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
98ms
Top INP
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 INP
0
100ms
200ms
300ms
400ms
500ms
preconnect96ms4% of sites
none98ms86% of sites
highprio101ms9% of sites
preload112ms2% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
preconnect 3,364 sites
4%
96ms
none 77,667 sites
86%
98ms
highprio 7,739 sites
9%
101ms
preload 1,661 sites
2%
112ms

Little daylight between the groups: every variant sits near 96ms median INP. computed

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

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

VariantSitesPassing INPINP
Highprio 8.6% 7,739 93% 101ms
None 85.9% 77,667 92% 98ms
Preload 1.8% 1,661 91% 112ms
Preconnect 3.7% 3,364 91% 96ms
Good Needs Improvement Poor Sorted best-passing first · median colored by its own rating · pass = good INP (200ms at p75) · one value per site

No variant stands out: pass rates sit between 91% and 93%. 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