{"id":1096735,"date":"2025-04-22T04:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T11:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?p=1096735"},"modified":"2026-07-22T04:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T11:51:20","slug":"csat-benchmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/csat-benchmarks\/","title":{"rendered":"CSAT Benchmarks by Industry: 2025 Scores and How Yours Compares"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Customer Satisfaction score means almost nothing on its own. You need real context to know if you are actually winning. That is exactly what CSAT benchmarks by industry provide. They reveal the average satisfaction scores for your specific sector. This context turns a random number into a clear business decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wrong comparison can easily send you chasing the wrong fix entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, we break down CSAT benchmarks by industry for 2025. We also cover the formula behind the score and how to tell whether your number is genuinely good, or just average dressed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

What is a CSAT benchmark?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A CSAT benchmark is the average customer satisfaction score for a specific industry, used as a reference point for judging your own score. Customers rate a single interaction, usually on a 1-5 scale, and a benchmark tells you where that rating typically lands for companies like yours. Without one, a score of 78% is just a number. With one, you know whether 78% puts you ahead of most banks or behind most airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same raw score can mean very different things depending on what industry generated it. A telecom provider scoring 78% might be leading its category, while a hospitality brand at the same score would be lagging behind most competitors. That gap is exactly why pairing your own CSAT tracking with an outside reference point matters. Watching your own trend line in isolation only tells half the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benchmarks come from two main sources. National indexes, like the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), track hundreds of public companies through independent surveys. Proprietary studies, run by CX platforms surveying a defined consumer panel, offer a second angle. Both are useful, but they answer slightly different questions, which is why segment-matching matters so much later in this guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSAT benchmarks by industry in 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are the results from our Q1 2025 CX Benchmarking Study, based on 1,000 active U.S. consumers rating their most recent experience with a company in each sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
Industry<\/th>\n CSAT Score (%)<\/th>\n YoY Change<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n <\/thead>\n
Hotel and Hospitality<\/td>\n 84<\/td>\n +2<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Banking and Financial Services<\/td>\n 81<\/td>\n +2<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Grocery Retail<\/td>\n 79<\/td>\n +1<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Airlines<\/td>\n 79<\/td>\n +3<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Big Box and General Merchandise Retail<\/td>\n 78<\/td>\n +2<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Automotive<\/td>\n 77<\/td>\n +1<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Insurance<\/td>\n 72<\/td>\n +2<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hospitality holds the top spot, and airlines posted the sharpest year-over-year gain of any sector we tracked. That mirrors a wider pattern seen elsewhere in 2025. Airlines rose 3 percent to their highest ACSI reading in years. Much of that gain came from better in-flight technology. Insurance remains the lowest scorer for the third year running, weighed down by claims complexity and inconsistent digital self-service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual brands often move the average more than the sector trend does. Delta became the top-rated U.S. airline for satisfaction this year after upgrades to in-flight Wi-Fi and flight-status tools, while Regions Bank has consistently led traditional banks on service quality. Both are useful reminders that an industry benchmark is a floor, not a ceiling. See how the banking industry’s loyalty scores<\/a> compare, since satisfaction and loyalty rarely move in lockstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is CSAT measured?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CSAT is measured by asking customers a single question right after an interaction, then converting their rating into a percentage. The standard question is direct. It simply asks how satisfied the customer was with the product, service, or specific interaction they just had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers answer on a 1-5 scale, which gets classified into three groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n