How to Calculate Instagram Engagement Rate: Formula, Example and Benchmarks (2026)
Quick answer
Instagram engagement rate = (average likes + average comments) ÷ followers × 100. An account with 25,000 followers that averages 620 likes and 30 comments per post has a rate of 2.6%. Larger accounts naturally score lower: roughly 1.5–4% under 10K followers, 1–3% between 10K and 100K, and around 1% or less beyond that is often normal.
What does engagement rate actually measure?
Follower count tells you how many people could see an account, but not whether any of them care. Engagement rate fills that gap: what share of followers reacted to a post with a like or a comment?
That is why an account with 200,000 followers and 300 likes per post can have a weaker audience than one with 8,000 followers and 600 likes. Brands check this number before working with a creator, and anyone doing competitor research uses it to size up their own account.
The formula, step by step
The most common calculation looks like this:
Engagement rate (%) = (average likes + average comments) ÷ followers × 100
Take an account with 25,000 followers and look at the average of its recent posts:
- Average likes: 620
- Average comments: 30
- Total reactions: 620 + 30 = 650
- 650 ÷ 25,000 = 0.026
- 0.026 × 100 = 2.6%
If you also know saves and shares, you can add them to the top for a wider rate. With an average of 40 saves, the same account would score (620 + 30 + 40) ÷ 25,000 = 2.76%. What matters most is using the same formula every time you compare.
If you would rather skip the arithmetic, the engagement rate calculator does it for you.
Average or median? The viral post trap
Using the average has one weakness: a single post that takes off distorts everything. Here is a real example from when we tested the tool. A public account with 10,000 followers had these like counts on its last nine posts: 80,059, 676, 8,154, 410, 272, 1,920, 2,053, 2,070 and 708.
- Average likes: about 10,700. Together with comments the rate passes 100%.
- Median likes: 1,920. Together with comments the rate is about 18.5%.
Both numbers are correct, they just answer different questions. The average tells you how much reaction the account collected overall; the median tells you what a typical post gets. If you care about steady performance, the median is far more reliable because it takes the post in the exact middle and ignores one viral outlier.
That is why the Instagram profile analyzer rates an account on the median and shows the average separately.
What counts as a normal rate for your account size
There is no single “good” number. As an account grows, its rate almost always falls, because the audience gets broader and includes more people who are only mildly interested. The ranges below are a rough guide and match the thresholds we use in Shadowly’s analysis tools:
| Account tier | Followers | Normal range |
|---|---|---|
| Nano | under 10K | 1.5% – 4% |
| Micro | 10K – 100K | 1% – 3% |
| Mid-tier | 100K – 500K | 0.7% – 2% |
| Macro | 500K – 1M | 0.5% – 1.5% |
| Mega | over 1M | 0.3% – 1% |
These are not hard rules. Visual niches like beauty, food and fitness usually score higher, while news and corporate accounts score lower. Comparing yourself with three or four accounts in your own niche teaches you more than any table.
Should you count saves and shares too?
Counting only likes and comments can undersell a post. Someone saving a post or sending it to a friend is a much stronger signal than a double tap, and on reels those numbers can be substantial.
The catch is that these numbers are not always public. Shadowly’s profile analysis shows saves, shares and reposts whenever they are available and calculates a separate rate that includes them. For your own account you can also check Instagram’s built-in insights.
A practical rule: keep the basic rate (likes + comments) as your fixed yardstick, and read the wider rate as a complement.
How many posts should you look at?
Three posts is too few, fifty drags in content that is long out of date. For most accounts the latest 9 to 12 posts strike a good balance. If an old post is pinned at the top, leave it out, because numbers from months ago say little about how the account performs today.
Reels and carousels often behave very differently. Rather than blending them into one average, split results by format to see what is actually working. The profile analysis does this in its “results by format” table.
Common mistakes when calculating
- Looking at a single post. Picking the best performer and calling it “the rate” flatters the account.
- Mixing in sponsored posts. A post boosted with ad spend does not reflect organic performance. Judge it separately if you can.
- Using an outdated follower count. If an account is growing fast, an old follower number inflates the rate.
- Comparing different formulas. If one source counts likes only and another counts likes, comments and saves, the figures will not match. Pick one formula and stick to it.
- Counting stories. Story engagement works differently and is not public, so do not mix it with post rates.
In short: look at the middle of several posts, use one formula, and compare against accounts close to your niche.
A few things that actually lift the rate
- Test formats. Post the same idea once as a reel and once as a carousel. On most accounts one clearly wins.
- Reply to comments in the first hour. Posts that start a conversation tend to collect more comments.
- Post less, but sharper. Two good posts a week often beat five average ones.
- Make content worth saving. Lists, checklists and step-by-step guides push people to save.
- Protect your real audience. Bought or inactive followers inflate the denominator and drag the rate down.
How to see your own rate or a competitor’s
Type a username into the Instagram profile analyzer. For public accounts you get the engagement rate from recent posts, average and median values, the best posts and a breakdown by format. You never need to log in or share a password.
If you already have the numbers, the engagement rate calculator works them out by hand. For the wider picture of reading a profile, see our guide on how to analyze an Instagram profile, and for the same idea on TikTok, read the TikTok engagement rate guide.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate Instagram engagement rate?
Add average likes and average comments, divide by the follower count and multiply by 100. For example, an account with 10,000 followers that gets 300 likes and 20 comments per post has a rate of (300 + 20) ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 3.2%.
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram?
It depends on account size. Roughly 1.5–4% is normal under 10K followers, 1–3% from 10K to 100K, and about 0.5–2% above 100K. These are rough guides and vary by niche.
Why is engagement rate lower on bigger accounts?
As followers grow, the audience widens and includes more people who are only loosely interested. The same number of likes is divided by a larger base, so the rate drops.
Can I calculate the engagement rate of another account?
For public accounts, yes. Likes and comments are visible on every post. Shadowly’s profile analyzer does it in one step and needs no login.
What happens when an account hides its likes?
Posts with hidden likes are left out of the like-based figures, because counting an unknown number as zero would mislead. The analysis states how many posts were excluded.
Should I use the average or the median?
Use the median if one post went viral. It is not pulled up by outliers and shows what a typical post earns. Seeing both side by side is the most informative.
