Fake Followers on Instagram in 2026: Which Industries Are Inflated?
Gaming and Finance micro-creators on Instagram reach the highest real people shares, while Business and Photography have the lowest.
Insights
Gaming and Finance micro-creators reach the highest real shares
Gaming at 61.4% and Finance at 61.0% are level at the top within the margin of error. These niches have the cleanest audiences in the micro tier.
Business and Photography micro-creators sit at the bottom
Business at 36.9% and Photography at 37.4% are level at the bottom within the margin of error. These niches present the lowest real people shares.
Audience quality does not follow a single trend
The baseline median real people share does not move one way. It rises from 41.3% in the micro tier to 53.5% in the mid-tier, and reaches 58.3% in the macro tier.
Education micro-creators exceed the baseline
Education micro-creators reach a median real people share of 55.1%. This is 13.78 percentage points higher than the median of 41.3% for all active micro-creators.
What we measured
- Industries covered
- 20
- Creators measured
- 417
- Platforms
- 1
- Robust cells
- 85/100
×5 follower tiers
sampled creators with an audience report
≥ 30 creators per cell
How to read these numbers
A percentile tells you how many creators you beat. If a creator is at p75, they beat 75% of creators like them — same platform, same audience size.
Below typical: under p25 for comparable creators.
The normal range — between p25 and the median.
Above the median: better than half of comparable creators.
Top quartile: better than three in four comparable creators.
Top decile: better than nine in ten comparable creators.
Read the median, not the average: a few outliers pull the average up.
How Real People Shares Vary Across Niches
Niche topics show wide differences in audience quality. Use this heatmap to check real people shares for every industry and tier on Instagram.
Median real people share
Every industry on Instagram, at every audience size. Darker means higher.
The highest reliable cell in the table, on 72 creators; level with Education · Macro (500K–1M) within the margin of error
The lowest reliable cell, on 69 creators — 32.96 percentage points below the top; level with Photography · Micro (10K–100K) within the margin of error
| Segment | Nano (1K–10K) | Micro (10K–100K) | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | Macro (500K–1M) | Mega (1M+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty | 44.2% | 37.9% | 43.0% | 47.6% | 48.6% |
| Fashion | 39.5% | 39.9% | 46.3% | 50.1% | 50.9% |
| Fitness | 43.5% | 40.4% | 54.9% | 54.4% | 57.7% |
| Food & Cooking | 43.7% | 48.4% | 58.8% | 57.8% | 58.8% |
| Travel | 47.2% | 42.4% | 50.5% | 51.5% | 53.5% |
| Gaming | 51.2% | 61.4% | 64.6% | 67.5% | 66.0% |
| Tech | 44.6% | 45.2% | 63.8% | 65.4% | 66.6% |
| Finance | 49.2% | 61.0% | 67.0% | 69.9% | 68.9% |
| Education | 55.4% | 55.1% | 65.4% | 69.6% | 67.1% |
| Parenting & Family | 51.3% | 57.8% | 62.7% | 64.7% | 62.8% |
| Health & Wellness | 43.2% | 42.0% | 54.6% | 57.7% | 62.9% |
| Home & Decor | 44.3% | 48.4% | 54.3% | 58.9% | 58.5% |
| Pets | 44.2% | 54.6% | 62.2% | 63.5% | 62.9% |
| Sports | 52.2% | 49.1% | 53.7% | 57.8% | 55.8% |
| Music | 45.1% | 40.9% | 53.9% | 56.6% | 54.0% |
| Art & Design | 46.5% | 44.0% | 54.6% | 65.5% | 60.0% |
| Automotive | 42.8% | 50.9% | 52.7% | 48.6% | 54.4% |
| Entertainment | 46.1% | 44.7% | 54.3% | 61.0% | 60.7% |
| Photography | 46.0% | 37.4% | 44.1% | 48.6% | — |
| Business | 41.2% | 36.9% | 62.0% | 64.4% | 64.3% |
The highest reliable cell in the table, on 88 creators; level with Finance · Mega (1M+) within the margin of error
The lowest reliable cell, on 76 creators — 30.14 percentage points below the top; level with Fashion · Nano (1K–10K) within the margin of error
| Segment | Nano (1K–10K) | Micro (10K–100K) | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | Macro (500K–1M) | Mega (1M+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty | 55.2% | 49.9% | 53.8% | 54.1% | 60.4% |
| Fashion | 48.6% | 51.7% | 57.2% | 61.7% | 66.0% |
| Fitness | 51.6% | 52.2% | 62.1% | 66.1% | 64.7% |
| Food & Cooking | 54.1% | 63.6% | 68.8% | 66.8% | 67.0% |
| Travel | 57.8% | 56.3% | 62.0% | 61.4% | 59.8% |
| Gaming | 61.8% | 68.7% | 71.8% | 74.1% | 71.1% |
| Tech | 58.5% | 63.8% | 69.6% | 73.3% | 73.1% |
| Finance | 58.5% | 71.5% | 75.2% | 74.9% | 75.6% |
| Education | 63.5% | 67.4% | 71.5% | 77.5% | 74.1% |
| Parenting & Family | 60.6% | 67.0% | 68.8% | 70.4% | 69.7% |
| Health & Wellness | 56.8% | 51.4% | 62.6% | 65.3% | 68.2% |
| Home & Decor | 52.3% | 59.5% | 61.2% | 67.0% | 68.7% |
| Pets | 52.6% | 65.6% | 69.3% | 68.7% | 68.2% |
| Sports | 62.5% | 61.6% | 62.7% | 63.8% | 64.1% |
| Music | 55.7% | 50.7% | 61.7% | 66.1% | 67.2% |
| Art & Design | 54.7% | 58.5% | 64.3% | 72.1% | 69.3% |
| Automotive | 52.5% | 60.9% | 63.3% | 59.4% | 63.9% |
| Entertainment | 56.2% | 58.4% | 66.1% | 71.1% | 66.4% |
| Photography | 55.9% | 47.4% | 57.2% | 58.8% | — |
| Business | 49.8% | 51.5% | 72.4% | 71.7% | 69.9% |
The highest reliable cell in the table, on 88 creators; level with Finance · Mid-tier (100K–500K) within the margin of error
The lowest reliable cell, on 76 creators — 24.42 percentage points below the top; level with Business · Nano (1K–10K) within the margin of error
| Segment | Nano (1K–10K) | Micro (10K–100K) | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | Macro (500K–1M) | Mega (1M+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty | 69.2% | 60.2% | 63.6% | 59.6% | 65.9% |
| Fashion | 59.2% | 60.8% | 67.4% | 69.2% | 69.7% |
| Fitness | 60.0% | 63.0% | 69.2% | 73.9% | 71.8% |
| Food & Cooking | 60.5% | 71.6% | 71.5% | 70.3% | 69.4% |
| Travel | 65.6% | 64.7% | 70.1% | 64.6% | 61.5% |
| Gaming | 69.3% | 73.9% | 75.8% | 76.4% | 73.8% |
| Tech | 68.0% | 74.1% | 74.9% | 76.1% | 77.5% |
| Finance | 71.4% | 77.3% | 79.6% | 78.4% | 78.2% |
| Education | 67.2% | 72.8% | 76.9% | 81.9% | 78.7% |
| Parenting & Family | 67.3% | 71.6% | 74.5% | 76.1% | 74.7% |
| Health & Wellness | 65.4% | 61.3% | 69.4% | 67.6% | 74.0% |
| Home & Decor | 60.7% | 68.3% | 68.5% | 72.0% | 73.5% |
| Pets | 61.6% | 70.5% | 74.0% | 72.1% | 71.0% |
| Sports | 67.4% | 69.8% | 70.7% | 67.8% | 69.7% |
| Music | 61.4% | 65.9% | 70.3% | 70.5% | 68.5% |
| Art & Design | 59.0% | 70.1% | 72.6% | 76.1% | 71.9% |
| Automotive | 60.6% | 72.8% | 70.0% | 70.2% | 72.3% |
| Entertainment | 60.4% | 67.3% | 72.2% | 75.7% | 71.9% |
| Photography | 62.8% | 57.5% | 65.5% | 69.7% | — |
| Business | 58.2% | 62.3% | 78.1% | 73.8% | 77.6% |
How to read this chart
Find your row (industry) and your column (audience size). The number where they meet is the median for that group: half of those creators do better, half do worse. Colour only makes it easier to scan — darker means higher. Hover a cell for the full spread: p25, p75, p90 and how many creators it's based on. A dashed cell is a hint, not a benchmark: it rests on fewer than 30 creators.
