainably are inclined to have workflows, templates, and even small groups in place to maintain the engine operating.
🟢 Do that: Batch create content material, repurpose prime performers throughout codecs, and think about enlisting assist (editors, designers, or collaborators) to keep up each consistency and high quality. The main focus shifts from simply creating to managing a repeatable course of.
500K to 1M followers: Develop attain deliberately
- Engagement charge: 3.7%
- Posting frequency: 101 posts per thirty days or ~3+ posts per day
- Development charge: 1.5% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 37,400
When you’re right here, each submit has huge attain — tens of hundreds of individuals on common. And engagement holds regular, however the scale means every like or remark represents hundreds of interactions.
🟢 Do that: Amplify what you’re already doing with partnerships, collaborations, and cross-promotion. Experiment with traits strategically — not chasing each one, however leaning into those who align along with your area of interest.
1M+ followers: Shield and nurture engagement
- Engagement charge: 5%
- Posting frequency: 98 posts per thirty days or ~3 posts per day
- Development charge: 0.8% per thirty days
- Median attain per submit: 107,224
Crossing the million-follower mark comes with a paradox. Development slows to lower than 1% per thirty days, however your baseline viewers is very large. Every submit reaches over 100,000 individuals on common, and curiously, engagement charges tick again as much as round 5 %. The problem shifts from rising quick to sustaining high quality, connection, and belief at scale.
🟢 Do that: Prioritize content material that builds loyalty relatively than chasing self-importance metrics. Use tales, lives, and feedback to remain accessible, and deal with collaborations or sponsored content material with care — the extra you preserve belief, the longer your affect lasts.
Why engagement charges change as accounts develop
Engagement isn’t static. As accounts develop, the best way followers work together with content material modifications.
Smaller accounts usually see larger engagement charges as a result of their audiences are tight-knit. Individuals know the creator personally or really feel extra immediately linked. A like or a remark feels pure in these smaller communities.
Nevertheless, as follower counts climb, engagement charges sometimes dip. As an alternative of a 5% engagement charge on just a few hundred followers, bigger accounts would possibly see 3% to 4%. However that “smaller” share might nonetheless equal tens of hundreds of interactions per submit.
So don’t evaluate your engagement charge to somebody in a totally totally different tier. The true perception comes from seeing how your account stacks up towards others of an identical dimension.
That’s the place the benchmarks grow to be most helpful — and why we’ve damaged the info down tier by tier.
What these benchmarks imply for you
The info makes one factor clear: Instagram progress isn’t linear.
Engagement charges dip and rise, posting frequency ramps up, and follower progress slows as audiences get larger. However throughout each tier, there’s a constant theme — the creators who preserve displaying up are those who preserve transferring ahead.
What “good” appears to be like like will depend on your dimension.
- For smaller accounts, it’s about constructing the behavior of consistency.
- For mid-sized creators, it’s refining your content material combine and doubling down on what works.
- And on the larger tiers, progress is much less about chasing numbers and extra about sustaining techniques, attain, and belief at scale.
Should you take away just one factor, let or not it’s this: you don’t want to match your self to accounts far larger than yours. Essentially the most helpful benchmark is the one which matches your follower vary.
🤔 Curious how your account stacks up? Discover the complete dataset — together with engagement, attain, posting frequency, and progress charge by follower tier — with our Instagram benchmarks device.
