What is an acceptable bounce rate threshold and how does it affect sender reputation?

Summary

Across experts, marketers, and email service documentation, the overwhelming consensus is that maintaining a low bounce rate is crucial for a healthy sender reputation and email deliverability. While the ideal threshold varies, most recommend staying below 2%, with some striving for under 1% or even 0.5%. High bounce rates are viewed as indicators of poor list hygiene, inadequate permission practices, and sending to invalid/uninterested recipients, ultimately leading to deliverability issues, emails marked as spam, and potentially account suspension. Proactive monitoring, list cleaning, immediate hard bounce suppression, and effective bounce handling are essential to combat these issues.

Key findings

  • Acceptable Bounce Rate: Aim for a bounce rate below 2%, with some advocating for rates below 1% or even 0.5%.
  • Negative Impact: High bounce rates significantly damage sender reputation and email deliverability.
  • Indicator of List Quality: Bounce rates serve as a key indicator of list quality, permission practices, and overall list hygiene.
  • Action Required: High bounce rates require prompt action, including cleaning lists, suppressing bounces, and investigating the source of invalid addresses.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid, inactive, and uninterested recipients.
  • Permission Practices: Implement robust permission practices, such as double opt-in, to ensure you're only sending to engaged and valid email addresses.
  • Bounce Suppression: Immediately suppress hard bounces and manage soft bounces effectively to avoid repeated delivery attempts to invalid addresses.
  • Monitoring & Analysis: Continuously monitor bounce rates and analyze the reasons behind them to identify and address underlying issues.

What email marketers say
14Marketer opinions

The consensus among email marketers is that maintaining a low bounce rate is crucial for a healthy sender reputation and good email deliverability. Most sources suggest keeping bounce rates below 2%, with some aiming for even lower thresholds (1% or even 0.5%). High bounce rates signal problems with list quality and data collection practices, potentially leading to deliverability issues and damage to sender reputation. Regular list cleaning, monitoring bounce rates, and immediate action upon detecting spikes are highly recommended.

Key opinions

  • Acceptable Threshold: Most marketers aim for a bounce rate below 2%, with some striving for even lower rates (1% or 0.5%).
  • Reputation Impact: High bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation, potentially leading to deliverability issues and emails being marked as spam.
  • Data Quality Signal: Bounce rates serve as a signal for data quality, indicating potential problems with list hygiene and data collection practices.
  • Actionable Insight: Monitoring bounce rates and taking immediate action upon detecting spikes is essential.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove invalid addresses and maintain a healthy sending reputation.
  • Bounce Suppression: Suppress hard bounces immediately to prevent repeated attempts to invalid addresses.
  • Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates regularly to identify and address potential problems promptly.
  • Data Collection: Ensure good data collection practices, such as double opt-in, to minimize the risk of invalid addresses.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains they look at bounce percentage as a signal for data quality, suggesting a rate below 2% generally indicates good data collection practices.

January 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Constant Contact suggests that a clean email list reduces bounce rates, and will contribute to a solid sender reputation.

May 2023 - Constant Contact
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailchimp shares that a bounce rate consistently above 2% indicates potential list quality problems. They recommend regularly cleaning email lists to remove invalid addresses and maintain a healthy sending reputation.

June 2022 - Mailchimp
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests focusing on the fact addresses are bouncing and ensuring you are not sending to them at all.

December 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor responds that bounce rates are a signal to providers about the quality of your list and can impact your reputation if too high.

March 2022 - Campaign Monitor
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid emphasizes the importance of list hygiene to maintain acceptable bounce rates. Regularly cleaning lists and using double opt-in helps reduce the risk of hitting spam traps and damaging sender reputation.

June 2021 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Email marketer from Gmass shares that aiming for a bounce rate under 1% is a good start for maintaining a good sender reputation.

July 2023 - Gmass
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue responds that bounce rates should ideally be under 2%. Higher rates damage your reputation and deliverability, requiring immediate attention to list hygiene practices.

August 2021 - Sendinblue
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum answers that they aim for a bounce rate below 0.5% and that anything higher than that suggests issues that should be quickly investigated.

September 2023 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit User shares that they aim for a bounce rate below 1% to maintain a strong sending reputation. Higher rates require immediate action to clean the email list and identify the source of invalid addresses.

December 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot says that bounce rates impact inbox placement and sender reputation, it is essential to minimize them to increase chances to be seen.

May 2023 - HubSpot
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign responds that bounce rates affect your ability to successfully deliver emails to subscribers and maintain a healthy sending reputation.

February 2025 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus states regularly monitoring bounce rates is vital for assessing list health. A sudden spike in bounce rates signals a problem that needs prompt investigation and resolution to protect sender reputation.

January 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks advises clients to keep total bounces under 2% and strongly recommends suppressing hard bounces after the first occurrence to prevent further deliverability issues.

September 2022 - Email Geeks

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Experts agree that bounce rate is a key indicator of sender reputation and list health. Sending to non-existent addresses indicates poor permission practices and a lack of list maintenance, damaging sender reputation. Aiming for a low bounce rate, ideally below 4% for initial sends and 1% for subsequent sends, is critical. High bounce rates signal issues that require proactive monitoring and addressing, including improving list hygiene practices.

Key opinions

  • Reputation Indicator: Bounce rate is a key indicator of sender reputation and list health.
  • Permission & Maintenance: Sending to non-existent addresses indicates poor permission practices and a lack of list maintenance.
  • Acceptable Threshold: Aim for a bounce rate below 4% for initial sends and 1% for subsequent sends.
  • Proactive Action: High bounce rates require proactive monitoring and addressing, including improved list hygiene.

Key considerations

  • Permission Practices: Ensure adequate permission practices to collect valid email addresses.
  • List Maintenance: Regularly clean and maintain your email list to remove invalid or inactive addresses.
  • Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates consistently and investigate any significant increases.
  • Proactive Addressing: Take proactive steps to improve list hygiene and address the root causes of high bounce rates.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that clients should aim for delivery failures to non-existent addresses to be below 4% for the first send and below 1% for subsequent sends.

February 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource responds that a high bounce rate is a sign of poor list hygiene and can severely damage your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. Maintaining a clean and engaged list is crucial.

July 2024 - SpamResource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that sending to non-existent addresses indicates a failure to adequately get permission and remove non-existent addresses. This signals a lack of regard for the recipient, impacting sender reputation.

June 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a high bounce rate signals that you're sending to invalid or uninterested recipients, which damages your sender reputation and affects your ability to reach legitimate subscribers. Monitoring and addressing bounce rates proactively is essential.

February 2024 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Email service providers such as Google, Microsoft, SparkPost, and AWS emphasize the critical importance of maintaining low bounce rates for a healthy sender reputation. High bounce rates, especially sudden spikes or repeated soft bounces, can lead to filtering, blocking, emails being marked as spam, and even account suspension. Effective bounce handling and monitoring are essential for reaching the inbox and maintaining a positive sender reputation.

Key findings

  • Negative Impact: High bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation.
  • Potential Consequences: High bounce rates can lead to filtering, blocking, and emails being marked as spam.
  • Importance of Handling: Effective bounce handling is essential for a good sender reputation.
  • Account Risk: High bounce rates and complaints can result in account suspension (AWS).

Key considerations

  • Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates closely to identify potential problems.
  • Bounce Handling: Implement effective bounce handling mechanisms to remove invalid addresses from your list.
  • List Hygiene: Maintain a clean email list to minimize bounce rates and protect sender reputation.
  • Complaint Rates: Manage complaints effectively, as they also affect sender reputation (especially relevant for AWS SES).
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that monitoring bounce rates is essential for maintaining a good sender reputation with Outlook.com. High bounce rates can lead to emails being marked as spam.

May 2021 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost defines hard bounces as permanent delivery failures, immediately harming reputation. Soft bounces are temporary issues, but repeated soft bounces can also negatively impact sender reputation over time.

August 2024 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from Google explains that high bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation. A sudden spike can lead to filtering or blocking. Maintaining a low bounce rate is crucial for reaching the inbox.

June 2024 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from AWS explains that using Amazon SES you need to handle bounces and complaints effectively to maintain a good sender reputation. High bounce and complaint rates can result in account suspension.

March 2025 - AWS