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Engagement rate formula

Engagement rate is interactions divided by an audience number, times 100. Which audience number you use gives you one of three formulas: by followers, by reach or by impressions. Always say which one you used, because they give very different results for the same posts.

Engagement rate calculatorUpdated 4 min read

The three formulas

Interactions are the likes, comments, shares and saves on the posts you're measuring. Count the same posts for every number in the formula.

Engagement rate by followers

Engagement rate = (interactions ÷ number of posts) ÷ followers × 100

This is the average interactions per post, as a share of your followers. You can work it out from public numbers, so it's the one brands use when they look at an account from outside.

Engagement rate by reach

Engagement rate = interactions ÷ reach × 100

Reach is the number of accounts that saw the posts. This rate tells you how the content landed with the people who actually saw it. Only the account owner can see reach.

Engagement rate by impressions (or views)

Engagement rate = interactions ÷ impressions × 100

Impressions count every time the posts were shown, including repeat views by the same person. On platforms that report views instead, use views.

Worked example with sample numbers

These are made-up numbers for an example account, and they're already loaded in the calculator below.

  • Followers: 2,000
  • Posts counted: 4
  • Likes 240, comments 24, shares 8, saves 8: 280 interactions in total
  • Total reach of those 4 posts: 5,000
  • Total impressions of those 4 posts: 6,400

By followers: 280 ÷ 4 = 70 interactions per post. 70 ÷ 2,000 × 100 = 3.5%.

By reach: 280 ÷ 5,000 × 100 = 5.6%.

By impressions: 280 ÷ 6,400 × 100 = 4.375%, which the calculator rounds to 4.38%.

Same posts, three rates. The rate by reach is highest here because fewer accounts saw the posts than follow the account. That's normal: most followers don't see every post.

Engagement rate calculator

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How the formula changes by platform

The maths stays the same. What changes is which numbers each platform gives you.

Instagram. Meta's insights reference defines total interactions as likes, saves, comments and shares, minus unlikes, unsaves and deleted comments. It defines reach as the number of unique accounts that saw the media at least once, and marks it as estimated. Impressions are deprecated for media created after 2 July 2024, and views are listed alongside, so use views as the denominator for newer posts. Meta also notes that likes, comments, views and total interactions count organic activity only, not interactions on ads using the post.

TikTok. TikTok's developer reference lists four counts per video: likes, comments, shares and views. Use views in place of impressions:

TikTok engagement rate by views = (likes + comments + shares) ÷ views × 100

Sample numbers: 6,500 interactions across videos with 120,000 views gives 6,500 ÷ 120,000 × 100 ≈ 5.42%. The TikTok engagement rate calculator starts with this example loaded.

Facebook. The formula is the same: count reactions, comments and shares as interactions, and divide by followers, reach or impressions. Meta has been changing its Page Insights metrics. Its developer reference says a number of Page Insights metrics would be deprecated by 15 June 2026, and it marks post impressions and post reach as deprecated above Graph API v25. Before you compare a Facebook rate with an older one, check that the reach or views figure comes from the same metric.

Getting a number you can trust

  • Use several posts. Ten recent posts is a fair sample and smooths out one unusual post.
  • Use the same posts throughout. Likes from ten posts and reach from twenty give a meaningless rate.
  • Leave out ads and giveaways, or work them out separately. Prizes and paid reach change who's interacting.
  • Say what you counted. Some people leave out saves and shares because only the account owner can see them. If a brand asks for your rate, tell them the formula and which interactions you included.
  • Compare like with like. Your rate by reach this month against your rate by reach last month is useful. Your rate by reach against someone else's rate by followers isn't.

Which formula to use

Use the rate by followers when you're comparing accounts from the outside, such as vetting a creator for a campaign. The influencer engagement rate calculator is set up for that.

Use the rate by reach or views for your own content decisions, because it shows how the people who saw a post reacted. On Instagram, the Instagram engagement rate calculator starts with reach and views filled in.

Whichever you pick, stick with it. A rate is most useful as a trend over time, measured the same way each month.

Sources

Questions

How do you calculate engagement rate?

Add up the interactions (likes, comments, shares and saves) on a set of posts. For the rate by followers, divide the average per post by your followers and multiply by 100. For the rate by reach or impressions, divide the total interactions by the total reach or impressions of the same posts and multiply by 100.

What's a good average engagement rate?

There isn't one number that holds across platforms, niches, account sizes and formulas, so we don't give one. Published studies use different methods and samples, so their figures aren't comparable with each other or with a rate you work out a different way. Compare your rate with your own past months, measured the same way.

Is a 4.5% or 12% engagement rate good?

It depends first on the formula. 4.5% by followers and 4.5% by reach describe very different results. Find out which formula produced the number, then compare it with figures worked out the same way for similar accounts.