Key findings
- 156 reviews is the median for a local business in the sweep. The middle half have 26 to 639, and 5.6% show none.n = 66,900 businesses
- 71.6% of all reviews are 5 stars and 5.6% are 1 star. The typical business with 10 or more reviews has 78.4% of its own at 5 stars, and 89.1% of them hold at least one 1-star review.n = 45,546,353 reviews on 62,748 businesses; 56,109 with 10 or more reviews
- 14.3% of rated businesses show a perfect 5.0 and it gets rarer as reviews add up: 63.1% of businesses with 1 to 4 reviews show one, against 0.6% of those with 1,500 or more.n = 63,170 rated businesses; 4,018 and 7,522 in the two bands
- 42.9% gained at least one review between weekly sweeps and 3.0% lost at least one. Scaled to a week, the median gain is 0 reviews and the mean is 1.86.n = 233,472 business-week pairs from 4 weekly intervals
- 8.1% of businesses with 1 to 24 reviews gained one between sweeps against 89.6% of those with 1,500 or more. Busy profiles keep gaining; thin ones mostly stand still.n = 42,798 and 27,584 pairs
- 14 to 1,850 reviews is the spread of medians across the 25 largest categories, from Key duplication service to Movie theater. What is normal depends on the category.n = 784 and 985 businesses
Reviews are a threshold, not a ladder
Rankings are a separate question, and we measured them in a separate study. In our July 2026 map pack study of 42,599 listings across 30 metros, businesses with 75 to 199 reviews appeared in the top 20 for 21.4% of searches, against 14.7% for those under 25; from 200 reviews up, the share reaching the top three stayed between 16.3% and 17.0%. That study was observational: it shows which businesses ranked where, not what moved them. Its findings are on the Periodic Table of SEO.
Nothing in this study shows that more reviews raise a Maps ranking. This page measures reviews, not rankings.
So the useful question is not how to out-count the busiest listing in town, but what normal looks like for your kind of business. The typical business in the sweep has 156 reviews and the middle half run from 26 to 639, but the range by category is wide, as the category table shows. A perfect 5.0 is common on profiles with few reviews and rare on busy ones; the 5.0 table shows how fast it fades.
Star mix
Share of all reviews at each star level, pooled across every business that shows a breakdown. Busy listings weigh more here, so the per-business figures below the bars are the better guide to a typical profile.
n = 45,546,353 reviews on 62,748 businesses
Per business, the typical one with 10 or more reviews has 78.4% of its own reviews at 5 stars (n = 56,109), and 89.1% of those businesses hold at least one 1-star review.
Is a perfect 5.0 normal?
14.3% of rated businesses show a displayed 5.0 (n = 63,170). The share falls steadily as the review count grows.
| Reviews | Rated businesses (n) | Perfect 5.0 | 4.5 or higher | Median rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | 4,018 | 63.1% | 69.0% | 5.0 |
| 5–9 | 2,822 | 37.7% | 55.8% | 4.6 |
| 10–24 | 5,665 | 27.3% | 61.1% | 4.6 |
| 25–74 | 9,521 | 17.3% | 64.4% | 4.7 |
| 75–199 | 10,422 | 11.3% | 63.6% | 4.6 |
| 200–499 | 11,094 | 6.6% | 61.2% | 4.6 |
| 500–1,499 | 12,106 | 2.3% | 54.1% | 4.5 |
| 1,500+ | 7,522 | 0.6% | 52.0% | 4.5 |
Weekly review gain
We matched each business across consecutive weekly sweeps and counted the reviews it added, scaled to a week. Most businesses add none; a minority add a few. Business-week pairs are not businesses: one business can appear in up to 4 pairs.