View as tableHide table
| Segment | Group | p50 | p75 | p90 | p25 | Creators | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty | Nano (1K–10K) | 44.2% | 55.2% | 69.2% | 35.6% | 67 | Reliable |
| Beauty | Micro (10K–100K) | 37.9% | 49.9% | 60.2% | 23.8% | 77 | Reliable |
| Beauty | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 43.0% | 53.8% | 63.6% | 34.4% | 87 | Reliable |
| Beauty | Macro (500K–1M) | 47.6% | 54.1% | 59.6% | 39.4% | 18 | Directional only |
| Beauty | Mega (1M+) | 48.6% | 60.4% | 65.9% | 43.4% | 6 | Directional only |
| Fashion | Nano (1K–10K) | 39.5% | 48.6% | 59.2% | 30.3% | 65 | Reliable |
| Fashion | Micro (10K–100K) | 39.9% | 51.7% | 60.8% | 29.9% | 72 | Reliable |
| Fashion | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 46.3% | 57.2% | 67.4% | 35.1% | 78 | Reliable |
| Fashion | Macro (500K–1M) | 50.1% | 61.7% | 69.2% | 38.3% | 47 | Reliable |
| Fashion | Mega (1M+) | 50.9% | 66.0% | 69.7% | 38.9% | 18 | Directional only |
| Fitness | Nano (1K–10K) | 43.5% | 51.6% | 60.0% | 31.3% | 66 | Reliable |
| Fitness | Micro (10K–100K) | 40.4% | 52.2% | 63.0% | 32.6% | 86 | Reliable |
| Fitness | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 54.9% | 62.1% | 69.2% | 42.0% | 93 | Reliable |
| Fitness | Macro (500K–1M) | 54.4% | 66.1% | 73.9% | 43.1% | 64 | Reliable |
| Fitness | Mega (1M+) | 57.7% | 64.7% | 71.8% | 45.5% | 53 | Reliable |
| Food & Cooking | Nano (1K–10K) | 43.7% | 54.1% | 60.5% | 32.7% | 64 | Reliable |
| Food & Cooking | Micro (10K–100K) | 48.4% | 63.6% | 71.6% | 34.6% | 72 | Reliable |
| Food & Cooking | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 58.8% | 68.8% | 71.5% | 38.7% | 80 | Reliable |
| Food & Cooking | Macro (500K–1M) | 57.8% | 66.8% | 70.3% | 48.3% | 43 | Reliable |
| Food & Cooking | Mega (1M+) | 58.8% | 67.0% | 69.4% | 52.1% | 26 | Directional only |
| Travel | Nano (1K–10K) | 47.2% | 57.8% | 65.6% | 35.8% | 83 | Reliable |
| Travel | Micro (10K–100K) | 42.4% | 56.3% | 64.7% | 26.9% | 92 | Reliable |
| Travel | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 50.5% | 62.0% | 70.1% | 39.8% | 89 | Reliable |
| Travel | Macro (500K–1M) | 51.5% | 61.4% | 64.6% | 38.9% | 26 | Directional only |
| Travel | Mega (1M+) | 53.5% | 59.8% | 61.5% | 35.9% | 14 | Directional only |
| Gaming | Nano (1K–10K) | 51.2% | 61.8% | 69.3% | 39.3% | 66 | Reliable |
| Gaming | Micro (10K–100K) | 61.4% | 68.7% | 73.9% | 48.5% | 80 | Reliable |
| Gaming | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 64.6% | 71.8% | 75.8% | 53.8% | 83 | Reliable |
| Gaming | Macro (500K–1M) | 67.5% | 74.1% | 76.4% | 60.7% | 95 | Reliable |
| Gaming | Mega (1M+) | 66.0% | 71.1% | 73.8% | 60.6% | 94 | Reliable |
| Tech | Nano (1K–10K) | 44.6% | 58.5% | 68.0% | 34.0% | 68 | Reliable |
| Tech | Micro (10K–100K) | 45.2% | 63.8% | 74.1% | 30.3% | 77 | Reliable |
| Tech | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 63.8% | 69.6% | 74.9% | 54.9% | 84 | Reliable |
| Tech | Macro (500K–1M) | 65.4% | 73.3% | 76.1% | 58.1% | 79 | Reliable |
| Tech | Mega (1M+) | 66.6% | 73.1% | 77.5% | 57.8% | 92 | Reliable |
| Finance | Nano (1K–10K) | 49.2% | 58.5% | 71.4% | 36.9% | 65 | Reliable |
| Finance | Micro (10K–100K) | 61.0% | 71.5% | 77.3% | 49.3% | 72 | Reliable |
| Finance | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 67.0% | 75.2% | 79.6% | 57.4% | 73 | Reliable |
| Finance | Macro (500K–1M) | 69.9% | 74.9% | 78.4% | 62.2% | 72 | Reliable |
| Finance | Mega (1M+) | 68.9% | 75.6% | 78.2% | 56.4% | 38 | Reliable |
| Education | Nano (1K–10K) | 55.4% | 63.5% | 67.2% | 41.5% | 62 | Reliable |
| Education | Micro (10K–100K) | 55.1% | 67.4% | 72.8% | 43.1% | 75 | Reliable |
| Education | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 65.4% | 71.5% | 76.9% | 52.8% | 74 | Reliable |
| Education | Macro (500K–1M) | 69.6% | 77.5% | 81.9% | 58.9% | 88 | Reliable |
| Education | Mega (1M+) | 67.1% | 74.1% | 78.7% | 53.6% | 49 | Reliable |
| Parenting & Family | Nano (1K–10K) | 51.3% | 60.6% | 67.3% | 43.1% | 74 | Reliable |
| Parenting & Family | Micro (10K–100K) | 57.8% | 67.0% | 71.6% | 42.4% | 83 | Reliable |
| Parenting & Family | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 62.7% | 68.8% | 74.5% | 47.7% | 83 | Reliable |
| Parenting & Family | Macro (500K–1M) | 64.7% | 70.4% | 76.1% | 55.7% | 92 | Reliable |
| Parenting & Family | Mega (1M+) | 62.8% | 69.7% | 74.7% | 53.7% | 62 | Reliable |
| Health & Wellness | Nano (1K–10K) | 43.2% | 56.8% | 65.4% | 35.8% | 70 | Reliable |
| Health & Wellness | Micro (10K–100K) | 42.0% | 51.4% | 61.3% | 29.8% | 79 | Reliable |
| Health & Wellness | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 54.6% | 62.6% | 69.4% | 40.1% | 81 | Reliable |
| Health & Wellness | Macro (500K–1M) | 57.7% | 65.3% | 67.6% | 41.9% | 35 | Reliable |
| Health & Wellness | Mega (1M+) | 62.9% | 68.2% | 74.0% | 38.8% | 22 | Directional only |
| Home & Decor | Nano (1K–10K) | 44.3% | 52.3% | 60.7% | 38.7% | 65 | Reliable |
| Home & Decor | Micro (10K–100K) | 48.4% | 59.5% | 68.3% | 36.0% | 84 | Reliable |
| Home & Decor | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 54.3% | 61.2% | 68.5% | 42.8% | 93 | Reliable |
| Home & Decor | Macro (500K–1M) | 58.9% | 67.0% | 72.0% | 52.1% | 94 | Reliable |
| Home & Decor | Mega (1M+) | 58.5% | 68.7% | 73.5% | 49.6% | 67 | Reliable |
