How to Calculate Engagement Rate (Formulas, Examples and Benchmarks)

Here is how to calculate engagement rate: add up the interactions on a post (likes, comments, saves and shares), divide by your follower count, and multiply by 100. For a fairer picture on a small account, divide by the post's reach or views instead of followers. This guide gives you both formulas, worked examples with real numbers, a table of formulas by platform and rough benchmarks so you know what "good" looks like.

The engagement rate formula#

There are two versions, and the only difference is the bottom of the fraction.

Engagement rate by followers

Engagement rate = (likes + comments + saves + shares) / followers x 100

Engagement rate by reach

Engagement rate = (likes + comments + saves + shares) / reach x 100

By followers is the classic version, and the one most benchmark lists use. By reach (or by views for video) measures how the people who actually saw the post responded, which is why it is fairer when your posts reach far beyond, or well short of, your follower count. Reach is the number of unique accounts that saw the post; impressions is the total number of times it was shown. Our short guide to reach vs impressions explains the difference if you need it.

Some people count only likes and comments. That is fine as long as you are consistent, but saves and shares are the strongest signals a post can earn, so include them when the platform reports them.

How to calculate engagement rate step by step#

1. Open the post's insights. On a professional or creator account, every platform shows per-post numbers.
2. Write down the interactions. Likes (or reactions), comments, saves and shares. Skip whichever the platform does not report.
3. Add them up. That total is your engagement.
4. Pick a denominator. Followers for benchmark comparisons; reach or views for a fair read on one post.
5. Divide and multiply by 100. Round to one decimal place.
6. Log it. One row per post in a sheet, so you can average and compare over time.

For a monthly figure, calculate the rate for each post and average them. Do not add up a month of engagement and divide by followers once, because that mixes posting frequency into the result.

Worked examples with real numbers#

Example 1: an Instagram carousel on a small account#

A bakery has 1,200 followers. A carousel gets 48 likes, 6 comments, 9 saves and 3 shares. Reach is 900.

• Engagement = 48 + 6 + 9 + 3 = 66
• By followers: 66 / 1,200 x 100 = 5.5 percent
• By reach: 66 / 900 x 100 = 7.3 percent

Both numbers are healthy for a small account. The by-reach figure is higher because the post reached fewer people than the follower count, and those who saw it engaged well.

Example 2: a TikTok video that traveled#

A creator has 3,000 followers. A video gets 12,000 views, 540 likes, 32 comments, 41 shares and 25 saves.

• Engagement = 540 + 32 + 41 + 25 = 638
• By followers: 638 / 3,000 x 100 = 21.3 percent
• By views: 638 / 12,000 x 100 = 5.3 percent

The by-followers number looks spectacular because TikTok showed the video to four times the follower count. The by-views number, 5.3 percent, is the honest one: about 1 in 19 viewers did something. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, always use views.

Example 3: a LinkedIn post#

A consultant has 850 followers. A text post gets 1,900 impressions, 38 reactions, 9 comments and 4 reposts.

• Engagement = 38 + 9 + 4 = 51
• By followers: 51 / 850 x 100 = 6.0 percent
• By impressions: 51 / 1,900 x 100 = 2.7 percent

LinkedIn reports impressions rather than reach for personal posts, so use impressions as the denominator and note it in your sheet.

Example 4: a monthly average#

The same bakery posts 12 times in a month. Per-post rates by reach: 7.3, 4.1, 5.5, 3.8, 9.2, 4.4, 6.0, 2.9, 5.1, 4.7, 8.3 and 3.6 percent. Add them (64.9) and divide by 12: the monthly average is 5.4 percent. Next month, compare against 5.4, not against a benchmark from someone else's niche.

Engagement rate formulas by platform#

Platforms report slightly different interactions, so the numerator changes. As of late 2026, these are the interactions each platform shows on a professional account; names shift with app updates, so check the insights screen.

Whichever you choose, write the formula at the top of your sheet and never change it mid-quarter. A rate is only useful when this week's number was built the same way as last week's.

What is a good engagement rate?#

Benchmarks depend on niche, format and account size, and small accounts almost always post higher rates than large ones. The ranges below are rough, by followers, for small accounts.

Use these as context, not targets. A 2 percent rate on a post that reached 20,000 people is a better result than 6 percent on a post that reached 300. And a rate that is climbing month over month is worth more than any single number. If you want the wider picture, our guide to social media analytics for beginners covers what to track alongside engagement.

By followers or by reach: which should you use?#

Use both, for different jobs.

• By followers when you compare yourself with published benchmarks, or when someone asks for "your engagement rate" in a sponsorship conversation. It is the number they expect.
• By reach or views when you decide what to post next. It tells you how well the content worked with the people who saw it, regardless of how far the algorithm carried it.

A post with low reach and a high by-reach rate is good content that needs better distribution: a stronger hook, a better time, a different format. A post with high reach and a low rate got carried by the algorithm and did not land. Those are different problems, and only the by-reach number separates them.

Common mistakes#

• Mixing denominators. Comparing a by-reach rate with a by-followers benchmark makes small accounts look brilliant and big ones look broken.
• Judging a post too early. Reach keeps growing for a day or two on most platforms and for weeks on YouTube. Calculate after 48 hours at the earliest.
• Ignoring follower changes. If you grow fast, this month's by-followers rate drops even when engagement is flat. Track your follower growth rate alongside it so you can tell the two apart.
• Counting your own comments. Replies you leave on your own post inflate the number. Subtract them if the platform includes them.
• Chasing the rate instead of the goal. Giveaway posts and "comment YES" prompts pump engagement without building anything. Watch saves and shares, which are harder to fake.

Track it without a spreadsheet headache#

The built-in insights on each platform give you the raw numbers for free; our guide to free Instagram analytics shows where each one lives. If you schedule with BroadcastPost, the analytics page shows reach, views, likes, comments and follower growth per account as a chart and a table, and you can export a CSV. Add one column for engagement rate by reach, drag the formula down, and sort. The top of that list is your content plan.

The other half of engagement is timing, because a post nobody sees cannot be engaged with. If you are new to queues and posting schedules, start with the beginner's guide to scheduling social media posts, then use your own best-time data. You can try BroadcastPost free and have your first week of numbers in a few days.

Key takeaways#

• Engagement rate = (likes + comments + saves + shares) / followers x 100. Swap followers for reach or views to see how the people who saw a post actually responded.
• Use by-followers for benchmarks and sponsorships, by-reach or by-views for deciding what to post next.
• For video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts), always divide by views.
• Rough small-account benchmarks by followers: Instagram 1 to 3 percent, TikTok 3 to 6, LinkedIn 2 to 4, Facebook under 1. Your own month-over-month trend matters more.
• Log one row per post, keep the formula fixed, and calculate after 48 hours.