| Interval | Pairs (n) | Gained 1+ | Lost | Unchanged | Median a week | Mean a week | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8 to Aug 16 | 54,303 | 42.4% | 3.3% | 54.3% | 0.0 | 1.81 | 4.4 |
| Aug 16 to Aug 23 | 55,394 | 41.9% | 2.6% | 55.5% | 0.0 | 2.08 | 4.7 |
| Aug 23 to Aug 30 | 62,355 | 43.4% | 2.3% | 54.3% | 0.0 | 1.90 | 4.4 |
| Aug 30 to Sep 8 | 61,420 | 43.6% | 3.9% | 52.5% | 0.0 | 1.67 | 3.9 |
| All 4 intervals | 233,472 | 42.9% | 3.0% | 54.1% | 0.0 | 1.86 | 4.4 |
Pooled, 42.9% of businesses gained at least one review between sweeps and 3.0% lost at least one (n = 233,472 pairs). Gain follows the size of the profile:
| Reviews at start | Pairs (n) | Gained 1+ | Median a week | Mean a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–24 | 42,798 | 8.1% | 0.0 | 0.13 |
| 25–74 | 32,752 | 20.2% | 0.0 | 0.35 |
| 75–199 | 35,825 | 36.8% | 0.0 | 0.74 |
| 200–499 | 38,468 | 54.5% | 0.8 | 1.29 |
| 500–1,499 | 43,128 | 72.2% | 1.2 | 2.38 |
| 1,500+ | 27,584 | 89.6% | 3.9 | 8.67 |
Businesses with no reviews at the start are not in this table: a first review cannot be told apart from the rating field dropping in, so first reviews are not measured.
By category
The 25 largest categories by business count, ordered by median reviews. “Category” is the business’s own primary category on its Google listing, not the search we ran. Rating columns cover rated businesses; the weekly gain columns pool all 4 intervals.
| Category | Businesses (n) | Median reviews | Middle half | Median rating | Perfect 5.0 | 5-star reviews | 1-star reviews | Gained 1+ between sweeps | Mean a week | Pairs (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie theater | 985 | 1,850 | 501 to 3,246 | 4.4 | 1.5% | 63.4% | 5.0% | 69.7% | 2.79 | 3,702 |
| American | 1,082 | 991 | 285 to 2,134 | 4.4 | 1.5% | 70.3% | 4.1% | 70.2% | 5.41 | 3,756 |
| Hotel | 1,946 | 966 | 416 to 1,689 | 4.2 | 1.4% | 55.4% | 9.2% | 69.8% | 2.33 | 7,383 |
| Italian | 1,208 | 851 | 424 to 1,546 | 4.5 | 0.7% | 74.9% | 4.1% | 76.3% | 4.69 | 4,119 |
| Mexican | 1,238 | 516 | 155 to 1,278 | 4.4 | 2.9% | 69.5% | 5.9% | 64.3% | 3.04 | 3,958 |
| Urgent care center | 997 | 470 | 123 to 1,166 | 4.4 | 3.8% | 82.5% | 9.2% | 64.2% | 2.66 | 3,765 |
| Pizza | 4,164 | 464 | 214 to 906 | 4.4 | 2.3% | 70.5% | 7.2% | 62.8% | 2.29 | 14,435 |
| Restaurant | 3,098 | 370 | 104 to 981 | 4.5 | 3.1% | 72.3% | 4.7% | 62.8% | 3.48 | 10,751 |
| Bar | 1,175 | 292 | 80 to 635 | 4.4 | 5.0% | 69.5% | 5.0% | 43.8% | 1.16 | 3,941 |
| Grocery store | 1,647 | 288 | 39 to 1,204 | 4.2 | 3.2% | 56.3% | 7.7% | 46.3% | 1.31 | 5,908 |