| Pets | Nano (1K–10K) | 44.2% | 52.6% | 61.6% | 36.9% | 67 | Reliable |
| Pets | Micro (10K–100K) | 54.6% | 65.6% | 70.5% | 39.8% | 80 | Reliable |
| Pets | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 62.2% | 69.3% | 74.0% | 55.2% | 82 | Reliable |
| Pets | Macro (500K–1M) | 63.5% | 68.7% | 72.1% | 58.6% | 39 | Reliable |
| Pets | Mega (1M+) | 62.9% | 68.2% | 71.0% | 59.5% | 19 | Directional only |
| Sports | Nano (1K–10K) | 52.2% | 62.5% | 67.4% | 41.7% | 65 | Reliable |
| Sports | Micro (10K–100K) | 49.1% | 61.6% | 69.8% | 32.6% | 82 | Reliable |
| Sports | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 53.7% | 62.7% | 70.7% | 41.5% | 89 | Reliable |
| Sports | Macro (500K–1M) | 57.8% | 63.8% | 67.8% | 47.9% | 96 | Reliable |
| Sports | Mega (1M+) | 55.8% | 64.1% | 69.7% | 50.7% | 62 | Reliable |
| Music | Nano (1K–10K) | 45.1% | 55.7% | 61.4% | 36.2% | 69 | Reliable |
| Music | Micro (10K–100K) | 40.9% | 50.7% | 65.9% | 22.9% | 81 | Reliable |
| Music | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 53.9% | 61.7% | 70.3% | 38.2% | 83 | Reliable |
| Music | Macro (500K–1M) | 56.6% | 66.1% | 70.5% | 38.2% | 35 | Reliable |
| Music | Mega (1M+) | 54.0% | 67.2% | 68.5% | 27.3% | 27 | Directional only |
| Art & Design | Nano (1K–10K) | 46.5% | 54.7% | 59.0% | 33.2% | 66 | Reliable |
| Art & Design | Micro (10K–100K) | 44.0% | 58.5% | 70.1% | 31.0% | 85 | Reliable |
| Art & Design | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 54.6% | 64.3% | 72.6% | 44.8% | 84 | Reliable |
| Art & Design | Macro (500K–1M) | 65.5% | 72.1% | 76.1% | 54.1% | 22 | Directional only |
| Art & Design | Mega (1M+) | 60.0% | 69.3% | 71.9% | 51.1% | 24 | Directional only |
| Automotive | Nano (1K–10K) | 42.8% | 52.5% | 60.6% | 33.2% | 62 | Reliable |
| Automotive | Micro (10K–100K) | 50.9% | 60.9% | 72.8% | 40.1% | 83 | Reliable |
| Automotive | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 52.7% | 63.3% | 70.0% | 37.8% | 80 | Reliable |
| Automotive | Macro (500K–1M) | 48.6% | 59.4% | 70.2% | 40.5% | 94 | Reliable |
| Automotive | Mega (1M+) | 54.4% | 63.9% | 72.3% | 42.6% | 95 | Reliable |
| Entertainment | Nano (1K–10K) | 46.1% | 56.2% | 60.4% | 36.6% | 70 | Reliable |
| Entertainment | Micro (10K–100K) | 44.7% | 58.4% | 67.3% | 24.8% | 86 | Reliable |
| Entertainment | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 54.3% | 66.1% | 72.2% | 36.8% | 87 | Reliable |
| Entertainment | Macro (500K–1M) | 61.0% | 71.1% | 75.7% | 52.8% | 50 | Reliable |
| Entertainment | Mega (1M+) | 60.7% | 66.4% | 71.9% | 54.0% | 50 | Reliable |
| Photography | Nano (1K–10K) | 46.0% | 55.9% | 62.8% | 33.5% | 61 | Reliable |
