What are typical bounce rates after email validation?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 2 Jun 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
7 min read
When I talk to fellow marketers and deliverability specialists, one of the most common questions that comes up is about bounce rates. Specifically, what can you expect after you've invested in a good email validation service? It's a valid concern, because while validation is crucial, it's not a magic bullet that guarantees a 0% bounce rate.
Many people assume that once emails are validated, every single one should land in the inbox without a hitch. Unfortunately, email deliverability is a complex ecosystem, and even with the best validation in place, some bounces are inevitable. The goal isn't zero bounces, but rather keeping them at a healthy, manageable level that doesn't harm your sender reputation.
I've seen firsthand how a slightly higher-than-expected bounce rate, even after validation, can trigger concerns. It's important to understand the typical benchmarks, what causes these residual bounces, and how to continuously monitor and improve your email program to maintain excellent deliverability.
Understanding email bounce rates and validation
Before diving into post-validation rates, it's helpful to establish a baseline for what a bounce rate actually is and why it matters. An email bounce rate is the percentage of emails that couldn't be delivered to the recipient's inbox. This can happen for various reasons, broadly categorized into hard bounces and soft bounces. Hard bounces indicate a permanent delivery failure, like an invalid email address. Soft bounces, on the other hand, are temporary issues, such as a full inbox or a server being down. Understanding how hard and soft bounces differ is critical for effective list management.
Email validation services work by checking the legitimacy and deliverability of email addresses before you send to them. They can identify invalid formats, disposable email addresses, and sometimes even catch spam traps. The primary goal of validation is to drastically reduce hard bounces, which are particularly damaging to your sender reputation. A low bounce rate signals to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that you are a responsible sender, which improves your chances of landing in the inbox.
The generally accepted benchmark for a healthy bounce rate is below 2%. Many experts, including those from MailerLite, report average bounce rates across industries often below 1%. However, this number can vary depending on your industry, list source, and sending practices. For a more detailed breakdown on how bounce rates are calculated and what is considered good, you can refer to our guides.
For context, here's a general overview of what different bounce rates typically signify:
Bounce Rate Range
Significance
Below 1%
Excellent: Indicates a very clean list and strong sending practices.
1% to 2%
Good: Generally acceptable for most campaigns, especially with ongoing list hygiene.
2% to 5%
Warning: Requires investigation. Could point to outdated contacts or validation gaps. MyEmma also notes that anything above this should be investigated.
Above 5%
Concerning: Seriously impacts deliverability and sender reputation. Immediate action needed.
What to expect immediately after validation
Even after using a robust email validation service, it’s not uncommon to see an initial bounce rate between 1% and 3% for brand new addresses. This might seem counter-intuitive, especially when you've done your due diligence. However, no validation tool is 100% foolproof.
There are several reasons for this. First, email addresses can become invalid very quickly. A validated address today might be deactivated tomorrow. Second, some email servers implement greylisting or other temporary rejections that a validation tool can't predict. Third, validation tools classify addresses, but the final decision to accept or reject an email always rests with the recipient's mail server. The trustworthiness of third-party email validation tools is high, but they operate within the real-time dynamics of email networks.
The good news is that after this initial send, if you're consistently mailing to an engaged list, your delivery failures should ideally drop to below 0.5%. This improvement is due to your ESP (Email Service Provider) automatically suppressing addresses that consistently hard bounce or show other signs of being undeliverable. This continuous hygiene helps maintain a cleaner list over time.
Maintaining low bounce rates over time
Maintaining low bounce rates isn't a one-time task, even with upfront validation. It requires ongoing effort and continuous monitoring. Your email list will naturally degrade over time, as people change jobs, abandon old email accounts, or ISPs implement new anti-spam measures.
Regular list hygiene, beyond initial validation, is paramount. This includes promptly removing hard bounces from your list and monitoring soft bounces to identify recurring issues. Ignoring these can lead to a damaged email reputation, increasing the likelihood of your emails being sent to the spam folder or even your domain being added to a blocklist (or blacklist).
I always advocate for a multi-layered approach to deliverability. While validation is a strong first step, it must be complemented by other best practices to keep your bounce rates minimal and ensure your messages reach their intended audience. If you're encountering persistent issues, our comprehensive guide on why your emails fail can provide further insights.
Best practices for low bounce rates
Regular validation: Validate your lists periodically, not just at acquisition. Email addresses can become invalid rapidly.
Monitor bounces: Track both hard and soft bounces closely. Remove hard bounces immediately and analyze soft bounces for recurring patterns.
Segment and engage: Send targeted emails to engaged segments to reduce the risk of sending to inactive or invalid addresses.
The role of ESPs and internal suppression
When we discuss bounce rates, it's essential to differentiate between a recipient being locally suppressed by your ESP and your domain or IP being listed on a public blocklist (or blacklist). While related, they signify different levels of deliverability issues. Your ESP has an internal system to manage bounces, often with a 'three-strike' rule before an address is suppressed.
Local suppression means that your ESP has identified an email address as undeliverable based on its past sending attempts and will no longer try to send emails to it. This is a crucial automated process that protects your sender reputation by preventing repeated attempts to bad addresses. The threshold for this suppression, and the specific reasons your ESP uses, are often proprietary.
Public blocklists, on the other hand, are third-party databases that list IPs or domains identified as sources of spam or malicious email. Getting listed on one of these (a blacklist) can severely impact your deliverability across the internet, leading to your emails being rejected by many ISPs. Our guide on what happens when your domain is on an email blacklist provides more context.
Local suppression by your ESP
Mechanism: Your ESP automatically stops sending to addresses after multiple hard or soft bounce attempts.
Impact: Prevents further sending attempts to bad addresses, protecting your immediate sender reputation from unnecessary bounces.
Visibility: Generally managed internally by your ESP, with bounce reports showing the reasons for suppression.
Public blocklists (blacklists)
Mechanism: Third-party entities (DNSBLs) list IPs/domains based on observed spamming behavior.
Impact: Widespread email rejection by ISPs that consult these lists, severely damaging overall deliverability.
Visibility: Publicly accessible via blocklist (or blacklist) checking tools. Requires active monitoring and delisting requests.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always use a reputable email validation service before sending to new lists or segments.
Segment your audience and tailor content to maintain engagement and reduce inactive users.
Implement double opt-in for new subscribers to ensure high-quality, engaged contacts.
Regularly monitor your ESP’s bounce reports and take action on persistent soft bounces.
Common pitfalls
Relying solely on initial email validation without ongoing list hygiene efforts.
Ignoring soft bounce notifications, which can indicate growing deliverability issues.
Sending to unengaged contacts, which can lead to higher bounce rates and spam complaints.
Failing to understand your ESP's specific bounce classification and suppression rules.
Expert tips
Implement feedback loops with major ISPs to quickly identify and remove complainers from your list.
Maintain a consistent sending volume and schedule to build a stable sender reputation.
Analyze bounce codes (e.g., 550, 421) to gain deeper insights into specific delivery failures.
Leverage DMARC reports to understand authentication failures and their impact on deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that the bounce rate is directly proportional to the effort put into email validation. Less validation means higher bounces, so benchmarks are less useful than simply ensuring a clean list.
2024-06-24 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that even with strong validation like Kickbox, a 1-3% bounce rate for new addresses is typical because no validation is 100% perfect, and some addresses might become invalid quickly.
2024-06-25 - Email Geeks
Key takeaways
Ultimately, email validation is an indispensable tool for achieving good deliverability, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. While you should aim for a bounce rate below 2% after validation, expecting zero bounces isn't realistic due to the dynamic nature of email addresses and recipient servers.
The true measure of success lies in your consistent effort to maintain a clean list, understand your ESP's bounce management, and continually monitor your deliverability metrics. By combining robust validation with ongoing list hygiene and smart sending practices, you can ensure your email program remains healthy and effective.
Remember, a low bounce rate is a strong indicator of a healthy email program and contributes significantly to your overall email deliverability rate. Don't just validate once, make it an ongoing process.