| Dentist | 2,483 | 271 | 56 to 531 | 4.8 | 20.1% | 91.4% | 4.5% | 45.2% | 1.06 | 9,181 |
| Bakery | 1,303 | 205 | 52 to 573 | 4.6 | 10.7% | 75.3% | 4.5% | 49.8% | 1.67 | 4,383 |
| Coffee shop | 1,523 | 196 | 71 to 430 | 4.6 | 5.7% | 75.9% | 4.7% | 54.6% | 1.46 | 4,801 |
| Car wash | 1,435 | 156 | 30 to 465 | 4.2 | 7.0% | 71.8% | 9.0% | 38.4% | 1.54 | 5,068 |
| Performing arts theater | 1,533 | 119 | 26 to 452 | 4.7 | 8.3% | 78.0% | 1.9% | 24.9% | 0.68 | 5,558 |
| Plumber | 4,451 | 87 | 20 to 353 | 4.9 | 27.5% | 92.3% | 3.4% | 38.6% | 1.65 | 15,445 |
| Apartment complex | 1,566 | 86 | 34 to 188 | 4.2 | 4.4% | 73.3% | 15.2% | 27.3% | 0.41 | 5,380 |
| Locksmith | 1,376 | 82 | 25 to 198 | 4.9 | 30.1% | 93.8% | 3.8% | 29.9% | 1.31 | 4,628 |
| Hair salon | 813 | 71 | 30 to 167 | 4.9 | 30.6% | 93.5% | 3.4% | 26.8% | 0.51 | 2,698 |
| Beauty salon | 1,013 | 65 | 27 to 150 | 4.8 | 18.3% | 91.4% | 4.1% | 21.4% | 0.39 | 3,269 |
| Personal injury attorney | 1,714 | 56 | 16 to 163 | 4.9 | 35.3% | 91.8% | 3.8% | 24.0% | 0.58 | 6,306 |
| Garage door supplier | 670 | 51 | 15 to 176 | 4.9 | 46.1% | 95.5% | 1.6% | 36.9% | 1.36 | 2,428 |
| Real estate agency | 878 | 32 | 10 to 80 | 4.9 | 49.6% | 95.3% | 3.1% | 11.9% | 0.22 | 3,054 |
| Real estate agent | 707 | 21 | 8 to 46 | 5.0 | 80.2% | 98.5% | 0.9% | 8.9% | 0.11 | 2,495 |
| Key duplication service | 784 | 14 | 4 to 31 | 4.1 | 7.2% | 69.5% | 13.9% | 12.5% | 0.13 | 2,656 |
By metro
All 54 metros in the sweep, ordered by median reviews. Each metro was searched for its own set of categories, so metro figures mix category composition: a metro’s median reflects its businesses and the categories we tracked there. Compare metros with care.
| Metro | Businesses (n) | Median reviews | Median rating | Perfect 5.0 | 5-star reviews | 1-star reviews | Gained 1+ between sweeps | Pairs (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington DMV | 1,215 | 377 | 4.5 | 5.8% | 72.4% | 4.5% | 57.1% | 4,492 |
| New York | 1,406 | 373 | 4.6 | 11.3% | 72.4% | 4.5% | 59.6% | 4,958 |
| Seattle | 1,127 | 335 | 4.5 | 7.9% | 68.6% | 4.1% | 56.4% | 4,195 |
| Chicago | 1,342 | 304 | 4.5 | 9.3% | 73.1% | 4.2% | 54.1% | 5,014 |
| Boston | 1,119 | 301 | 4.5 | 7.9% | 67.6% | 5.0% | 53.6% | 4,109 |
| Orlando | 1,181 | 297 | 4.6 | 10.5% | 76.7% | 4.8% | 52.1% | 4,386 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 1,126 | 294 | 4.6 | 8.7% | 74.8% | 3.8% | 51.6% | 4,243 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | 1,230 | 291 | 4.5 | 8.9% | 74.0% | 5.3% | 52.5% | 4,475 |
| Greenville | 973 | 291 | 4.6 | 10.8% | 72.9% | 5.1% | 55.4% | 3,151 |