| Photography | Micro (10K–100K) | 37.4% | 47.4% | 57.5% | 20.8% | 76 | Reliable |
| Photography | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 44.1% | 57.2% | 65.5% | 33.7% | 56 | Reliable |
| Photography | Macro (500K–1M) | 48.6% | 58.8% | 69.7% | 20.1% | 7 | Directional only |
| Photography | Mega (1M+) | — | — | — | — | 4 | Directional only |
| Business | Nano (1K–10K) | 41.2% | 49.8% | 58.2% | 30.2% | 62 | Reliable |
| Business | Micro (10K–100K) | 36.9% | 51.5% | 62.3% | 25.9% | 69 | Reliable |
| Business | Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 62.0% | 72.4% | 78.1% | 43.5% | 78 | Reliable |
| Business | Macro (500K–1M) | 64.4% | 71.7% | 73.8% | 49.4% | 17 | Directional only |
| Business | Mega (1M+) | 64.3% | 69.9% | 77.6% | 58.2% | 24 | Directional only |
Industry ranking
Every industry with enough creators, ordered by its median. The dots show the spread inside each one: a quarter of creators sit below p25, a quarter above p75.
Top of the ranking · 62 creators · level with Sports
Bottom of the ranking · 15.85 percentage points below the top · level with Business
How to read this chart
Each row is one industry. The middle dot is the median, the outer dots are p25 and p75 — the middle half of creators sits between them. Rows are sorted by the median. Rows with fewer than 30 creators are left out.
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| Segment | p25 | Median | p75 | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 41.5% | 55.4% | 63.5% | 62 |
| Sports | 41.7% | 52.2% | 62.5% | 65 |
| Parenting & Family | 43.1% | 51.3% | 60.6% | 74 |
| Gaming | 39.3% | 51.2% | 61.8% | 66 |
| Finance | 36.9% | 49.2% | 58.5% | 65 |
| Travel | 35.8% | 47.2% | 57.8% | 83 |
| Art & Design | 33.2% | 46.5% | 54.7% | 66 |
| Entertainment | 36.6% | 46.1% | 56.2% | 70 |
| Photography | 33.5% | 46.0% | 55.9% | 61 |
| Music | 36.2% | 45.1% | 55.7% | 69 |
| Tech | 34.0% | 44.6% | 58.5% | 68 |
| Home & Decor | 38.7% | 44.3% | 52.3% | 65 |
| Pets | 36.9% | 44.2% | 52.6% | 67 |
| Beauty | 35.6% | 44.2% | 55.2% | 67 |
| Food & Cooking | 32.7% | 43.7% | 54.1% | 64 |
| Fitness | 31.3% | 43.5% | 51.6% | 66 |
| Health & Wellness | 35.8% | 43.2% | 56.8% | 70 |
| Automotive | 33.2% | 42.8% | 52.5% | 62 |
| Business | 30.2% | 41.2% | 49.8% | 62 |
| Fashion | 30.3% | 39.5% | 48.6% | 65 |
Top of the ranking · 80 creators · level with Finance
Bottom of the ranking · 24.49 percentage points below the top · level with Photography
How to read this chart
Each row is one industry. The middle dot is the median, the outer dots are p25 and p75 — the middle half of creators sits between them. Rows are sorted by the median. Rows with fewer than 30 creators are left out.
