Available stats vary between email marketing tools and sending providers. Average benchmarks pulled from multiple sources, and every situation is different. Average results are for average people doing average things — and who wants to be average?
The 11 Stats & What They Mean
The most common email stats you'll encounter. Know what each one actually measures before you judge whether it's "good."
Processed
Total message requests received by the sending server — both outgoing and incoming, including posts via Routes like webhooks.
Accepted
Total outgoing message requests accepted for sending (email you tried to send).
Delivered
Total requested messages that actually got Delivered to the recipient's mail server (and presumably onto one of their account folders — no guarantee).
Opened
Total times a Delivered message triggered an Open (this does not necessarily mean a person literally opened the email…).
Clicked
Total times a Delivered message triggered a Click.
Replied
Total times a Delivered message triggered a Reply from the recipient.
Bounced (Hard)
Accepted messages that couldn't be Delivered due to bad addresses or inactive accounts. Often called "Hard Bounced" or "Permanent Failure" — though a Permanent Failure doesn't always count as a Hard Bounce.
Bounce (Soft)
A temporary delivery failure — retries happen automatically. While retrying, the email appears in Sent status and the email detail view shows Delivery in Progress. Once retries are exhausted the status resolves to Delivered or Failed.
Complained
Delivered messages that get marked as spam or junk by the recipient.
Unsubscribed
Delivered messages that trigger an Unsubscribe response by the recipient.
Suppressions
Accepted messages that were not Delivered because the address had previously Bounced, Complained, or Unsubscribed.
Delivered
Healthy
At or above 98%
Warning
Around 97–98%
Red Flag
Under 97%
Where to Look
Monitor Delivered rate at the domain level as well as the individual email level.
Considerations
- The opposite of Delivered is Undelivered — failed, bounced, or rejected. None of those are what we want.
- Delivered just means it made it to the recipient's mail server — not the inbox. Delivered under 97% usually means a majority of what's delivered is landing in spam/promotions.
- A low Delivered rate is usually indicative of multiple problems (reputation, authentication, list quality) — not just one.
- 97–98% can still indicate problems, especially in conjunction with other red flags.
Opened
Healthy
40–60%+
Average
16–26%
Red Flag
Under 15%
Where to Look
Monitor Open rate at the individual email level.
Considerations
- Control everything a recipient sees before they open — From Name, From email, domain/brand recognition, Subject Line, and the preview (first line or two of body copy).
- The decision to open is partly about comfort. Show up in a way that feels familiar and trustworthy.
- Note: Apple iOS 15+ Mail Privacy Protection auto-triggers Opens for many Apple Mail users — not a real person opening the email. Industry averages have recalibrated higher since this shipped, so interpret Open rate with a grain of salt.
Apple Mail fires Opens automatically whether the recipient reads the email or not. If Apple Mail makes up a big chunk of your list, combine Open rate with Clicks and Replies — don't evaluate it alone.
Clicked
Healthy
Above 10%
Average
7–9%
Red Flag
Under 5%
Where to Look
Monitor Click rate at the individual email level, specifically where a "click" CTA is the focus.
Considerations
- The psychology of a Click is very different from what encourages a Reply — don't conflate them.
- Make your Click CTA clear and easy to act on. No guessing.
- For short messages (3–5 lines), put a single clear CTA at the end.
- For longer copy, place the same CTA in multiple spots throughout the email.
- Tell recipients exactly what they'll get when they click — answer "what's in it for them?"
- Avoid muddying the CTA with multiple competing clickable things. Keep the ONE Click you care about as the main focus.
Replied
Healthy
30%+
Average
15–25%
Red Flag
Under 10%
Where to Look
Monitor Reply rate at the individual email level, specifically where a "reply" CTA is the focus.
Considerations
- The psychology of a Reply is very different from what encourages a Click.
- Make your Reply CTA clear and easy to act on.
- For a boost, ask simple low-friction questions (yes/no) or sweeten the pot with something valuable in exchange for a reply — "what's in it for them?"
