Instagram engagement benchmarks

Name: FastSocial Instagram Benchmarks
Creator: FastSocial
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Engagement rate, likes and posting habits of Instagram accounts, by follower count.

We track everyday accounts we come across, not celebrities, for a more grounded result. Accounts over 1M followers are left out of the monthly sample; rows marked * come from our Top Charts readings instead.

September 2026
217 accounts
Method v2.0
CSV
Cite

Partial month. Fewer accounts than usual, so treat these as rough.

Engagement rate by followers

Median · shaded = middle 50% of accounts

100–1K19 accounts

Needs 20+

1K–10K20 accounts

3.01%1.3%–6.2%

10K–100K15 accounts

Needs 20+

100K–1M13 accounts

Needs 20+

1M–10M^*620 of 916

1.15%0.4%–3.1%

10M–50M^*591 of 762

0.96%0.3%–2.5%

50M–100M^*100 of 101

1.16%0.3%–2.2%

100M+^*37 of 40

0.57%0.2%–1.1%

All under 1M67 accounts

2.84%0.8%–10.4%

0.1%0.2%0.5%1%2%5%10%20%

Middle 50% Median

Compare yours %

^* Accounts above 1M: from Instagram Top Charts, average likes + comments over each account's latest ~12 posts (pinned skipped), read 29 Sep 2026 to 5 Oct 2026; n = accounts measured of those on the chart. Likes and comments are not split and posting frequency is not measured for these rows, and they are not in the monthly CSV (they are in data.json, with their method).

Per post

Median account in each group

Followers	Likes	Comments	Posts / 30 days	Total posts	Accounts
100–1K	–	–	–	–	19
1K–10K	86	5	2	76	20
10K–100K	–	–	–	–	15
100K–1M	–	–	–	–	13
1M–10M^*	56,210 likes + comments		–	–	620
10M–50M^*	176,464 likes + comments		–	–	591
50M–100M^*	640,772 likes + comments		–	–	100
100M+^*	909,415 likes + comments		–	–	37
All under 1M	109	6	2	70	67

Reels, carousels, photos

ReelsCarouselsPhotos

× = engagement vs. that account's usual post

FollowersShare of postsEngagement vs. that account's usual post

100–1K

Needs 20+ accounts

1K–10K

33% 30% 37%

1.22×Reels

1.00×Carousels

0.89×Photos

10K–100K

Needs 20+ accounts

100K–1M

Needs 20+ accounts

Best time to post

Your local time

Below usual Above usual 649 posts · 67 accounts

Method

v2.0 · updated 2026-09-23

Our calculations may change. Each month keeps the method it was built with.

Sample: Randomly pulled 217 uninflated everyday accounts in September 2026.
Left out: Private accounts, accounts over 1,000,000 or under 100 followers, and anything from after we first delivered to an account.
Engagement: (Likes + comments) ÷ followers. Median post per account, then median account per group.
Posts: 3 to 90 days old, pinned posts skipped, at least 6 per account.
Groups: Shown once 20+ accounts are in them.
Months: Frozen on the 1st and never edited.

Cite this data

Free under CC BY 4.0. Credit "FastSocial Instagram Benchmarks" with a link.

Citation

FastSocial (2026). Instagram Benchmarks, September 2026. https://fastsocial.co/instagram-benchmarks

Link

<a href="https://fastsocial.co/instagram-benchmarks">FastSocial Instagram Benchmarks</a> (September 2026)

Embed

<iframe src="https://fastsocial.co/instagram-benchmarks/embed" width="100%" height="330" style="border:0" title="Instagram benchmarks by follower count"></iframe>

Download CSV JSON

FAQ

Can I use this data for free?

Yes, absolutely. This is public research we do, and we'd appreciate our data being used for good.

How do I cite it?

Free under CC BY 4.0. Credit "FastSocial Instagram Benchmarks" with a link to this page.

How often is it updated?

Monthly. Each month is frozen on the 1st and never edited, and keeps the method it was built with.

How is engagement rate calculated?

(Likes + comments) ÷ followers. Median post per account, then median account per group.

Below the benchmark for your size? Engagement usually follows reach: more followers who stick around and a few likes on each new post help your posts get shown to more people.

Past months: September 2026