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 Q1 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.

22
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
94,910
sites measured
phone field data

The typical page serves 22 images weighing 1.1 MB.

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

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

0ms 750ms 1500ms 2250ms 3000ms
2.5s
0 10711 21422
0 1–2 3 4 5–7 8–12 13–19 20–32 33–52 53–85 86–139 >p98
Good (≤2.5s) Needs improvement Poor (>4s) Site count
The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

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

Images per page — nSitesPassing LCPLCP
0 1,836 81% 1.5s
1–2 3,992 81% 1.4s
3 2,172 83% 1.4s
4 1,872 85% 1.4s
5–7 6,129 86% 1.4s
8–12 11,144 85% 1.4s
13–19 15,864 84% 1.5s
20–32 21,422 82% 1.6s
33–52 15,876 81% 1.6s
53–85 8,838 79% 1.7s
86–139 3,935 76% 1.8s
>p98 1,830 76% 1.8s
Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Images per page — n 22. p75 39. p99 178.9. At the low end (0): LCP 1.5s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.8s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
4

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

0ms 750ms 1500ms 2250ms 3000ms
2.5s
0 14829 29657
0 0.1–0.337 0.337–1.14 1.14–3.83 3.83–12.9 12.9–43.4 43.4–146 146–493 493–1662 1662–5600 5600–18871 >p98
Good (≤2.5s) Needs improvement Poor (>4s) Site count
The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
5

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

Images per page — sizeSitesPassing LCPLCP
0 2,319 81% 1.6s
0.1–0.337 116 84% 1.3s
0.337–1.14 164 83% 1.4s
1.14–3.83 526 76% 1.5s
3.83–12.9 1,403 77% 1.5s
12.9–43.4 2,459 82% 1.4s
43.4–146 5,417 87% 1.3s
146–493 15,480 87% 1.4s
493–1662 29,657 84% 1.5s
1662–5600 25,970 79% 1.7s
5600–18871 9,540 76% 1.8s
>p98 1,852 72% 1.9s
Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Images per page — size 1.1 MB. p75 2.8 MB. p99 26.8 MB. At the low end (0 KB): LCP 1.6s. At the high end (>p98): LCP 1.9s. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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, 81% of sites pass the LCP. Where it is high, 72% 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 94,910 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured