US Out-of-Home Revenue Hits Record Q3 High in 2025

Why this Q3 report matters for anyone using billboards

Out-of-home advertising is not slowing down. New data from the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) shows that U.S. OOH revenue grew again in the third quarter of 2025 and set a new all-time Q3 record. For brands that already invest in billboards, and for those still deciding how to shift budgets for 2026, this report is an important signal. OOH is not a legacy channel. It is a growth channel that continues to prove its value in a crowded media landscape.

The latest OAAA figures show that out-of-home advertising revenue increased 4.5 percent in Q3 2025 compared to the same quarter a year earlier, reaching 2.13 billion dollars in spend. Year-to-date revenue climbed to 6.98 billion dollars, up 3.2 percent over the prior year. This marks the eighteenth straight quarter of growth for the industry, and the highest third-quarter revenue volume on record for U.S. OOH. OAAA’s release makes it clear that this momentum is not a one-time spike. It is part of a long-term trend.

For local advertisers in markets like Tulsa and Oklahoma City, this record quarter confirms what many have already seen in their own results. Out-of-home campaigns are holding their value while other traditional channels lose reach. The details inside the report show where that growth is coming from and how smart advertisers are using it.

Key Q3 2025 numbers from the OAAA

The OAAA’s third-quarter update highlights several core metrics that describe the current health of the U.S. out-of-home market:

• Q3 2025 OOH revenue reached 2.13 billion dollars, up 4.5 percent year over year.
• This was the highest third-quarter revenue total the industry has ever recorded.
• Year-to-date, OOH revenue climbed to 6.98 billion dollars, a gain of 3.2 percent.
• The industry has now posted eighteen consecutive quarters of revenue growth.

These are national numbers that include digital and static billboards, street furniture, transit media, place-based screens, and cinema placements. In other words, this is a complete picture of out-of-home performance, not just one format. The continued growth also aligns with earlier reports showing OOH surpassing 9 billion dollars in annual revenue in 2024 and gaining share among traditional media channels.

For advertisers, the takeaway is simple. Brands are not walking away from out-of-home. They are moving more dollars into it. That trend is visible in other industry reporting, including coverage of rising OOH budgets and research that shows billboards delivering some of the most efficient cost per thousand impressions among large-scale media. Those themes already show up in Billboard Buzz posts such as Out-of-Home Advertising Surpasses 9 Billion in 2024, and OOH Budgets Are Rising in 2025.

Digital OOH keeps driving industry growth

Digital out-of-home continues to play the leading role in OOH growth. According to the OAAA, digital OOH accounted for 35 percent of total U.S. OOH revenue year to date. In Q3 2025 alone, digital revenue grew 11.6 percent compared to the previous year. That is more than double the overall growth rate for the channel.

The OAAA describes digital OOH as a premium solution that blends the immediacy and flexibility of online digital with the strengths of physical media. Digital billboards and place-based screens can swap creative quickly, support dayparting, and tie into live data. At the same time, they avoid common digital concerns, such as ad fraud, bots, and privacy issues arising from third-party tracking. The creative appears in the real world, not buried inside a feed.

For brands, this growth in digital OOH has two important implications. First, an inventory of high-quality digital faces is in demand. That is especially true in premium locations where attention and traffic are highest. Second, digital screens give marketers more flexibility to run time-sensitive campaigns, test multiple creatives, or align messages with local events. This is a major reason why Whistler has seen strong performance from digital campaigns that link billboards with search, landing pages, and social activity.

Transit and urban formats reflect rising mobility

The OAAA report also breaks down growth by format. Transit showed the strongest increase in Q3 2025, up 11.4 percent year over year. Place-based media grew 8.3 percent, and street furniture revenue increased 7.1 percent. Each of these formats reflects how people move through cities and spend their time in public spaces.

Transit covers formats like bus wraps, rail station media, and airport displays. The strong growth here signals that commuting and travel patterns have stabilized and, in many markets, increased compared to earlier years. Place-based media includes screens in venues such as malls, gyms, health clinics, and office buildings. Street furniture includes bus shelters, kiosks, and other fixtures in dense urban environments.

The common factor is increased real-world activity. As more people are out in their communities, brands are leaning on OOH formats that intersect with daily routines. That aligns with the core strength of out-of-home. It reaches people where they actually are, not just where an algorithm predicts they might be.

Which industries are driving OOH spending growth

The third quarter did not rely on a single category to lift results. Seven of the top ten out-of-home spending industries increased their investment in Q3. Three categories recorded double-digit growth:

• Financial Services spending rose 35.5 percent.
• Insurance and Real Estate increased 26.8 percent.
• Communications grew 10.3 percent.

Several other sectors posted double-digit gains year to date, including Computer Software, Architects and Contractors and Engineers, Wireless Telecom Providers, and Legal Services. Local Services and Amusements remained the single largest spending category year to date, at 2.13 billion dollars. That category includes many service businesses that rely on consistent local visibility and direct response.

