The State of Web Vitals

LCP element type

What the LCP element is: image, background image, text, or video.

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

At a glance the headline numbers for LCP element type

What the LCP element is: image, background image, text, or video.

5
Categories
90,431 sites
43.2%
Top share
img
0.03
Top CLS
Median for img

The LCP is an img element on 43.2% of sites. On 29.9% it is a CSS background image.

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

LCP element type who uses what, and how stable each group is

Median CLS
0
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
text0.0225% of sites
img0.0343% of sites
background-image0.0330% of sites
video0.032% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
text 22,163 sites
25%
0.02
img 39,050 sites
43%
0.03
background-image 27,014 sites
30%
0.03
video 2,202 sites
2%
0.03

Little daylight between the groups: every variant sits near 0.02 median CLS. computed

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

Passing CLS per LCP element type which group passes the CLS most often

VariantSitesPassing CLSCLS
Text 24.5% 22,163 80% 0.02
Video 2.4% 2,202 79% 0.03
Img 43.2% 39,050 77% 0.03
Background-image 29.9% 27,014 77% 0.03
Good Needs Improvement Poor Sorted best-passing first · median colored by its own rating · pass = good CLS (0.1 at p75) · one value per site

No variant stands out: pass rates sit between 77% and 80%. computed

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

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

What the LCP element is decides the playbook. An img can be prioritized, preloaded and right-sized. A CSS background image has a discovery problem first: the browser cannot see it until the CSS applies. Text means rendering waits on a font, not an image. Video means the poster frame is the candidate to optimize.

Text LCP is the underrated option. A headline renders as soon as its font is ready, no megabytes involved. A fast headline beats a slow hero, and a site gets to choose which one it leads with.

How does this affect the Core Web Vitals?

The choice barely moves the LCP: 88% pass at best, 84% at worst. This signal does not separate passing sites from failing ones.

Go fix it Background images are evil → Keep text visible during font load → Optimize the LCP image →
Related signals LCP loading attribute → LCP image format → LCP origin → LCP priority hint → Chrome field data from 94,910 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured