National benchmarks give one cost per click for a search, but nobody runs ads nationally from a dental office. This study lists cost per click by city for 40-plus patient searches in 33 markets, 30 in the US and three in Canada, each next to the national figure. It's the dataset behind our healthcare marketing by city pages.
The short answer: the same search can cost twice as much in one city as in another. "Dentist near me" averages $10.52 a click in New York and $21.87 in Phoenix, against $14.71 nationally. It's part of Medfy's healthcare marketing benchmarks.
Methodology: source, markets, dates and limits
Source: Google Ads Keyword Planner historical metrics, pulled through the DataForSEO API (opens in a new tab) in October 2026. Volumes and CPCs are 12-month averages to September 2026. All prices are in US dollars, including Canadian markets.
Markets:
- 29 US metros as Nielsen DMA regions (designated market areas: Nielsen's TV-market regions, which usually span several counties), e.g. "Tampa-St Petersburg (Sarasota)".
- Orange County, California, as the county. It also sits inside the Los Angeles DMA, so Los Angeles figures include Orange County searches.
- Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary as cities.
Searches: 46 patient searches per US market and 32 per Canadian market (Canada uses local terms such as "physiotherapy near me" and "walk in clinic near me"). Each US market returned data for 39 of 46; each Canadian city for 24 of 32.
Comparisons: each market is compared with the national figure for its own country (US with US, Canada with Canada).
Limitations:
- Google rounds volumes (opens in a new tab), so small markets show bucketed numbers such as 30, 90 or 140.
- Restricted health terms often return no data. "Plastic surgeon near me", "emergency dentist near me" and "iv therapy near me" returned nothing in all 33 markets.
- DMAs are larger than the cities in their names, so a DMA's volume includes suburbs and smaller towns.
- CPC is the average of what advertisers paid, not a quote for your account.
Where patient clicks cost the most and least
To rank markets fairly, we built a price index: for each market, divide its CPC by the national CPC for every search that has both, then take the median. An index of 1.24 means a typical patient search costs 24% more there than nationally.
| Market | Type | "dentist near me" searches/mo | "dentist near me" CPC | Price index | Searches above national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | DMA | 33,100 | $19.39 | 1.24 | 32 of 39 |
| Phoenix | DMA | 40,500 | $21.87 | 1.19 | 29 of 39 |
| Orange County | County | 18,100 | $18.28 | 1.17 | 29 of 39 |
| Calgary | City | 14,800 | $38.74 | 1.17 | 13 of 24 |
| Chicago | DMA | 60,500 | $15.85 | 1.12 | 30 of 39 |
| Dallas–Fort Worth | DMA | 60,500 | $17.24 | 1.12 | 29 of 39 |
| Tampa Bay | DMA | 40,500 | $19.01 | 1.08 | 25 of 39 |
| Miami | DMA | 27,100 | $18.91 | 1.07 | 21 of 39 |
| Atlanta | DMA | 49,500 | $15.42 | 1.07 | 24 of 39 |
| Washington, DC | DMA | 49,500 | $16.99 | 1.07 | 27 of 39 |
| Toronto | City | 40,500 | $15.50 | 1.05 | 17 of 24 |
| Houston | DMA | 90,500 | $18.75 | 1.04 | 21 of 39 |
| Charlotte | DMA | 22,200 | $16.68 | 1.04 | 22 of 39 |
| Vancouver | City | 8,100 | $17.93 | 1.04 | 14 of 24 |
| Los Angeles | DMA | 110,000 | $17.28 | 1.03 | 21 of 39 |
| Austin | DMA | 22,200 | $19.34 | 1.03 | 24 of 39 |
| Orlando | DMA | 33,100 | $18.88 | 1.00 | 18 of 39 |
| Indianapolis | DMA | 18,100 | $15.33 | 1.00 | 19 of 38 |
| Kansas City | DMA | 12,100 | $15.37 | 1.00 | 19 of 38 |
| San Diego | DMA | 18,100 | $15.76 | 0.98 | 18 of 38 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | DMA | 40,500 | $11.28 | 0.98 | 19 of 39 |
| San Antonio | DMA | 18,100 | $15.31 | 0.97 | 17 of 38 |
| Nashville | DMA | 14,800 | $15.85 | 0.96 | 17 of 39 |
| New York City | DMA | 165,000 | $10.52 | 0.95 | 16 of 39 |
| Philadelphia | DMA | 60,500 | $12.37 | 0.95 | 14 of 39 |
| Las Vegas | DMA | 14,800 | $19.68 | 0.95 | 18 of 39 |
| Cincinnati | DMA | 12,100 | $12.22 | 0.93 | 16 of 39 |
| Boston | DMA | 33,100 | $14.00 | 0.91 | 13 of 39 |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul | DMA | 22,200 | $12.21 | 0.90 | 15 of 39 |
| Portland | DMA | 18,100 | $14.32 | 0.88 | 11 of 39 |
| Raleigh–Durham | DMA | 22,200 | $14.15 | 0.87 | 10 of 39 |
| Cleveland | DMA | 18,100 | $10.71 | 0.86 | 8 of 39 |
| Seattle | DMA | 40,500 | $17.06 | 0.83 | 6 of 39 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026, CPC in USD. Price index computed by Medfy; Canadian markets are indexed to Canada-wide figures.
Three things stand out:
- Denver, Phoenix and Orange County are the most expensive US markets overall. In Denver, "therapist near me" averages $36.94 and "dental implants" $46.28.
- Seattle is the cheapest overall but not for dentists. Its index is 0.83, yet "dentist near me" costs $17.06 there, above the national $14.71. Always check the search you'll buy, not the market average.
- Calgary is a dental outlier. "Dentist near me" averages $38.74 and "dentist" $55.49, against $17.03 and $19.19 across Canada. Most other Calgary searches sit near or below Canadian averages.
For the national prices behind each comparison, see Google Ads CPC by specialty.
Specialty by specialty: the spread between cities
How much one search varies across the 30 US markets:
| Search | National CPC | Cheapest market | Median market | Most expensive market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dentist near me | $14.71 | New York $10.52 | $15.85 | Phoenix $21.87 |
| dental implants | $27.70 | Atlanta $18.39 | $30.80 | Denver $46.28 |
| invisalign | $10.15 | Portland $6.94 | $10.48 | Austin $23.50 |
| orthodontist near me | $19.80 | Boston $11.53 | $21.59 | Washington, DC $32.35 |
| chiropractor near me | $10.02 | Boston $5.99 | $9.89 | Portland $19.94 |
| physical therapy near me | $6.61 | Los Angeles $4.37 | $5.54 | Philadelphia $10.42 |
| dermatologist near me | $5.52 | Cincinnati $3.74 | $5.51 | Chicago $8.24 |
| laser hair removal near me | $16.94 | SF Bay Area $8.75 | $20.13 | Phoenix $40.74 |
| therapist near me | $24.19 | Minneapolis $18.03 | $26.53 | Denver $36.94 |
| psychiatrist near me | $18.16 | Minneapolis $13.16 | $19.52 | Denver $34.46 |
| urgent care near me | $3.79 | Minneapolis $1.94 | $3.51 | Chicago $6.97 |
| pediatrician near me | $5.11 | Portland $2.25 | $4.72 | Cincinnati $20.06 |
| lasik | $31.19 | SF Bay Area $20.13 | $30.43 | Chicago $59.06 |
| fertility clinic near me | $14.66 | Las Vegas $4.92 | $13.60 | Los Angeles $38.81 |
| hearing aids near me | $9.18 | Las Vegas $5.19 | $9.12 | Kansas City $19.38 |
| semaglutide near me (26 markets) | $30.19 | Raleigh–Durham $4.08 | $30.83 | Cleveland $68.88 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026. Median across the 30 US markets computed by Medfy.
Mental health searches are expensive everywhere: even the cheapest market for "therapist near me" (Minneapolis–St. Paul, $18.03) costs more than the national "dentist near me". Dental and orthodontic searches swing by two to three times between markets. The widest swings are in low-volume, high-value searches such as "semaglutide near me" and "fertility clinic near me", where a few aggressive advertisers can set a local price.
Demand per resident: which markets search the most
To compare demand across markets of different sizes, we divided each market's monthly "dentist near me" searches by its population. US populations are July 1, 2024 estimates from the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 metro-area files (opens in a new tab) (the county files (opens in a new tab) for Orange County). Canadian populations are from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census for Toronto (opens in a new tab) and for Vancouver and Calgary (opens in a new tab).
Read this with care. US searches are counted by DMA, while the populations are for the metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which is usually smaller. Markets whose DMA names extra cities will look inflated. Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Orange County compare like with like.
| Market | Population (vintage) | "dentist near me" searches per 1,000 residents | Geography match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 2,794,356 (2021) | 14.5 | City to city |
| Raleigh–Durham | 1,562,009 (2024) | 14.2 | DMA includes Durham and Fayetteville; MSA is Raleigh-Cary only |
| Vancouver | 662,248 (2021) | 12.2 | City to city |
| Tampa Bay | 3,424,560 (2024) | 11.8 | DMA includes Sarasota |
| Houston | 7,796,182 (2024) | 11.6 | DMA to MSA |
| Orlando | 2,940,513 (2024) | 11.3 | DMA includes Daytona Beach and Melbourne |
| Calgary | 1,306,784 (2021) | 11.3 | City to city |
| Denver | 3,052,498 (2024) | 10.8 | DMA to MSA |
| Orange County | 3,170,435 (2024) | 5.7 | County to county |
| San Diego | 3,298,799 (2024) | 5.5 | DMA to MSA |
| Kansas City | 2,253,579 (2024) | 5.4 | DMA to MSA |
| Cincinnati | 2,302,815 (2024) | 5.3 | DMA to MSA |
| Miami | 6,457,988 (2024) | 4.2 | DMA to MSA |
Searches: Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026. Populations: US Census Bureau Vintage 2024; Statistics Canada 2021 Census. Ratios computed by Medfy; the CSV has every market.
The like-for-like comparisons are the useful ones: Toronto (14.5) and Vancouver (12.2) residents search "dentist near me" more than twice as often per person as Orange County residents (5.7). Among US DMAs whose names add no extra cities, Houston (11.6) and Denver (10.8) sit near the top, while Miami is lowest at 4.2.
What this means for budgets
- Start from your market's price, not the national one. Hypothetical arithmetic: 100 clicks on "dentist near me" cost about $2,187 in Phoenix, $1,471 at the national average and $1,052 in New York.
- Check your specific searches. A cheap market can be expensive for your specialty, as Seattle is for dentists.
- Small markets mean fewer clicks, not cheaper ones. Calgary has 14,800 "dentist near me" searches a month at $38.74; a $1,500 budget buys about 39 clicks.
- Expect volatility in thin markets. Where a search gets a few hundred searches a month, one new competitor moves the price.
Plug your city's CPC into the Google Ads budget calculator to turn it into a monthly figure. For the national picture of how patients search for care, see our intent study. Before you spend, the free marketing audit checks whether your website and Google listing are ready to convert those clicks.
Download the data
Every market, search, monthly volume, average CPC, bid range and the matching national CPC is in one file: download the CSV. Searches that returned no data are left out of the CSV rather than shown as zero.
Cite this page: Medfy, "Patient search demand and click costs in 33 metros", medfy.ai/benchmarks/patient-search-by-city. Data: Google Ads Keyword Planner via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026, pulled October 2026; populations from the US Census Bureau (Vintage 2024) and Statistics Canada (2021 Census).
Changelog:
- 2026-10-23: first edition (33 markets, 12-month average to September 2026). Next refresh planned for October 2027.
Frequently asked questions
Which city has the most expensive healthcare clicks?
Across about 39 patient searches each, Denver is the most expensive US market in our data: its median click costs 1.24 times the national average, and 32 of 39 searches cost more than nationally. Phoenix (1.19) and Orange County (1.17) follow. For one search, Calgary stands out: 'dentist near me' averages $38.74 there against $17.03 across Canada (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026).
Where does this data come from?
From Google Ads Keyword Planner historical metrics, pulled through the DataForSEO API in October 2026 as 12-month averages to September 2026. US markets are Nielsen DMA regions, Orange County is the county, and Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are cities. Prices are in US dollars. Population figures come from the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates and Statistics Canada's 2021 Census.
Why are some searches missing for some cities?
Google Ads returns no data for some health searches, either because the term is restricted or because volume is too low to report. In our pull, 'plastic surgeon near me', 'emergency dentist near me' and 'iv therapy near me' returned nothing in every market, and 'physiotherapy near me' nothing in any Canadian city. We show those as missing, never as zero searches.
Can I download the data?
Yes. Every market, search, monthly volume, average CPC, top-of-page bid range and the matching national CPC is in one CSV at /data/patient-search-by-city.csv, with a link to each city's page. You can use it with attribution to Medfy and the source line: Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026.