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 · All devices 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
86ms
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 · all devices 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
none86ms86% of sites
preconnect86ms4% of sites
highprio87ms9% of sites
preload95ms2% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
none 77,667 sites
86%
86ms
preconnect 3,364 sites
4%
86ms
highprio 7,739 sites
9%
87ms
preload 1,661 sites
2%
95ms

Little daylight between the groups: every variant sits near 86ms median INP. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · all devices 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 96% 87ms
Preload 1.8% 1,661 95% 95ms
None 85.9% 77,667 95% 86ms
Preconnect 3.7% 3,364 94% 86ms
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 94% and 96%. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · all devices 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?

LCP priority hint correlates with the LCP. With Preconnect, 87% of sites pass the LCP. With Preload, 81% do.

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