The State of Web Vitals

LCP priority hint

The strongest priority signal on the LCP element: preload, fetchpriority, preconnect, or none.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q1 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes
Metric LCP INP CLS
1

At a glance the headline numbers for LCP priority hint

The strongest priority signal on the LCP element: preload, fetchpriority, preconnect, or none.

4
Categories
90,431 sites
85.9%
Top share
none
1.6s
Top LCP
Median for none

85.9% of LCP images get no priority help at all.

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

LCP priority hint who uses what, and how fast each group loads

Median LCP
0
0.5s
1s
1.5s
2s
2.5s
3s
3.5s
4s
preconnect1.4s4% of sites
highprio1.5s9% of sites
none1.6s86% of sites
preload1.7s2% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
preconnect 3,364 sites
4%
1.4s
highprio 7,739 sites
9%
1.5s
none 77,667 sites
86%
1.6s
preload 1,661 sites
2%
1.7s

Preconnect sites post the best median LCP (1.4s). Preload sites trail at 1.7s. Correlation, not causation. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

Passing LCP per LCP priority hint which group passes the LCP most often

VariantSitesPassing LCPLCP
Preconnect 3.7% 3,364 85% 1.4s
Highprio 8.6% 7,739 83% 1.5s
None 85.9% 77,667 82% 1.6s
Preload 1.8% 1,661 81% 1.7s
Good Needs Improvement Poor Sorted best-passing first · median colored by its own rating · pass = good LCP (2.5s at p75) · one value per site

No variant stands out: pass rates sit between 81% and 85%. computed

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

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

Browsers start most images at low priority, because most images do not matter. The LCP image is the exception, and without help the browser only finds out after layout. fetchpriority=high says it upfront. A preload moves the discovery earlier as well. None means the most important resource on the page starts at the back of the queue.

One hint on one image. Spraying fetchpriority=high across the page puts the queue right back where it started.

How does this affect the Core Web Vitals?

The choice barely moves the LCP: 85% pass at best, 81% at worst. This signal does not separate passing sites from failing ones.

Go fix it Preload the LCP image → Guide to resource prioritization → Fix slow hero images →
Related signals LCP image size → LCP origin → LCP image format → LCP element type → Chrome field data from 94,910 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured