The State of Web Vitals

Images per page

How many images the page renders and their over-the-wire weight.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q2 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes
Metric LCP INP CLS
1

At a glance the headline numbers for Images per page

How many images the page renders and their over-the-wire weight.

21
image count
on the typical page
1.1 MB
image weight
on the typical page
2.8 MB
1 in 4 pages exceed this
image weight
189,915
sites measured
phone field data

The typical page serves 21 images weighing 1.1 MB.

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

Distribution & median CLS site count and median CLS at each level of images per page — n

0.00 0.04 0.08 0.11 0.15
0.1
0 20512 41024
0 1–2 3 4 5–7 8–12 13–19 20–32 33–52 53–85 86–139 >p98
Good (≤0.1) Needs improvement Poor (>0.25) Site count
The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

Passing CLS by images per page — n which level passes the CLS most often

Images per page — nSitesPassing CLSCLS
0 8,326 86% 0.00
1–2 8,792 88% 0.00
3 7,196 89% 0.00
4 3,604 90% 0.00
5–7 11,587 91% 0.00
8–12 21,249 90% 0.00
13–19 30,042 90% 0.00
20–32 41,024 90% 0.00
33–52 30,382 88% 0.00
53–85 16,603 87% 0.00
86–139 7,554 85% 0.00
>p98 3,556 84% 0.00
Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Images per page — n 21. p75 38. p99 177. At the low end (0): CLS 0.00. At the high end (>p98): CLS 0.00. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
4

Distribution & median CLS site count and median CLS at each level of images per page — size

0.00 0.04 0.08 0.11 0.15
0.1
0 28083 56165
0 0.1–0.337 0.337–1.13 1.13–3.82 3.82–12.9 12.9–43.4 43.4–146 146–492 492–1656 1656–5579 5579–18792 >p98
Good (≤0.1) Needs improvement Poor (>0.25) Site count
The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
5

Passing CLS by images per page — size which level passes the CLS most often

Images per page — sizeSitesPassing CLSCLS
0 8,782 86% 0.00
0.1–0.337 211 89% 0.00
0.337–1.13 314 83% 0.00
1.13–3.82 1,006 82% 0.00
3.82–12.9 2,715 86% 0.00
12.9–43.4 4,692 88% 0.00
43.4–146 10,282 91% 0.00
146–492 29,495 91% 0.00
492–1656 56,165 90% 0.00
1656–5579 49,479 88% 0.00
5579–18792 18,553 87% 0.00
>p98 3,529 86% 0.00
Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Images per page — size 1.1 MB. p75 2.8 MB. p99 26.3 MB. At the low end (0 KB): CLS 0.00. At the high end (>p98): CLS 0.00. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
6

Why this matters for the Core Web Vitals, and where to start fixing it

Image count and image weight are the bulk of most pages. Those bytes compete with the LCP image for bandwidth: the browser downloads gallery thumbnails while the hero is still streaming. More images also means more decode work, and decoding is not free on a cheap phone.

Fewer, smaller, later. Cut the decorative ones, right-size the rest, lazy-load below the fold. The format and loading splits in the explorer show where to start.

How do images affect the Core Web Vitals?

Images per page correlates with the LCP. Image weight separates passing sites from failing sites more than image count does. Where the image weight is low, 80% of sites pass the LCP. Where it is high, 74% do. The decline is gradual. There is no point where sites suddenly start failing.

Go fix it Optimize images for Core Web Vitals → Defer offscreen images → Page speed on a budget →
Related signals Iframes per page → Bytes by resource type → Stylesheet loading mix → Iframe loading → Chrome field data from 189,915 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured