# How to Calculate TikTok Engagement Rate

TikTok engagement rate by views is likes, comments, shares and saves added together, divided by views, times 100.

[![apidojo](/blog/authors/apidojo.png)**Apidojo** *15+ years of experience in data retrieval.*](/blog/authors/apidojo/)

**12 October 2026** Published

**4 min** Read

![Cover card reading 'How to Calculate TikTok Engagement Rate (+ Benchmarks)'](/blog/covers/engagement-rate.png)

**TikTok engagement rate by views is likes, comments, shares and saves added together, divided by views, times 100.** A video with 50,000 views and 2,000 interactions has a 4% engagement rate. Benchmark studies put the 2026 average at 3.85% by views; measured by followers instead, the median brand sits near 2%.

TikTok shows the raw numbers on every public video but never calculates the rate for you. This guide gives both formulas, a worked example, benchmarks and the mistakes that skew the result. Where to find your own numbers is covered in [how to see TikTok analytics](/blog/tiktok-analytics/see-tiktok-analytics/).

## What Is the TikTok Engagement Rate Formula?

**There are two standard formulas, one dividing interactions by views and one dividing them by followers.** Both count the same interactions: likes, comments, shares and saves.

| Formula | Calculation | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| By views | (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ views × 100 | Judging how one video performed |
| By followers | (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ followers × 100 | Comparing accounts of different sizes |

On TikTok, the views formula is usually the more honest one, because the For You feed shows videos to people who don’t follow the account. A creator with 10,000 followers can get 500,000 views on one post, which makes a follower-based rate look inflated.

## How Do You Calculate Engagement Rate for One TikTok Video?

**Add up the video’s likes, comments, shares and saves, divide by its views, and multiply by 100.** Listed below are the 4 steps with an example.

1.  **Read** the counts from the video: 3,100 likes, 140 comments, 220 shares, 540 saves.
2.  **Add** them: 3,100 + 140 + 220 + 540 = 4,000 interactions.
3.  **Divide** by views: 4,000 ÷ 100,000 views = 0.04.
4.  **Multiply** by 100: a 4.0% engagement rate.

## How Do You Calculate Engagement Rate for a Whole Account?

**For an account, calculate the rate for each of its recent videos and take the median, rather than adding everything up.** One viral video can lift a sum or an average far above what the account usually earns. Use the last 10 to 30 videos, leave out anything posted in the last 2 or 3 days because its numbers are still climbing, and report the median.

## What Is a Good Engagement Rate on TikTok?

**By views, about 4% is average on TikTok in 2026, and anything above 5% is strong; by followers, around 2% is the brand median.** The two can’t be compared with each other, so always say which formula you used.

| Benchmark | Rate | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Average by views, first half of 2026 | 3.85% | Socialinsider |
| Accounts with 1,000 to 5,000 followers, by views, 2025 | 4.40% | Socialinsider |
| Accounts with 100,000 to 1 million followers, by views, 2025 | 3.95% | Socialinsider |
| Median by views, brands | 3.4% | Rival IQ |

Socialinsider reports that the rate by views held between 4.20% and 4.30% for five quarters before falling to 3.85% in the second quarter of 2026 (Socialinsider). Benchmarks drift, so compare against the most recent figures.

## What Mistakes Skew TikTok Engagement Rate?

**The most common mistakes are mixing formulas, using too few videos, and including brand-new posts.** Listed below are the 5 to avoid.

-   **Comparing a views-based rate with a followers-based one.** Pick one and stick to it.
-   **Averaging instead of taking the median**, which lets one viral hit dominate.
-   **Counting new posts** whose views are still climbing.
-   **Leaving out saves or shares**, which on TikTok often signal more interest than likes.
-   **Ignoring bought engagement.** A high rate with generic, repetitive comments can be fake; read the comments, as covered in the [TikTok comments guide](/blog/tiktok-comments/tiktok-comments-guide/).

## How Do You Calculate Engagement Rate for Any Public Account?

**For accounts you don’t own, use the public counts on each video, which include views, likes, comments, shares and saves.** Doing it by hand for 30 videos is slow. apidojo’s [TikTok Scraper](https://apify.com/apidojo/tiktok-scraper) on Apify returns those counts for every video on a public profile, as `views`, `likes`, `comments`, `shares` and `bookmarks`, along with the creator’s follower count (Apify).

```
from statistics import median
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("apidojo/tiktok-scraper").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@creator"],
    "maxItems": 30,
})

rates = []
for v in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    if v["views"]:
        interactions = v["likes"] + v["comments"] + v["shares"] + v["bookmarks"]
        rates.append(interactions / v["views"] * 100)

print(f"Median engagement rate by views: {median(rates):.2f}%")
```

It costs $0.30 per 1,000 posts. Turning one account’s rate into a benchmark against competitors is covered in [how to track competitors on TikTok](/blog/tiktok-scraping/track-competitors/).

## The scrapers behind this

-   [TikTok Scraper Profiles, videos, hashtags, music and locations; 460 posts/sec measured $0.30 / 1K posts](/scrapers/tiktok-scraper/)

## Questions people ask

### Does TikTok show engagement rate in analytics?

No, TikTok shows the counts but not the rate; calculate it from views and interactions.

### Are saves part of TikTok engagement rate?

Yes, most formulas count saves, and Socialinsider's methodology includes them.

### Why is my engagement rate higher by followers than by views?

Because your views were lower than your follower count, which happens when videos don't reach past your existing audience.

### Is engagement rate or views more important?

Views show reach, engagement rate shows how much a video connected; brands checking creators look at both.

## More on TikTok analytics

-   [How to See TikTok Analytics (2026 Guide) Open TikTok Studio analytics on the app or web, read the Overview, Content, Viewers and Followers tabs, and export up to 365 days.](/blog/tiktok-analytics/see-tiktok-analytics/)

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