| Miami | 1,111 | 282 | 4.7 | 14.8% | 81.3% | 4.5% | 51.1% | 4,056 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | 1,226 | 240 | 4.5 | 8.2% | 68.7% | 4.2% | 49.6% | 4,485 |
| Cleveland | 1,050 | 239 | 4.5 | 6.4% | 69.8% | 5.3% | 47.9% | 3,915 |
| Tacoma | 1,084 | 232 | 4.5 | 9.6% | 66.5% | 5.3% | 50.3% | 2,802 |
| Salt Lake City | 1,410 | 218 | 4.6 | 13.2% | 71.4% | 6.6% | 44.1% | 5,192 |
| Tucson | 1,081 | 218 | 4.5 | 11.7% | 69.6% | 5.5% | 44.3% | 4,079 |
| Denver | 1,485 | 212 | 4.5 | 13.2% | 71.7% | 6.5% | 48.7% | 4,949 |
| Richmond | 1,019 | 211 | 4.5 | 8.0% | 71.9% | 5.2% | 46.4% | 3,889 |
| Des Moines | 904 | 209 | 4.5 | 10.5% | 68.5% | 5.1% | 44.3% | 1,689 |
| Albuquerque | 1,106 | 205 | 4.5 | 9.3% | 67.4% | 6.2% | 47.3% | 4,128 |
| St. George | 812 | 193 | 4.6 | 17.3% | 70.2% | 6.1% | 46.9% | 1,553 |
| Phoenix | 1,373 | 189 | 4.5 | 14.6% | 69.6% | 7.2% | 42.8% | 5,059 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg | 1,386 | 183 | 4.6 | 15.1% | 73.8% | 6.4% | 43.2% | 5,026 |
| Fort Myers-Cape Coral | 1,050 | 182 | 4.6 | 14.5% | 73.6% | 5.0% | 48.4% | 2,001 |
| Providence | 1,007 | 175 | 4.6 | 8.0% | 70.7% | 5.5% | 41.2% | 1,880 |
| Austin | 1,348 | 172 | 4.6 | 14.9% | 75.3% | 5.6% | 44.8% | 5,085 |
| Sacramento | 1,118 | 170 | 4.5 | 10.3% | 67.9% | 4.7% | 45.9% | 4,166 |
| Hartford | 1,034 | 167 | 4.5 | 7.9% | 69.0% | 6.6% | 41.5% | 1,906 |
| Los Angeles | 1,276 | 167 | 4.5 | 11.7% | 69.6% | 5.0% | 42.7% | 4,639 |
| Jacksonville | 1,293 | 155 | 4.6 | 15.0% | 72.8% | 7.2% | 43.5% | 4,726 |
| Las Vegas | 1,343 | 148 | 4.6 | 16.2% | 63.7% | 5.6% | 43.9% | 5,067 |
| Oklahoma City | 1,357 | 141 | 4.5 | 15.2% | 69.0% | 6.8% | 42.1% | 4,891 |
| Kansas City | 1,329 | 136 | 4.5 | 12.4% | 70.2% | 6.1% | 39.4% | 4,891 |
| Portland | 1,387 | 136 | 4.5 | 13.0% | 69.9% | 5.6% | 42.4% | 5,209 |
| Nashville | 1,384 | 135 | 4.6 | 14.3% | 75.3% | 5.5% | 43.9% | 5,086 |
| Charlotte | 1,345 | 131 | 4.7 | 20.2% | 74.5% | 6.2% | 39.2% | 4,945 |
| San Antonio | 1,369 | 125 | 4.6 | 16.0% | 72.2% | 6.4% | 41.1% | 5,054 |
| Sarasota-Bradenton | 1,288 | 123 | 4.7 | 21.9% | 78.6% | 5.1% | 37.0% | 2,410 |
| Fargo | 767 | 110 | 4.5 | 11.1% | 63.4% | 7.0% | 37.3% | 2,977 |
| Raleigh-Durham | 1,352 | 110 | 4.7 | 19.2% | 76.9% | 5.2% | 38.2% | 5,015 |
| San Diego | 1,389 | 110 | 4.5 | 16.9% | 68.5% | 6.0% | 41.2% | 5,172 |
| Houston | 1,415 | 105 | 4.6 | 18.1% | 74.8% | 6.2% | 36.8% | 5,132 |
| Philadelphia | 1,435 | 101 | 4.6 | 18.8% | 70.3% | 6.4% | 34.3% | 5,323 |
| Indianapolis | 1,331 | 99 | 4.6 | 17.8% | 72.6% | 6.3% | 35.7% | 4,891 |
| Louisville | 1,312 | 99 | 4.5 | 16.4% | 68.7% | 7.0% | 32.7% | 4,804 |
| Boise | 1,249 | 96 | 4.7 | 25.0% | 73.7% | 5.1% | 36.1% | 4,747 |
| Atlanta | 1,387 | 95 | 4.6 | 19.2% | 73.6% | 6.8% | 39.9% | 4,966 |
| Columbus | 1,277 | 93 | 4.5 | 15.9% | 71.1% | 6.4% | 35.3% | 4,627 |
| Cincinnati | 1,333 | 83 | 4.6 | 17.2% | 73.9% | 5.7% | 33.2% | 4,943 |
| Charleston | 1,292 | 82 | 4.7 | 27.6% | 79.0% | 4.7% | 33.2% | 4,772 |
| Detroit | 1,410 | 79 | 4.5 | 16.2% | 68.6% | 7.4% | 34.5% | 5,209 |
| Reno | 1,251 | 77 | 4.5 | 18.0% | 62.8% | 7.2% | 34.2% | 4,411 |
| Pittsburgh | 1,397 | 74 | 4.6 | 17.5% | 71.1% | 6.2% | 31.2% | 5,103 |
| Milwaukee | 1,219 | 71 | 4.5 | 18.5% | 69.5% | 6.4% | 31.5% | 4,532 |
| Baltimore | 1,390 | 69 | 4.6 | 20.5% | 69.4% | 6.6% | 32.6% | 5,047 |
How this compares with GBP Benchmarks
Our GBP Benchmarks report counts every business seen since July 2026 at its latest values. That includes a deeper July pull across more categories, and many businesses seen only in that pull carry fewer reviews, so its median is lower and its perfect 5.0 share is higher. This study takes one sweep. Both are right for their samples, so quote each with its sample.
This study
- Sample
- 66,900 businesses, one sweep
- Median reviews
- 156
- Perfect 5.0, of rated
- 14.3%
- Gained 1+, Aug 30 to Sep 8
- 43.6% (n = 61,420 pairs)
GBP Benchmarks
- Sample
- 164,241 businesses seen since July 2026
- Median reviews
- 86
- Perfect 5.0, of rated
- 20.7%
- Gained 1+, Aug 30 to Sep 8
- 45.8%
The two weekly gain figures are not the same measure: GBP Benchmarks pairs a business once for every search it appeared in, and this study pairs each business once.
Methods
SourceGoogle Maps results from DataForSEO, collected by our weekly sweep across 54 US metros and mirrored as Parquet files. We read 638,316 rows. Aggregates only: no listing-level data is published.
SweepsA sweep is one pass across the roster. Pull dates no more than 2 days apart count as one sweep, because a roster can run past midnight. A pull counts only if it covers at least 45 metros and 100 distinct searches. 5 did: Aug 8, Aug 16, Aug 23, Aug 30 and Sep 8, 2026. 2 other pulls did not: Jul 31 (30 metros, 101 searches) and Aug 12 (53 metros, 3 searches).
SnapshotReview counts, ratings, the star mix and the category and metro tables come from the latest sweep, Sep 7 to Sep 8, 2026: 66,900 businesses in 54 metros, from 159 distinct searches. Each business counts once, at its latest observation in the window, with the best map position winning a tie.
Left out96,393 rows from top-up files (brand-name and Maps lookups filed beside the weekly pull, which would tilt the sample toward chains) and 249 paid-ad listings. 541,674 of 638,316 rows remain.