These numbers confirm what many marketers already feel. OOH is no longer an optional line item. It is becoming a core part of the media mix for financial brands, insurance companies, telecom providers, and professional services. When decision makers in these sectors face questions about accountability and return on investment, they are choosing to lean into out-of-home rather than away from it.

Legal services stand out with a new top OOH advertiser

Legal services continued a rapid expansion in out-of-home. For the first time, a legal brand, Morgan and Morgan, ranked as the top overall OOH advertiser for the quarter. That is a notable shift for an industry that has long used television and radio as primary marketing channels.

The OAAA’s list of the top product categories for Q3 reads like a cross-section of everyday life:

• Legal Services
• Hospitals, Clinics, and Medical Centers
• Consumer Banking
• Domestic Hotels and Resorts
• Computer Software
• Quick Serve Restaurants
• Colleges and Universities
• Local Government
• Architects, Contractors, and Engineers
• Wireless Telecom Providers

These categories rely on trust, local relevance, and repeated exposure. It makes sense that they lean on billboards and other OOH formats. For law firms in particular, the move toward out-of-home matches what we see in campaigns that pair strong billboard creative with direct search, landing pages, and intake tracking. That approach is explored in depth in posts like Billboards vs TV and Radio for Lawyers and Billboard Advertising Boosts Local SEO for Law Firms.

Top national OOH advertisers in Q3 2025

The OAAA report lists the top out-of-home advertisers by spend for the quarter. The top ten were:

1. Morgan and Morgan
2. JP Morgan
3. Geico
4. Apple
5. McDonald’s
6. Verizon
7. T Mobile
8. Disney
9. Coca Cola
10. Johnson and Johnson

Among the top 100 advertisers, 65 increased their out-of-home spending compared to Q3 2024. Nineteen more than doubled their investment. Nearly 30 percent of the top 100 were technology or direct-to-consumer brands, including 13 in the top 30, such as Apple, Verizon, T-Mobile, Amazon, Samsung, Google, Netflix, Uber, and several major streaming platforms.

When this many national brands increase their use of out-of-home, it is not by accident. They have access to detailed performance data, brand lift studies, and cross-channel analytics. Their increased investment is one more proof point that OOH is delivering measurable impact.

What this record quarter means for local advertisers

For local brands, the message behind these numbers is not simply that out-of-home is bigger. The message is that OOH is proving its value at a time when other media are under pressure. If financial services, legal brands, hospitals, software firms, and telecom providers are increasing their budgets for OOH, it's because the channel works.

Local businesses can use this same channel to build trust and drive direct response. The key is to approach billboards as part of a larger system rather than as a standalone tactic. That means:

• Using billboards to build a consistent brand presence in key corridors.
• Aligning billboard messaging with search campaigns and landing pages.
• Tracking direct search, call volume, and form fills during flight periods.
• Optimizing creative based on real results instead of guessing.

Record industry growth also means that high-quality inventory is in demand. The best locations and premium digital boards are not empty. Planning early and building longer-term relationships with a value-aligned operator is becoming more important. This helps avoid the hidden costs of cheap or poorly placed inventory, a topic covered in Hidden Cost of Cheap Billboards.

How to use this data when planning 2026 budgets

As you plan your 2026 media mix, the Q3 2025 OAAA report gives you a clear set of facts:

• OOH is growing, not shrinking, while other traditional channels struggle.
• Digital OOH is gaining share and offers flexible, data-friendly options.
• Transit, street furniture, and place-based formats are benefiting from rising mobility.
• Key sectors that care about measurable results are increasing OOH investment.

A practical way to respond is to treat out-of-home as a core line in your budget rather than a leftover. Many brands now allocate a steady share of spend to OOH throughout the year, then layer in digital campaigns to capture the demand generated by billboards. This approach supports both brand and performance marketing.

If your business has been hesitant to test or expand OOH, this report should reduce that hesitation. It shows that a wide range of sophisticated advertisers are not only staying in the channel, but they are also increasing their commitment to it.

About the OAAA and how they track OOH revenue

The Out of Home Advertising Association of America is the national trade association for the U.S. out-of-home industry. The OAAA represents more than 850 members, including media owners, agencies, advertisers, ad tech partners, and suppliers. The group publishes revenue estimates that combine multiple data sources, including contributions from firms such as Miller Kaplan and MediaRadar, as well as affidavits from member companies. These estimates cover digital and static billboards, street furniture, transit, place-based, and cinema media.

The OAAA also advocates for responsible OOH growth at the federal, state, and local levels and coordinates public service advertising. Member companies collectively donate hundreds of millions of dollars in public service campaigns each year. You can review the full Q3 2025 release and methodology details on the OAAA website.

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