Deliverability Rate

What is Deliverability Rate?

Deliverability rate is the percentage of emails successfully delivered to recipients (including both inbox and spam folder) divided by the total number of emails sent.

Formula:

Deliverability Rate = (Emails Sent - Bounces) x Emails Sent

Critical Distinction: Deliverability rate is NOT the same as inbox placement rate. You can have a 95% deliverability rate with 50% of those delivered emails going to spam.

Delivery Hierarchy:

Metric	What It Measures	Good Benchmark
Sent Rate	Emails attempted	100%
Deliverability Rate	Emails not bounced	95%+
Inbox Placement	Emails reaching inbox	87%+
Primary Placement	Emails in primary tab	70%+

Why Deliverability Rate Matters

Deliverability rate is your first warning system for email health. While inbox placement is the ultimate goal, deliverability rate tells you if you have fundamental problems.

What Your Rate Reveals:

• Below 90%: Serious list hygiene or technical issues
• 90-95%: Room for improvement in data quality
• 95%+: Healthy baseline—now focus on inbox placement

The Hidden Spam Problem: You can have 98% deliverability but 50% of emails going to spam. Deliverability rate alone doesn't tell the full story—you must also measure inbox placement.

Benchmarks

Industry	Deliverability Rate	Inbox Placement
Average across industries	95-98%	83-87%
High performers	98%+	90%+
Education sector	~85%	~20% (spam filtering)
Retail/Ecommerce	~95%	~85%

2024 Data:

• Average deliverability: 83.1% (inbox placement)
• Overall bounce rate: 1.98%
• Soft bounce rate: 0.73%
• Hard bounce rate: 0.44%

Best Practices

1. Track Both Metrics: Monitor deliverability AND inbox placement
2. Investigate Bounces: Categorize and analyze every bounce
3. Monitor by Domain: Track performance across Gmail, Outlook, etc.
4. Use Inbox Placement Tests: Regularly test where emails land
5. Segment Analysis: Identify which lists have lower rates
6. Trend Analysis: Watch for declining rates over time
7. Benchmark by ESP: Compare against industry standards
8. Correlate with Engagement: Low engagement + low delivery = reputation issues

Common Mistakes

• Confusing deliverability with inbox placement
• Celebrating 95% delivery when 50% goes to spam
• Not tracking by mailbox provider (Gmail vs. Outlook)
• Ignoring soft bounces that become hard bounces
• Failing to remove hard bounces immediately
• Not testing actual inbox placement
• Calculating rate incorrectly (including bounces in denominator)
• Ignoring domain-specific deliverability issues

Key Takeaways

• Deliverability rate measures emails delivered vs. emails sent
• It's different from inbox placement—spam folder still "counts" as delivered
• 95%+ deliverability is the baseline for healthy email programs
• High deliverability with low inbox placement = spam filter issues
• Track both metrics to get the complete picture
• Investigate any rate below 95% immediately
• Bounce rate directly impacts deliverability—keep it under 2%
• Use inbox placement testing to see where emails actually land

---

Sources:

• Email Deliverability Statistics 2025 - MailReach
• 2024 Email Benchmarks - Mailgun