View as tableHide table
| Segment | p25 | Median | p75 | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming | 48.5% | 61.4% | 68.7% | 80 |
| Finance | 49.3% | 61.0% | 71.5% | 72 |
| Parenting & Family | 42.4% | 57.8% | 67.0% | 83 |
| Education | 43.1% | 55.1% | 67.4% | 75 |
| Pets | 39.8% | 54.6% | 65.6% | 80 |
| Automotive | 40.1% | 50.9% | 60.9% | 83 |
| Sports | 32.6% | 49.1% | 61.6% | 82 |
| Home & Decor | 36.0% | 48.4% | 59.5% | 84 |
| Food & Cooking | 34.6% | 48.4% | 63.6% | 72 |
| Tech | 30.3% | 45.2% | 63.8% | 77 |
| Entertainment | 24.8% | 44.7% | 58.4% | 86 |
| Art & Design | 31.0% | 44.0% | 58.5% | 85 |
| Travel | 26.9% | 42.4% | 56.3% | 92 |
| Health & Wellness | 29.8% | 42.0% | 51.4% | 79 |
| Music | 22.9% | 40.9% | 50.7% | 81 |
| Fitness | 32.6% | 40.4% | 52.2% | 86 |
| Fashion | 29.9% | 39.9% | 51.7% | 72 |
| Beauty | 23.8% | 37.9% | 49.9% | 77 |
| Photography | 20.8% | 37.4% | 47.4% | 76 |
| Business | 25.9% | 36.9% | 51.5% | 69 |
Top of the ranking · 73 creators · level with Education
Bottom of the ranking · 24.07 percentage points below the top · level with Photography
How to read this chart
Each row is one industry. The middle dot is the median, the outer dots are p25 and p75 — the middle half of creators sits between them. Rows are sorted by the median. Rows with fewer than 30 creators are left out.
View as tableHide table
| Segment | p25 | Median | p75 | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 57.4% | 67.0% | 75.2% | 73 |
| Education | 52.8% | 65.4% | 71.5% | 74 |
| Gaming | 53.8% | 64.6% | 71.8% | 83 |
| Tech | 54.9% | 63.8% | 69.6% | 84 |
| Parenting & Family | 47.7% | 62.7% | 68.8% | 83 |
| Pets | 55.2% | 62.2% | 69.3% | 82 |
| Business | 43.5% | 62.0% | 72.4% | 78 |
| Food & Cooking | 38.7% | 58.8% | 68.8% | 80 |
| Fitness | 42.0% | 54.9% | 62.1% | 93 |
| Health & Wellness | 40.1% | 54.6% | 62.6% | 81 |
| Art & Design | 44.8% | 54.6% | 64.3% | 84 |
| Home & Decor | 42.8% | 54.3% | 61.2% | 93 |
| Entertainment | 36.8% | 54.3% | 66.1% | 87 |
| Music | 38.2% | 53.9% | 61.7% | 83 |
| Sports | 41.5% | 53.7% | 62.7% | 89 |
| Automotive | 37.8% | 52.7% | 63.3% | 80 |
| Travel | 39.8% | 50.5% | 62.0% | 89 |
| Fashion | 35.1% | 46.3% | 57.2% | 78 |
| Photography | 33.7% | 44.1% | 57.2% | 56 |
| Beauty | 34.4% | 43.0% | 53.8% | 87 |
Top of the ranking · 72 creators · level with Education
Bottom of the ranking · 21.28 percentage points below the top · level with Fashion
How to read this chart
Each row is one industry. The middle dot is the median, the outer dots are p25 and p75 — the middle half of creators sits between them. Rows are sorted by the median. Rows with fewer than 30 creators are left out.
View as tableHide table
| Segment | p25 | Median | p75 | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 62.2% | 69.9% | 74.9% | 72 |
| Education | 58.9% | 69.6% | 77.5% | 88 |
| Gaming | 60.7% | 67.5% | 74.1% | 95 |
| Tech | 58.1% | 65.4% | 73.3% | 79 |
| Parenting & Family | 55.7% | 64.7% | 70.4% | 92 |
| Pets | 58.6% | 63.5% | 68.7% | 39 |
| Entertainment | 52.8% | 61.0% | 71.1% | 50 |
| Home & Decor | 52.1% | 58.9% | 67.0% | 94 |
| Food & Cooking | 48.3% | 57.8% | 66.8% | 43 |
| Sports | 47.9% | 57.8% | 63.8% | 96 |
| Health & Wellness | 41.9% | 57.7% | 65.3% | 35 |
| Music | 38.2% | 56.6% | 66.1% | 35 |
| Fitness | 43.1% | 54.4% | 66.1% | 64 |
| Fashion | 38.3% | 50.1% | 61.7% | 47 |
| Automotive | 40.5% | 48.6% | 59.4% | 94 |
Top of the ranking · 38 creators · level with Education
Bottom of the ranking · 14.51 percentage points below the top · level with Sports
How to read this chart
Each row is one industry. The middle dot is the median, the outer dots are p25 and p75 — the middle half of creators sits between them. Rows are sorted by the median. Rows with fewer than 30 creators are left out.
View as tableHide table
| Segment | p25 | Median | p75 | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 56.4% | 68.9% | 75.6% | 38 |
| Education | 53.6% | 67.1% | 74.1% | 49 |
| Tech | 57.8% | 66.6% | 73.1% | 92 |
| Gaming | 60.6% | 66.0% | 71.1% | 94 |
| Parenting & Family | 53.7% | 62.8% | 69.7% | 62 |
| Entertainment | 54.0% | 60.7% | 66.4% | 50 |
| Home & Decor | 49.6% | 58.5% | 68.7% | 67 |
| Fitness | 45.5% | 57.7% | 64.7% | 53 |
| Sports | 50.7% | 55.8% | 64.1% | 62 |
| Automotive | 42.6% | 54.4% | 63.9% | 95 |
The Baseline Real People Share on Instagram
This baseline shows the typical real people share for active creators across all five follower tiers. Use these overall statistics as your benchmark.
Key findings
Micro tier41.3%Micro baseline is registered
Active micro-creators on the platform show a median real people share of 41.3%. This is a key benchmark for evaluating creators in this tier.
Mid tier53.5%Mid tier baseline rises from the micro tier
The baseline median real people share is 53.5% for mid-tier accounts. This rises from the 41.3% median seen in the micro tier.
Macro tier58.3%Macro baseline rises from the mid tier
The baseline median real people share reaches 58.3% in the macro tier. This rises from the 53.5% median observed in the mid-tier.
Mega tier57.3%Mega baseline is reported
Active mega-creators with over one million followers have a median real people share of 57.3%.
Nano vs mega · Instagram
Median real people share: 44.5% for nano creators vs 57.3% for mega creators.
Methodology
- Source
- The IQFluence creator database of public Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles. All counts were taken in September 2026.
- Population
- Every figure is computed over the full population of matching creators, not a sample: active accounts (at least one post in the last 30 days) with 1,000 or more followers.
- Segments
- Each of the industries is the set of creators that IQFluence's topic relevance model places closest to the platform's native topic tag (Beauty: #beauty on Instagram; Fashion: #fashion on Instagram), not every creator who works in it, so its creator count shows how much data a number rests on, not how big the niche is. A creator can match more than one segment, and tag vocabularies differ between platforms, so compare segments within a platform first.
- Metric
- Real people share is the part of a creator's analysed followers that IQFluence's audience model counts as real people, as opposed to mass followers, suspicious accounts and other influencers. It is the Real people figure of a creator's audience report. Only Instagram creators are measured, and of each cell's sample only those whose audience report splits the audience into types.
- Statistics
- The real people share is not in the search index: it is read from the audience reports of up to 100 creators drawn at random from each cell, across the follower range of a large cell, and its percentiles are those of the sampled creators whose report splits the audience into types, so a cell's creator count is that sample. Cells with fewer than 30 creators are marked as directional and left out of rankings and comparisons.
- Reproducibility
- Every number can be re-checked in IQFluence Discovery with the same platform, topic, follower range, activity and metric filters.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fake Followers
Find answers to the most common questions about fake follower benchmarks by industry and how to evaluate creators.
