# LinkedIn Benchmark May 2026: real reach and engagement by audience size

> Source: LinkPost (https://www.linkpost.gg/en/benchmarks/may-2026). Percentiles computed over 28,035 LinkedIn posts published in May 2026 by 4,953 tracked creators. Computed on 2026-07-19. Frozen data — monthly reports are never modified after publication.

## Key takeaways

- The median LinkedIn post earned **20 reactions** and **6 comments** in May 2026 (median reactions: -9% vs April 2026).
- The top 10% of posts exceeded **236 reactions**.
- On the premium-analytics subset (365 posts), the median post reached **793 impressions** with a median engagement rate of **2.65%**.

## Reactions by follower count (May 2026)

| Followers | Low (p25) | Median | High (p75) | Top 10% (p90) | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 6 | 20 | 65 | 236 | 28,035 |

## Comments by follower count

| Followers | Low (p25) | Median | High (p75) | Top 10% (p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 1 | 6 | 23 | 65 |

## Impressions by follower count

| Followers | Low (p25) | Median | High (p75) | Top 10% (p90) | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 258 | 793 | 2,119 | 5,362 | 365 |

## Engagement rate (reactions + comments + shares / impressions)

Median engagement rate: **2.65%** (p25: 1.46%, p75: 4.64%, p90: 6.87%).

## 6-month trend (median post)

| Month | Median reactions | Median comments | Median impressions | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 28 | 7 | 657 | 30,734 |
| January 2026 | 24 | 7 | 708 | 80,398 |
| February 2026 | 23 | 6 | 690 | 84,923 |
| March 2026 | 22 | 6 | 872 | 85,811 |
| April 2026 | 22 | 6 | 723 | 63,988 |
| May 2026 | 20 | 6 | 793 | 28,035 |

## By format

| Format | Median reactions | Median comments | Posts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carousel (PDF) | 29 | 11 | 1,000 |
| Image | 24 | 7 | 17,365 |
| Text-only | 11 | 3 | 7,488 |
| Video | 35 | 7 | 2,182 |

## Elite thresholds (reactions needed)

| Top 25% | Top 10% | Top 5% | Top 1% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 236 | 514 | 2,116 |

## Reactions distribution

| Reactions range | % of posts |
|---|---|
| 0 | 5.4% |
| 1-5 | 18.8% |
| 6-10 | 11.4% |
| 11-25 | 19.8% |
| 26-50 | 15% |
| 51-100 | 10.9% |
| 101-250 | 9.3% |
| 250+ | 9.4% |

## Median reactions by publication day (Europe/Paris time)

| Day | Median reactions | Posts |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 19 | 5,668 |
| Tuesday | 18 | 5,486 |
| Wednesday | 20 | 4,224 |
| Thursday | 21 | 3,791 |
| Friday | 20 | 4,317 |
| Saturday | 23 | 2,241 |
| Sunday | 25 | 2,308 |

Best slot this month: Sunday 4-8h (39 median reactions).

## Post length vs reactions

| Characters | Median reactions | Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 0-300 | 13 | 3,551 |
| 300-600 | 18 | 2,913 |
| 600-900 | 18 | 4,018 |
| 900-1200 | 19 | 4,897 |
| 1200-1600 | 22 | 5,574 |
| 1600-2200 | 23 | 4,526 |
| 2200+ | 27 | 2,556 |

## Post lifespan

| After 6h | After 24h | After 48h | After 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |

Median share of final reactions already earned (measured on 12,523 posts with multiple snapshots).

## Saves, reposts and followers gained (premium-analytics subset)

Median saves: **1** · Median reposts: **0** · Followers gained per post: **0** (median), **6** (top 10%). Over 117 posts.
image posts generate the most saves: 6.1 saves per 100 reactions.

## The 3 movements of the month

- Median likes declined from 22 in April to 20 in May, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline from the December 2025 peak of 28 likes.
- Median impressions rebounded from 723 in April to 793 in May, a 10% increase that reverses the previous month's trend.
- Carousel share dropped from 4.7% in April to 3.6% in May, reaching its lowest level over the six-month period despite their superior performance of 29 median likes.


## This month's analysis

The May 2026 analysis reveals a continuing decline in median LinkedIn engagement. Median likes dropped from 22 in April to 20 in May, extending a downward trend from the December 2025 peak of 28 likes. Median comments held steady at 6, but median impressions rebounded to 793, up 10% from April's 723.

Video and carousel formats continue to outperform text posts, generating 35 and 29 median likes respectively versus just 11 for text. The carousel share of total posts continues its decline, falling from 4.7% in April to 3.6% in May—the lowest level observed over the six-month period.

Posting timing shows notable weekend performance: Saturday posts earned 25 median likes and Sunday posts 23, compared to 18-21 on weekdays. Weekend morning slots (slot 1) delivered the strongest results, with 39 median likes on Sunday and 36 on Saturday.

Post length remains correlated with engagement, as posts over 2200 characters reached 27 median likes—more than double the 13 median likes earned by short posts under 300 characters. The median engagement rate held at 2.65%, ranging from 1.46% at the 25th percentile to 6.87% at the 90th percentile.

## 5 stats to remember

- LinkedIn posts over 2200 characters earn 27 median likes, versus just 13 for posts under 300 characters. Length matters.
- Posting on LinkedIn Sunday morning in May 2026 generated 39 median likes—double the overall median performance of 20 likes.
- LinkedIn videos earn 35 median likes versus 11 for text-only posts. Yet 61.9% of posts are images and only 7.8% are videos.
- Reaching the top 10% on LinkedIn in May 2026 required 236 reactions. The top 1% demanded 2,116 reactions—9 times more.
- The median LinkedIn engagement rate is 2.65%. But posts at the 90th percentile reach 6.87%—2.6 times the median performance.

## Methodology

- Corpus: 28,035 public LinkedIn posts published between 2026-05-01 and 2026-06-01 (UTC), tracked by LinkPost.
- Posts collected from algorithmic feeds are excluded to avoid a virality bias.
- Low = 25th percentile, Median = 50th, High = 75th, Top 10% = 90th. Latest known metric snapshot per post.
- Impressions and engagement rate cover the 365 posts whose author syncs LinkedIn premium analytics (a subset, flagged everywhere).
- Follower brackets cover the 0 posts whose author audience size is known. Every displayed bracket holds at least 30 posts.
- Frozen at compute time: past months are never recomputed.

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Generated by LinkPost. Monthly LinkedIn benchmark: https://www.linkpost.gg/en/benchmarks/may-2026