<b>Median engagement rate by niche, normalized to reach not followers (n=2,100 accounts)</b>

<b>Median engagement rate by niche, normalized to reach not followers (n=2,100 accounts)</b>

Engagements ÷ accounts reached:

— Education/how-to: ████████ 6.4%
— Fitness: ██████ 4.9%
— Travel: █████ 4.1%
— Fashion: ███ 2.8%
— Finance/B2B: ██ 2.2%

Measuring against followers makes large fashion accounts look weak; against reach, the ranking inverts. Education wins because saves and shares — the heaviest-weighted signals — dominate that vertical.

So what: pick the denominator before you compare. Reach-based engagement is the only number the algorithm actually optimizes toward.