How we got your number
There is no black box here. Your estimate is built step by step from public traffic data and the same economics billboard operators use. This page shows the full chain, with a real worked example — so when you see a range, you know exactly where both ends come from.
The chain, step by step
Worked example: 37,000 vehicles/day on a primary highway.
- 1
Traffic — about 37,000 vehicles/day
Florida DOT traffic data tells us how many cars pass your frontage. It is the one number advertisers actually pay for, and it drives everything below. (FDOT Florida Traffic Online — high confidence.)
- 2
Monthly views — ~841,000 impressions/month
Counting both directions of travel and about 1.5 people per vehicle, a single face is seen roughly 841,000 times a month. (Vehicles × 0.5 per direction × 1.5 occupants × ~30 days — the standard out-of-home circulation method.)
- 3
Operator gross — $1,682–$2,355/month
Operators sell those views to advertisers at roughly $3–$15 per thousand at about 80% occupancy. Ad rates (CPM) and occupancy are market estimates, not published figures — which is why this step, and everything after it, is a range, never a single number.
- 4
Your cut — 10% to 20% = $250–$470/month
Landowners receive 10–20% of the operator's gross as ground rent. The blended ratio in Lamar Advertising's 2025 annual report is about 17.6%. Ten to twenty percent of the gross above is your monthly range. (High confidence on the split itself.)
- 5
Over 20 years — $60,000–$112,800
A billboard lease runs 20 years or more. Your monthly range × 240 months gives the lifetime value — before any rent escalators, which a fair lease should include.
Why the range looks so wide (read this part)
The gap is not uncertainty. The gap is the negotiation. The low end is roughly what an operator hands you on the first offer. The high end is what the same billboard, at the same traffic, is worth under a fair, well-negotiated lease. The difference is real money — and it goes to whoever negotiates harder. Our whole job is to move you off the floor and toward the ceiling.
Why fair market is higher than a middle offer
If you've been offered something in the middle, the high end is your evidence that you're being underpaid. It isn't optimism — it's simply 20% of the operator's gross instead of 10%, and 10–20% is the band operators themselves work within. A middle offer is the operator paying you the bottom of the split and pocketing the rest. Two independent cross-checks agree: a one-time buyout at the standard 8–12 years of rent lands in the same range from a different direction, and operators value conforming sites like yours because the permits they hold can't always be replaced.
What we're sure of, and what's an estimate
- Traffic (FDOT): measured. High confidence.
- 10–20% ground-rent split: documented industry standard, consistent with Lamar's 2025 SEC filing. High confidence.
- Advertising rate (CPM) and occupancy: market estimates, because operators don't publish them. This is the reason your number is a range and never a single dollar figure.
This is a market estimate based on publicly available data. It is not an appraisal, legal advice, or a guarantee. Consult a licensed Florida real estate attorney before signing any lease.