Mobile Speed Score Benchmarks by Industry

The Lighthouse performance score on mobile devices is a composite metric ranging from 0 to 100, calculated from weighted combinations of First Contentful Paint, Speed Index, LCP, Total Blocking Time, and CLS. Mobile scores are consistently lower than desktop due to slower processors, limited bandwidth, and network latency inherent to mobile connections.

Mobile-First Indexing and Performance

Since Google shifted to mobile-first indexing, the mobile version of your site is what gets evaluated for rankings. A poor mobile performance score directly impacts your visibility in search results — regardless of how fast your desktop site loads. In 2026, over 65% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, making mobile performance optimization non-negotiable.

The Lighthouse mobile simulation throttles CPU by 4x and network to a slow 4G connection, creating a demanding testing environment that many sites fail. A score of 90 or above is considered excellent, while scores below 50 indicate significant performance problems.

Industry Benchmarks

E-commerce mobile scores are notably low, with a median of just 52. Heavy product images, JavaScript-driven filtering, and numerous third-party scripts create a punishing experience on throttled mobile connections. Top performers reach 78 through dedicated mobile optimization strategies.

SaaS sites perform better with a median mobile score of 65. Lighter pages and fewer dynamic elements help, though complex interactive demos and animation-heavy landing pages can pull scores down.

Media sites have the lowest mobile scores at a median of 42. Ad-heavy layouts combined with large images and video autoplay create extreme bottlenecks on mobile connections.

Healthcare sites achieve a median of 55, with form-heavy pages and embedded third-party widgets being primary detractors.

Finance sites lead at 68 median, benefiting from text-focused content and disciplined performance engineering.

Boosting Mobile Performance Scores

Key strategies include reducing JavaScript bundle sizes through code splitting and tree shaking, serving appropriately sized images based on device screen width using srcset, minimizing main-thread work by deferring non-critical scripts, implementing efficient CSS that avoids layout thrashing, and reducing the number of network requests through resource bundling and inlining critical CSS.

Auditite runs automated mobile audits across your entire site, tracking Lighthouse scores over time and identifying the specific metrics dragging your overall score down so your team can focus on the highest-impact improvements.