CPM calculator
Work out your cost per thousand impressions, or flip it to find the cost or impressions. CPM = cost ÷ impressions × 1,000.
Use cost and impressions for the same period. Billboard sellers often quote impressions per week but price per 4 weeks, so multiply weekly impressions by 4 first.
Your CPM
$5.00
$3,000 ÷ 600,000 × 1,000
A $5.00 CPM is typical for transit shelters, billboards (bulletins), posters, social media.
Compare billboard quotes by CPM
Enter the price and impressions from each quote. The cheapest board isn't always the cheapest way to reach people: below, the $2,000 board costs almost three times as much per view as the $3,000 one.
$5.00Best value
$13.33
CPM benchmarks by medium (2025)
Typical cost per thousand impressions in the US. Roadside billboards are one of the cheapest ways to reach 1,000 people: in this study, only radio and social media come in lower.
| Medium | Typical CPM | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Transit shelters | $2 to $7 static, up to $8 digital | Out-of-home |
| Billboards (bulletins) | $3 to $10 | Out-of-home |
| Posters | $3 to $9 static, up to $13 digital | Out-of-home |
| Digital place-based screens | $7 to $16 | Out-of-home |
| Social media | $2 to $8 | Online |
| Digital display | $5 to $6 | Online |
| Digital video | $11 to $13 | Online |
| Streaming | $23 to $34 | Online |
| Influencer marketing | $54 to $196 | Online |
| Radio | $4 to $8 | Audio |
| Podcasts | $18 to $25 | Audio |
| Cable TV (excluding primetime) | $13 to $15 | TV |
| Cable TV (primetime) | $21 to $23 | TV |
| Broadcast TV (excluding primetime) | $24 to $27 | TV |
| Broadcast TV (primetime) | $45 to $49 | TV |
| Magazines | $13 to $14 | |
| Newspapers | $40 to $54 |
Source: Solomon Partners, 2025 Major Media CPM Comparison (estimates from news, research and industry sources; out-of-home figures from contracts on DOmedia).
Billboard CPM by city
Listed price per 4 weeks divided by listed 4-week impressions, from the published city rate tables in our rate guides.
| City | Static bulletin CPM | Digital bulletin CPM |
|---|---|---|
| Amarillo | $8 to $15 | $6 to $10 |
| Atlanta | $4 to $9 | $7 to $11 |
| Austin | $7 to $10 | $6 to $11 |
| Boston | $5 to $12 | $5 to $11 |
| Chicago | $5 to $9 | $3 to $5 |
| Columbus | $9 to $25 | $4 to $11 |
| Dallas | $5 to $10 | $3 to $9 |
| Detroit | $3 to $8 | $7 to $10 |
| Fargo | $11 to $16 | $8 to $12 |
| Houston | $4 to $16 | $5 to $19 |
| Kansas City | $7 to $12 | $5 to $9 |
| Los Angeles | $5 to $12 | $4 to $16 |
| Miami | $3 to $14 | $3 to $7 |
| Milwaukee | $2 to $6 | $1 to $4 |
| Nashville | $5 to $9 | $6 to $10 |
| New Orleans | $3 to $6 | $3 to $4 |
| New York City | $4 to $23 | $1 to $9 |
| Philadelphia | $4 to $6 | $5 to $7 |
| Phoenix | $3 to $9 | $2 to $7 |
| San Antonio | $3 to $7 | $2 to $4 |
| San Francisco | $4 to $15 | $5 to $12 |
| Washington DC | $19 to $95 | $21 to $69 |
Source: Blue Line Media city rate tables, as cited in each guide. Want this for your own plan? The campaign planner estimates impressions and CPM for any mix of cities and formats.
How to use CPM when buying out-of-home
- Match the periods. Many billboard sellers list weekly impressions but price per 4 weeks. Multiply weekly impressions by 4 before you divide.
- Ask how impressions were counted. Geopath-audited impressions count people likely to see the ad. Raw traffic counts run much higher and make CPMs look artificially low. See what Geopath is.
- Compare like with like. A digital billboard shares its screen with other advertisers, so check its impressions are for your ad's share, not the whole screen.
- Programmatic is priced by CPM. Digital screens bought programmatically charge per thousand impressions directly. See programmatic DOOH explained.
- Add production. Printing and installing a static vinyl is usually extra, so include it in the cost when comparing static with digital.
Questions
How do you calculate CPM?
Divide the total cost by the number of impressions, then multiply by 1,000. A $3,000 billboard with 600,000 impressions has a CPM of $3,000 ÷ 600,000 × 1,000 = $5.
What does CPM stand for?
Cost per mille, Latin for cost per thousand. It's the price of reaching 1,000 impressions, which lets you compare ads of different sizes, prices and media on the same scale.
How do you calculate impressions from CPM?
Divide the cost by the CPM and multiply by 1,000. A $10,000 budget at a $5 CPM buys 2 million impressions.
What is a good CPM?
It depends on the medium. In Solomon Partners' 2025 comparison, billboards run about $3 to $10, social media $2 to $8, radio $4 to $8, cable TV $13 to $23 and primetime broadcast TV $45 to $49. Compare CPMs within the same medium and audience, and check how impressions were counted.
What is a good CPM for a billboard?
About $3 to $10 for a roadside bulletin is typical nationally. Big-city prime locations can run well above that, and published city rate tables put most bulletins between about $3 and $20.
Is a lower CPM always better?
No. A cheap CPM on the wrong audience, or one built on raw traffic counts instead of audited impressions, isn't a bargain. Use CPM to compare similar options, then weigh location, audience and how long people see the ad.
What's the difference between CPM, CPC and CPA?
CPM is the cost per thousand impressions, CPC the cost per click and CPA the cost per action, such as a sale or sign-up. Billboards and TV are sold on impressions, so CPM is the standard way to compare them.
More tools: the billboard cost calculator, the campaign planner and how much billboards cost.