- Avoid muddying the Reply CTA with links to click on. Keep Reply as the main focus.
Complained
Healthy
As close to 0.00% as possible
AUP Threshold
0.05%
Red Flag
At or above 0.04%
The AUP ceiling of 0.05% is roughly 1 complaint per 2,000 emails. If you're approaching that line, your domain is already in trouble.
Where to Look
Monitor Complaint rate at the domain level and the individual email level.
Considerations
- Following best practices should keep complaints well under 0.03%.
- Once it approaches 0.04%, it may start affecting your domain/IP reputation.
- High complaint rates can lead your SMTP to disable your domain and/or account — and can land you on a blacklist.
- Give recipients an easy way to opt out (Unsubscribe or Update Preferences). Unsubscribes don't hurt reputation — they're massively preferable to a Complaint, which does.
Bounced (Hard)
Healthy
Well under 1%
AUP Threshold
5%
Red Flag
Over 2–2.5%
Where to Look
Monitor Bounce rate at the domain level and the individual email level.
Considerations
- Following best practices for list hygiene (initial and ongoing) should keep this well under 1%.
- Once it approaches 2–2.5%, your domain/IP reputation starts taking damage.
- High bounce rates can lead your SMTP to disable your domain and/or account — and can land you on a blacklist.
Bounce (Soft)
Healthy
Under 2%
Watch
2–5%
Red Flag
Over 5%
While Retrying
The email appears in Sent status and the detail view shows Delivery in Progress — retries are still in progress.
After Retries Exhausted
Status updates to either Delivered (success) or Failed (permanent failure after retry window).
Where to Look
Monitor Soft Bounce rate at the domain level and the individual email level. Check the email details view for "Delivery in Progress" status on in-progress retries.
Considerations
- Unlike Hard Bounces (permanent), soft bounces are temporary — the receiving server rejected delivery for now but may accept it later. Common causes: recipient mailbox full, server temporarily unavailable, or message size too large.
- Retries happen automatically within the retry window. You don't need to manually resend during this phase.
- If you see an address soft-bouncing repeatedly across multiple campaigns, treat it like a hard bounce — remove it from your active list. Persistent soft bounces signal an abandoned or unreachable mailbox.
- A spike in soft bounces across a send can also signal a sending volume or reputation issue — the receiving server may be throttling your domain. Monitor alongside Complaint and Delivered rates.
Seeing "Delivery in Progress" in the email detail view doesn't mean something is wrong — it simply means the system is still within its retry window. Wait for the status to resolve to Delivered or Failed before drawing conclusions.
Summary & Benchmark Cheat Sheet
These numbers are guidelines — not rules. The individual email or campaign, the message, the audience, and the level of segmentation all weigh into the numbers. Monitor your stats weekly so you can course-correct along the way.
Look at your current numbers, set goals, then make one small tweak at a time and measure the effect. The goal isn't to hit a specific number — it's to improve from where you started, and ultimately improve your bottom line.
Need Some Help?
Every Situation is Unique
This article gives a general idea of what stats to monitor and what to look for — but every situation is different.
Benchmarks Vary by Campaign
Numbers to shoot for depend on the type of campaign, the audience, and the offer/CTA you're focusing on. Not every email will perform the same.
Troubleshooting is Context-Heavy
Deliverability issues can't be meaningfully solved over a Facebook post or helpdesk ticket — they require analysis of multiple factors together.
Frequently Asked Questions
- SendGrid — Improve Email Deliverability with Email Validation API
- Constant Contact — Average Industry Rates
- Email Bounce Rates: Shifting Focus Away from Failure
- HubSpot — Average Email Open Rate Benchmark
- Neil Patel — High Email Unsubscribe Rate
- Email Open Rates Decoded
- Campaign Monitor — What is a Good Email Response Rate?
- SendGrid — Unsubscribes: What to Do When You're Getting Too Many
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