Plumber ads in Townsville, by opportunity
A Google Ads click for a plumber in Townsville costs A$29.47 at the median (578 searches a month, pulled October 2026, Google Ads via DataForSEO). Hot water pays back fastest, needing about 3.9% of clicks to call against the 8.05% US benchmark. Plumber searches here split into two opportunities that pay back in different ways: Quick cash and Big tickets, plus a shared pool of general searches. Pick the one that fits your cash and capacity, then plan it.
Quick cash pays back most easily here, needing about 3.9% of clicks to call; Big tickets needs about 3.9%.
- Click: A$22.75
- Clicks to a job: 3.5% (8.05% call x 43% book, US benchmarks: LocaliQ 2026, ServiceTitan)
- Typical job: A$1,975
- Profit on the job at 69.5% margin: A$1,373
- Click cost per job: A$657
- Pays back if about 3.9% of clicks call (US average 8.05%)
- Click: A$22.75
- Clicks to a job: 3.5% (8.05% call x 43% book, US benchmarks: LocaliQ 2026, ServiceTitan)
- Typical job: A$1,975
- Profit on the job at 69.5% margin: A$1,373
- Click cost per job: A$657
- Pays back if about 3.9% of clicks call (US average 8.05%)
Dot colour: a niche pays back within the US benchmark call rate (green), needs up to twice that call rate (amber), or needs more than twice that call rate (red); a red niche only reads "needs repeat work or a bigger job" when its break-even call rate is over 100%. Teal means no urgent-intent benchmark exists for this niche, so compare the break-even rate with your own call rate instead.
Where the money is, by segment
Each segment groups the niches that pay back the same way. Figures use Townsville click prices and the job rates in the plan below; change the rates there and these update.
Quick cash: Hot water
Money in the bank this month. Hot water covers 'hot water system repair' and 'hot water system replacement': 24 searches a month at A$22.75 a click.
What A$1,000 a month buys in Quick cash (worked example)
A$1,000 at A$23 a click buys about 44.0 clicks a month, 183.2% of the 24 searches a month in Quick cash.
That is more of Quick cash than one advertiser usually wins; expect the price per click to climb. Put the rest into the shared pool with Quick cash ad copy.
Each job costs A$657 in clicks and earns A$1,373 gross profit at 69.5% margin; it pays back if about 3.9% of clicks call (US average 8.05%).
Put in your repeat rate and repeat client value to see what repeat work adds.
To break even on the first job it needs to be worth about A$946, against A$1,975 assumed.
Keywords in Quick cash
The shared pool keywords, 'plumber' and 'plumber near me', can feed any segment. See the full keyword table.
Every niche, grouped by segment
Tap Plan on a niche to plan it. Use Sort to re-order. Green pays back within the US benchmark call rate, amber needs up to twice that, red needs more.
Google data+
Published price guides+
US benchmarks+
Assumptions+
| Niche | Job value (default) | Clicks that call | Calls that book | Margin per extra job | Repeat | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot water | A$1,975 | 8.05% (LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks - Home & Home Improvement) | 43% (ServiceTitan - Typical call-booking rate data (trade breakdown)) | 69.5% (ATO Small Business Benchmarks - Plumbing services) | put in yours | Medium |
| Gas | A$319 | 8.05% (LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks - Home & Home Improvement) | 43% (ServiceTitan - Typical call-booking rate data (trade breakdown)) | 69.5% (ATO Small Business Benchmarks - Plumbing services) | put in yours | Low |
| Blocked drains | A$350 | 8.05% (LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks - Home & Home Improvement) | 43% (ServiceTitan - Typical call-booking rate data (trade breakdown)) | 69.5% (ATO Small Business Benchmarks - Plumbing services) | put in yours | Low |
| Emergency and 24 hour | A$1,045 | 8.05% (LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks - Home & Home Improvement); not urgent-intent-specific, put in your own call rate | 43% (ServiceTitan - Typical call-booking rate data (trade breakdown)) | 69.5% (ATO Small Business Benchmarks - Plumbing services) | put in yours | Medium |
| Small fixes (taps, toilets) | A$221 | 8.05% (LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks - Home & Home Improvement) | 43% (ServiceTitan - Typical call-booking rate data (trade breakdown)) | 69.5% (ATO Small Business Benchmarks - Plumbing services) | put in yours | Low |
Keyword table
Two keywords carry more than half of the searches. Each keyword is tagged with the segment its niche belongs to; the shared pool can feed any of them. Google rounds search volumes and estimates prices; treat small differences as noise. "Top-of-page bid, low to high" is Google Ads' own estimate of what you would need to bid to show near the top of the results page, not a price anyone has paid.
