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 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 10711 21422
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 · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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 1,836 86% 0.00
1–2 3,992 89% 0.00
3 2,172 88% 0.00
4 1,872 90% 0.00
5–7 6,129 90% 0.00
8–12 11,144 90% 0.00
13–19 15,864 91% 0.00
20–32 21,422 90% 0.00
33–52 15,876 88% 0.00
53–85 8,838 87% 0.00
86–139 3,935 85% 0.00
>p98 1,830 84% 0.00
Good Needs Improvement Poor Faded rows: under 100 sites

Images per page — n 22. p75 39. p99 178.9. At the low end (0): CLS 0.00. At the high end (>p98): CLS 0.00. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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 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 (≤0.1) Needs improvement Poor (>0.25) Site count
The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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 2,319 84% 0.00
0.1–0.337 116 89% 0.00
0.337–1.14 164 86% 0.00
1.14–3.83 526 84% 0.00
3.83–12.9 1,403 85% 0.00
12.9–43.4 2,459 87% 0.00
43.4–146 5,417 90% 0.00
146–493 15,480 91% 0.00
493–1662 29,657 90% 0.00
1662–5600 25,970 88% 0.00
5600–18871 9,540 87% 0.00
>p98 1,852 85% 0.00
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): CLS 0.00. At the high end (>p98): CLS 0.00. 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