Reviews and ratingsRatings are as Google displays them, to one decimal, so a 5.0 means a displayed 5.0. Rating figures cover the 63,170 rated businesses. A listing that shows no rating counts as having no reviews: 3,730 businesses, 5.6%.
Star mixFrom the 1 to 5 star breakdown a listing shows, for the 62,748 businesses that carry one; for every one of them the five counts sum to its review count. Shares pool all 45,546,353 reviews, so busy listings weigh more. The per-business figures use the 56,109 businesses with 10 or more reviews.
CategoryThe listing's own primary Google category, not the search we ran. 360 businesses have none and count in the overall figures only. The category table shows the 25 largest of 1,249 categories, 39,789 of 66,540 categorised businesses.
Weekly gainFor each business in two consecutive sweeps (4 intervals): reviews now minus reviews before, times 7, divided by the days between its two observations, which fall between 6 and 9 days apart. Businesses with no reviews in either sweep count as unchanged (12,917 pairs). 714 pairs where the count appeared or vanished between sweeps are excluded, because that cannot be told apart from the rating field dropping in and out. So first reviews are not measured. One business can appear in up to 4 pairs. Category and metro come from the later sweep.
WithheldGroups under 25 businesses (25 pairs for gain figures) are withheld, not shown. 1,043 of 1,249 categories fall under the line. No metro, review band or weekly interval does.
Sampling frameThese are businesses Google Maps showed for our tracked local searches, not every Google Business Profile. Each metro was searched for its own set of categories, so metro figures mix category composition.
Questions
What percentage of Google reviews are 5 stars?
71.6% (n = 45,546,353 reviews on 62,748 businesses, Google Maps sweep of Sep 7 to Sep 8, 2026). 14.4% are 4 stars, 5.7% are 3 stars, 2.7% are 2 stars and 5.6% are 1 star. Counted per business, the typical business with 10 or more reviews has 78.4% of its reviews at 5 stars (n = 56,109).
How many Google reviews does a typical local business have?
156 (the median, n = 66,900 businesses in 54 metros, sweep of Sep 7 to Sep 8, 2026). The middle half have 26 to 639. The mean is 681.1, pulled up by a few very busy listings, and 5.6% show no reviews at all.
How many reviews does a business get in a week?
Most get none: the median is 0 a week (n = 233,472 business-week pairs across 4 weekly intervals). 42.9% gained at least one review between sweeps 6 to 9 days apart, the mean is 1.86 a week, and the 90th percentile is 4.4. It depends on size: 8.1% of businesses with 1 to 24 reviews gained one between sweeps (n = 42,798), against 89.6% of those with 1,500 or more (n = 27,584).
Is a perfect 5.0 rating normal?
14.3% of rated businesses show a perfect 5.0 (n = 63,170), so it is not the norm. The median rating is 4.6, and 59.9% are 4.5 or higher. A flat 5.0 is common on thin profiles: 63.1% of businesses with 1 to 4 reviews (n = 4,018), falling to 0.6% of those with 1,500 or more (n = 7,522).
How many Google reviews do I need?
There is no single number: what is normal depends on the kind of business. Across the 25 largest categories in the sweep, the median runs from 14 reviews (Key duplication service, n = 784) to 1,850 (Movie theater, n = 985). Compare yourself with businesses like yours in the category table, not with the busiest listing in town. What review counts did and did not go with in Maps rankings is the next question.
Do more reviews mean a higher Maps ranking?
Not in a straight line. In our July 2026 map pack study of 42,599 listings across 30 metros, businesses with 75 to 199 reviews appeared in the top 20 for 21.4% of searches, against 14.7% for those under 25; from 200 reviews up, the share reaching the top three stayed between 16.3% and 17.0%. That study was observational: it shows which businesses ranked where, not what moved them. This page measures reviews, not rankings. Nothing in this study shows that more reviews raise a Maps ranking.
Reviews are one part of getting found
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