The market every segment shares
These numbers don't pick a segment for you. They set the size of the prize and the price of entry for all of them.
Plumber ads across 8 Qld cities
5th of 8 QLD cities by median cost per click, mid-table. 4th of 8 QLD cities by monthly searches, mid-table.
| City | Cost per click (A$, median) | Searches a month | Searches per 10,000 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | A$54.67 | 10,911 | 38.5 |
| Gold Coast | A$54.41 | 2,894 | 38.0 |
| Sunshine Coast | A$59.18 | 901 | 21.2 |
| Townsville | A$29.47 | 578 | 30.3 |
| Cairns | A$10.29 | 531 | 32.3 |
| Toowoomba | A$21.01 | 400 | 26.0 |
| Mackay | A$9.19 | 272 | 30.3 |
| Rockhampton | A$9.46 | 184 | 22.0 |
Searches per 10,000 people use each city's own population (ABS 2025). Bold is Townsville.
Plumber ads across the 25 cities
Sydney has the dearest clicks (A$64.23) and Launceston the cheapest (A$6.09). Townsville is 13th of 25 cities by median cost per click, mid-table, and 12th of 25 cities by monthly searches, mid-table.
| City | Cost per click (A$, median) | Searches a month | Change vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 64 |
20,322 |
-26.3% |
| Wollongong | 60 |
743 |
+2.8% |
| Sunshine Coast | 59 |
901 |
-19.3% |
| Newcastle | 57 |
1,065 |
-10.9% |
| Geelong | 57 |
526 |
-24.1% |
| Brisbane | 55 |
10,911 |
-23.7% |
| Gold Coast | 54 |
2,894 |
-17.7% |
| Central Coast | 51 |
1,174 |
-4.7% |
| Adelaide | 50 |
5,866 |
-14.8% |
| Melbourne | 49 |
21,330 |
-19.2% |
| Canberra | 47 |
1,292 |
-18.9% |
| Perth | 37 |
9,594 |
-14.6% |
| Townsville | 29 |
578 |
-15.0% |
| Bunbury | 27 |
176 |
-15.9% |
| Darwin | 21 |
297 |
-11.7% |
| Toowoomba | 21 |
400 |
-10.6% |
| Bendigo | 14 |
216 |
+9.3% |
| Ballarat | 13 |
248 |
-16.8% |
| Wagga Wagga | 11 |
137 |
-4.7% |
| Cairns | 10 |
531 |
-12.5% |
| Rockhampton | 9.46 |
184 |
-9.8% |
| Mackay | 9.19 |
272 |
+6.2% |
| Hobart | 9.08 |
498 |
-15.6% |
| Albury-Wodonga | 9.02 |
192 |
-53.5% |
| Launceston | 6.09 |
232 |
+9.4% |
Sorted by cost per click, dearest first. The number in each cell is the value and the bar behind it shows its size. Prices from A$10 up are rounded to the dollar; prices under A$10 show cents; a city with no Google price sits at the bottom. Amber bars are falls in change vs last year. A dark dot marks a capital city. Townsville is in bold with darker bars.
Competition in Queensland
Business counts and job ads are published by state, not by city, so this section shows Queensland figures for plumbers; every Qld city in this set shares them.
Plumber job ads in Qld and plumber searches in Townsville, each against the year before.
Qld is 6th of 8 states and territories by businesses per 10,000 people, among the three most crowded.
Estimate: searches per business, Townsville: 1.5 a month (assumes even business density across Queensland; Townsville holds 3.4% of Queensland's population).
Four years of plumber searches in Townsville
Plumber searches in Townsville are down 15.0% year on year, averaging 578 a month. The last 12 months are in dark blue.
Total searches in each 12-month block.
Seasonality
Searches are fairly even through the year; August is the busiest month, 8.7% above the average month.
Advertising rules
Sixty Steps found no national advertising code specific to plumbers; check any licence-display rule with your own state regulator before relying on this page. For general advertising and consumer-law obligations, see the ACCC advertising and selling guide.
Questions people ask about plumber ads in Townsville
What does a Google Ads click cost for a plumber in Townsville?
A$29.47 a click is the typical (median) cost across all plumber search terms in Townsville (Google Ads via DataForSEO, pulled 2026-10-12). That is 13th of 25 cities by median cost per click, mid-table.
How many people search for a plumber in Townsville each month?
578 searches a month on average over the last 12 months, down 15.0% year on year (Google Ads via DataForSEO, pulled 2026-10-12).
Which plumber job pays back fastest on Google Ads in Townsville?
Hot water, which pays back if about 3.9% of clicks call, against the 8.05% US benchmark (LocaliQ 2026); the job value used is A$1,975 (What's The Damage - Hot Water System Cost Canberra).
