Engagement Rate Data by Tier
TikTok engagement rates follow a consistent inverse pattern: the smaller the account, the higher the percentage. This is not a flaw in smaller accounts or an achievement to celebrate — it is a structural outcome of how audiences form and how the algorithm distributes content at different scales.
The benchmarks below are based on aggregated 2026 data across multiple content categories. Your individual rate will vary by niche, content quality, and posting consistency, but these ranges give you a reliable baseline to measure your performance against.
Nano-Influencers (1K - 10K followers): 8% - 15% average engagement rate. Nano accounts consistently produce the highest engagement percentages on TikTok. Accounts in this tier with strong niche focus regularly hit 12-15%, and even generalist content creators in this range typically see rates above 8%. If you have fewer than 10,000 followers and your engagement rate is below 8%, something in your content strategy needs attention — you are underperforming the baseline for your tier.
Micro-Influencers (10K - 100K followers): 5% - 10% average engagement rate. The micro tier is where the engagement decline becomes noticeable. Crossing the 10K threshold introduces your content to broader algorithmic distribution, which brings in viewers who are less invested in your specific content. A micro-influencer maintaining 7%+ is performing exceptionally well. The 5% floor of this range still represents strong performance and is more than sufficient for brand partnerships.
Mid-Tier Creators (100K - 500K followers): 3% - 6% average engagement rate. Mid-tier accounts face the challenge of audience diversification. At this scale, your follower base includes a mix of loyal fans, casual followers who engaged with one viral video, and viewers who follow broadly within your niche. Holding above 4% at this level indicates consistently strong content. Creators who sustain 5-6% in this tier are in the top quartile of performers at their follower count.
Macro-Influencers (500K - 1M followers): 1.5% - 4% average engagement rate. Macro accounts begin to feel the full weight of audience dilution. A large portion of followers at this level are passive — they followed once and consume content intermittently. The engagement rate percentage drops, but total interactions per post increase significantly. A macro influencer averaging 3%+ is outperforming the vast majority of accounts at this scale.
Mega-Influencers (1M+ followers): 1% - 2.5% average engagement rate. Mega accounts operate by different rules. The percentage looks low compared to nano or micro tiers, but the absolute numbers are massive. A 2% engagement rate on an account with 5 million followers generates 100,000 interactions per post. At this tier, maintaining above 2% signals a healthy, engaged audience. Rates below 1% may indicate audience fatigue or a significant portion of inactive followers.
Why Smaller Accounts Get Higher Engagement
The inverse relationship between follower count and engagement rate is one of the most consistent patterns across social media, and it is especially pronounced on TikTok. Three factors drive this dynamic.
Personal connection scales poorly. A creator with 3,000 followers can realistically interact with a meaningful percentage of their audience. They reply to comments, recognize repeat viewers, and create content that feels directed at a specific community. That personal touch drives reciprocal engagement — viewers who feel seen are more likely to interact. At 500,000 followers, that level of individual interaction becomes physically impossible, and engagement reflects the shift.
Algorithmic distribution broadens the audience. TikTok's For You Page algorithm pushes content to users based on interest signals. When an account is small, the algorithm tests content with a relatively targeted audience — people whose behavior closely matches the creator's niche. As the account grows and videos reach wider audiences, the algorithm serves content to viewers with weaker interest alignment. These broader audiences watch and scroll, but they interact at lower rates than the core niche audience.
Follower quality degrades with growth. Not all followers are equal. Early followers tend to be genuine fans who discovered the creator through niche content and made a deliberate choice to follow. Later followers increasingly include people who followed after a single viral video, trend-chasers, and passive accounts. This dilution of follower quality is inevitable and accounts for a significant portion of the engagement rate decline at higher follower counts.
Understanding these mechanics is important because it reframes how you interpret your own numbers. A declining engagement rate percentage as you grow is normal and expected. The relevant question is whether your rate is declining faster or slower than the benchmarks for your follower tier.
What Brands Look For
Engagement rate benchmarks matter most in the context of brand partnerships, where they directly affect whether you get deals and how much you get paid. Brands and agencies evaluate creators differently depending on the follower tier, and understanding their perspective helps you position yourself effectively.
For nano and micro-influencers, engagement rate is the primary metric. Brands working with smaller creators are buying engagement, not reach. They expect to see rates at the higher end of the tier benchmarks — 10%+ for nano, 7%+ for micro. A nano-influencer with a 12% engagement rate is a significantly more attractive partner than one with 6%, even if the follower counts are identical. At this level, your engagement rate is your resume.
For mid-tier creators, consistency matters as much as the number. Brands evaluating 100K-500K accounts look at engagement rate trends over time. They pull data from your last 30-90 days of content and look for stability. A creator who averages 4.5% consistently is more appealing than one who swings between 2% and 8% because predictable performance reduces risk for the brand's campaign.
For macro and mega influencers, total reach becomes the primary value. At the 500K+ level, brands understand that percentage rates will be lower. They are buying distribution — the ability to put a message in front of hundreds of thousands or millions of people. A mega influencer with a 1.8% rate and 3 million followers is generating 54,000 interactions per post, which exceeds the total reach of most nano-influencers entirely. The calculus shifts from efficiency to scale.
The micro-influencer sweet spot is worth highlighting. Brands in 2026 are allocating an increasing share of their influencer marketing budgets to micro-influencers (10K-100K) specifically because this tier offers the best balance of engagement rate and meaningful reach. Micro-influencers deliver 2-5x the engagement rate of macro accounts while still reaching audiences large enough to drive measurable business results. If you are in this tier with above-average engagement, you are in the most in-demand segment of the creator economy.
Using These Benchmarks
These benchmarks serve three practical purposes for your creator strategy.
Diagnose your current performance. Compare your average engagement rate against the benchmark range for your follower tier. If you are within range, your content is performing normally. If you are above range, you have a competitive advantage to leverage in brand negotiations. If you are below range, it signals a need to adjust your content strategy, posting schedule, or audience targeting.
Set realistic growth expectations. If you are a nano-influencer with a 13% engagement rate, understand that this number will naturally decrease as you grow. Planning for this prevents the demoralization that hits many creators when they cross into a new follower tier and watch their percentage drop. The absolute number of interactions growing while the percentage declines is a sign of healthy growth, not decline.
Benchmark against competitors. Knowing the average for your tier allows you to evaluate other creators in your niche. If a competitor at a similar follower count has a significantly higher engagement rate, study their content to understand what is driving the difference. If your rate is higher, that is a data point you can use in brand deal negotiations to justify premium pricing.
Enter your follower count and average engagement metrics into our calculator to see exactly where you stand relative to these benchmarks and how your rate compares to the median for your tier.