WordPress LCP image byte weight and the Core Web Vitals

19.6% of audited sites (8,968) keep their LCP hero image under 40 KB and pass LCP at 75% (1.8s median), whereas the 30.3% shipping hero images over 300 KB drop to 74% (1.8s median).

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites October 2026 edition · Desktop field outcomes · WordPress sites only
WordPress Scoped to 63,295 sites out of 203,892 analyzed (cms) Compare with all sites →

21.4% of WordPress sites use an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB LCP image byte weight, and 77% of those sites have a good LCP, against 76% of all WordPress sites.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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LCP pass rate

Sites with an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB LCP image byte weight have a good LCP most often: 77%, against 76% of all WordPress sites. Sites with an LCP image over 300 KB hero image size have it least often, at 74%.

SitesGood, needs improvement, poor LCPMedian
All WordPress sites17,00576%1.7s
40 to 100 KB hero image 21.4%2,77277%1.7s
100 to 300 KB hero image 28.7%3,25076%1.7s
Under 40 KB hero image 19.6%2,75375%1.8s
Over 300 KB hero image 30.3%3,13174%1.8s
GoodNeeds improvementPoorSites: with Chrome field data
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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LCP image byte weight usage

An LCP image over 300 KB is the most used: 30.3% of WordPress sites. An LCP image between 40 and 100 KB is 21.4% of WordPress sites.

Over 300 KB hero image 30.3% 100 to 300 KB hero image 28.7% 40 to 100 KB hero image 21.4% Under 40 KB hero image 19.6%
Over 300 KB hero image 30.3% 100 to 300 KB hero image 28.7% 40 to 100 KB hero image 21.4% Under 40 KB hero image 19.6%
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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The four LCP phases

Across the four LCP sub-parts in Chrome's field data, the largest gap between an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB and an LCP image over 300 KB sits in resource load duration: 121 ms median for an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB against 166 ms for an LCP image over 300 KB. Overall median field LCP is 1.7s for an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB (TTFB 987 ms, load delay 274 ms, load duration 121 ms, render delay 223 ms) versus 1.8s for an LCP image over 300 KB.

Median LCP phase breakdown (Chrome field p75) Load delay Median LCP
WordPress sites with LCP image byte weight 8,5981014 ms289 ms218 ms289 mslab 337 ms1.8s
Under 40 KB hero image 1,9771030 ms270 ms238 ms270 mslab 304 ms1.8s
40 to 100 KB hero image 2,038987 ms274 ms223 ms274 mslab 310 ms1.7s
100 to 300 KB hero image 2,3471027 ms299 ms212 ms299 mslab 358 ms1.7s
Over 300 KB hero image 2,2361013 ms306 ms206 ms306 mslab 370 ms1.8s
TTFB Resource load delay Resource load time Element render delay
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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LCP image byte weight per framework

On jQuery, 30% of sites use an LCP image over 300 KB LCP image byte weight, and 75% of jQuery sites have a good LCP, against 76% of all sites. On Vue, 30% of sites use an LCP image between 100 and 300 KB, and 75% of Vue sites have a good LCP.

FrameworkLCP image byte weight on its sitesGood LCP
WordPress sites with LCP image byte weight 45,765 sitesOver 300 KB hero image 30%100 to 300 KB hero image 29%40 to 100 KB hero image 21%Under 40 KB hero image 20%76%
jQuery 43,752 sitesOver 300 KB hero image 30%100 to 300 KB hero image 29%40 to 100 KB hero image 21%Under 40 KB hero image 20%75%
Vue 3,690 sites100 to 300 KB hero image 30%Over 300 KB hero image 29%40 to 100 KB hero image 21%Under 40 KB hero image 20%75%
React 1,621 sitesOver 300 KB hero image 29%100 to 300 KB hero image 25%40 to 100 KB hero image 23%Under 40 KB hero image 22%66%
Over 300 KB hero image 100 to 300 KB hero image 40 to 100 KB hero image Under 40 KB hero image
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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LCP image byte weight or the framework

Does the framework explain the LCP image byte weight difference?

On jQuery, 76% of sites with an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB LCP image byte weight have a good LCP, against 74% of jQuery sites with an LCP image over 300 KB. Within jQuery, sites with an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB and an LCP image over 300 KB have a good LCP about equally often. On Vue, 77% of sites with an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB LCP image byte weight have a good LCP, against 74% of Vue sites with an LCP image over 300 KB. Within Vue, sites with an LCP image between 40 and 100 KB and an LCP image over 300 KB have a good LCP about equally often.

How intrinsic versus rendered megapixels waste hero bandwidth

The median LCP image is 0.23 intrinsic megapixels rendered into a 0.12 megapixel slot. Serving unresized desktop banners to mobile viewports inflates hero transfer bytes and extends LCP load duration. Across 8,968 sites (19.6%) with a hero image under 40 KB, 75% pass field LCP (1.8s median), dropping to 74% (1.8s median) on the 30.3% (13,867) exceeding 300 KB.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Understanding LCP image byte weight

Compress featured and hero images below 100 KB in WebP or AVIF and ensure accurate sizes attributes on responsive srcset markup. On WordPress, 21.4% of sites ship a 40 to 100 KB hero image (77% good LCP) while 30.3% exceed 300 KB (74% good LCP).

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 17,005 with desktop field data · 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weightBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
Related signals LCP loading attribute → LCP element type → LCP responsive markup → LCP discovery → By Arjen Karel · 63,295 crawled WordPress sites (17,005 with desktop Chrome field data, 45,765 sites with LCP image byte weight, October 2026) · How we measured