How does Townsville compare with other Qld cities for plumber ads?
Townsville is 5th of 8 QLD cities by median cost per click, mid-table, and 4th of 8 QLD cities by monthly searches, mid-table (Google Ads via DataForSEO, pulled 2026-10-12).
Where do the numbers on this page come from?
Google Ads search volume and cost per click from DataForSEO (pulled 2026-10-12); job values from published Australian sources where one exists; click-to-call and call-to-book rates from US industry benchmarks; business counts from the ABS. Full sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
Where this page sits
This is one of 541 pages: 22 services across 25 cities, all listed on the data hub. Every page uses the same keyword method, pull date and formulas, so figures compare directly.
Business counts and job ads are published by state, so the Qld figures on this page cover the whole state, not just Townsville; search volumes and click prices are pulled for Townsville itself.
Want someone to read your account against these numbers?
A free teardown looks at your last 90 days of Google Ads and tells you what to ask your agency. Or email your benchmark and the figures you typed above come with it; nothing is sent until you press send.
Method
Search terms: a fixed keyword set per service, tagged by intent (urgent, service, generic and near me), targeted to each city using Google Ads city-level location codes, not a text match.
Headline monthly searches is the mean of the last 12 months of the core keyword set; the full 48-month series is shown on the chart.
Year-on-year change is total core-keyword searches in the last 12 months against the 12 months before that, for Townsville's own totals (the two most recent 12-month blocks in the demand table).
Headline cost per click is the volume-weighted median of each keyword's mean cost per click over the core set, called "typical cost per click (median)" throughout. The top-of-page bid is shown separately with its own label; the highest single-keyword cost per click is never the headline.
A keyword is flagged Volatile when its 24-month maximum is 2.5 times its minimum or more, or when a single month makes up 40% or more of its 12-month total. Volatile keywords stay in the totals.
Prices convert from Google Ads US dollars to Australian dollars at the US Federal Reserve's H.10 monthly average rate for September 2026 (1 AUD = 0.7115 USD). Ranks compare cost per click (cheapest to dearest) and monthly searches (most to fewest) across the 25 cities with data for this service and across the cities in the same state, and business density (fewest to most) across 8 states and territories; a trend is only stated when the change is 5% or more.
Segments: each niche is tagged by how its own numbers pay back. Quick cash clears its ad cost on the first job; Big tickets have the largest profit per job in the service; Client book pays back over 12 months of repeat visits. A niche can carry up to two tags, or none ("not proven on these numbers") if neither test clears the bar. A niche with no published price carries "No price source yet" and asks you to put in yours. General and near-me keywords sit in a shared pool.
Confidence: each niche carries a confidence level (High/Medium/Low/None) for its weakest input among search volume, click price, job value and margin. High means sourced for this exact city or an official AU figure. Medium means AU-sourced but national or industry-level. Low means a single weak source, an overseas figure or a US benchmark. None means no sourced figure; put in your own.
The modelled figure on this page is "searches per business" in the competition section, which assumes business density is even within a state, so a city's share of state businesses is approximated by its share of state population; it is the only number tagged "(estimate)". The segment cards, niche table and plan are a worked example using example job rates you can replace with your own. Every other figure is a direct read from the source cited in the data section.
Data and sources
Next refresh planned January 2027. Download the monthly data as CSV.
| Dataset | Licence |
|---|---|
DataForSEO Google Ads search volume DataForSEO, retrieved 2026-10-12 | DataForSEO Terms of Service (paid API licence) |
ABS Counts of Australian Businesses (CABEE) Australian Bureau of Statistics | CC BY 4.0 |
ABS Estimated Resident Population Australian Bureau of Statistics | CC BY 4.0 |
JSA Internet Vacancy Index, ANZSCO 3341 Jobs and Skills Australia | CC BY 4.0 International |
US Federal Reserve H.10 Foreign Exchange Rates Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | Public domain (US government work) |
Search data pulled 2026-10-12 from Google Ads via DataForSEO. Prices in A$ at the US Federal Reserve September 2026 average (1 AUD = 0.7115 USD). Method, sources and CSV.
Google Keyword Planner estimates via DataForSEO, not what you'll pay at auction; your own Google Ads account shows your real price.
About this data
Search volumes and click prices are licensed from DataForSEO (Google Ads data) and can't be re-pulled without a paid account. Business counts, job ads and exchange rates are open government data you can download yourself. Published by Sixty Steps, which runs ad accounts for local businesses.
Related: Plumber in Brisbane, Plumber in Gold Coast, Plumber in Sunshine Coast, Plumber across Australia.