diff --git a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
index 3d8563b1ae..5071b82752 100644
--- a/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
+++ b/esphome/components/api/api_connection.h
@@ -44,10 +44,14 @@ static constexpr size_t MAX_INITIAL_PER_BATCH = 34;         // For clients >= AP
 static_assert(MAX_MESSAGES_PER_BATCH >= MAX_INITIAL_PER_BATCH,
               "MAX_MESSAGES_PER_BATCH must be >= MAX_INITIAL_PER_BATCH");
 
+class APIConnection;
+void bench_enable_immediate_send(APIConnection *conn);  // tests/benchmarks
+
 class APIConnection final : public APIServerConnectionBase {
  public:
   friend class APIServer;
   friend class ListEntitiesIterator;
+  friend void bench_enable_immediate_send(APIConnection *conn);
   APIConnection(std::unique_ptr<socket::Socket> socket, APIServer *parent);
   ~APIConnection();
 
diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/components/api/bench_send_sensor_state.cpp b/tests/benchmarks/components/api/bench_send_sensor_state.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..39fa3246ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/components/api/bench_send_sensor_state.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+#include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+#if defined(USE_API_PLAINTEXT) && defined(USE_SENSOR)
+
+#include <benchmark/benchmark.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
+#include <netinet/tcp.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "esphome/components/api/api_connection.h"
+#include "esphome/components/api/api_server.h"
+#include "esphome/components/sensor/sensor.h"
+
+namespace esphome::api {
+
+// Friend function declared in APIConnection to enable immediate send path for benchmarking.
+void bench_enable_immediate_send(APIConnection *conn) { conn->flags_.should_try_send_immediately = true; }
+
+}  // namespace esphome::api
+
+namespace esphome::api::benchmarks {
+
+static constexpr int kInnerIterations = 2000;
+
+// Helper to drain accumulated data from the read side of a socket
+// to prevent the write side from blocking.
+static void drain_socket(int fd) {
+  char buf[65536];
+  while (::read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)) > 0) {
+  }
+}
+
+// Helper to create a TCP loopback connection with an APIConnection.
+// Returns the connection and the read-side fd for draining.
+static std::pair<std::unique_ptr<APIConnection>, int> create_api_connection() {
+  // Create a TCP listener on loopback
+  int listen_fd = ::socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+  int opt = 1;
+  ::setsockopt(listen_fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &opt, sizeof(opt));
+
+  struct sockaddr_in addr {};
+  addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
+  addr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_LOOPBACK);
+  addr.sin_port = 0;  // OS-assigned port
+  ::bind(listen_fd, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr *>(&addr), sizeof(addr));
+  ::listen(listen_fd, 1);
+
+  // Get the assigned port
+  socklen_t addr_len = sizeof(addr);
+  ::getsockname(listen_fd, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr *>(&addr), &addr_len);
+
+  // Connect from client side
+  int write_fd = ::socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+  ::connect(write_fd, reinterpret_cast<struct sockaddr *>(&addr), sizeof(addr));
+
+  // Accept on server side (this is our read fd)
+  int read_fd = ::accept(listen_fd, nullptr, nullptr);
+  ::close(listen_fd);
+
+  // Make both ends non-blocking
+  int flags = ::fcntl(write_fd, F_GETFL, 0);
+  ::fcntl(write_fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
+  flags = ::fcntl(read_fd, F_GETFL, 0);
+  ::fcntl(read_fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK);
+
+  // Increase socket buffer sizes to reduce drain frequency
+  int bufsize = 1024 * 1024;
+  ::setsockopt(write_fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_SNDBUF, &bufsize, sizeof(bufsize));
+  ::setsockopt(read_fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUF, &bufsize, sizeof(bufsize));
+
+  auto sock = std::make_unique<socket::Socket>(write_fd);
+  auto conn = std::make_unique<APIConnection>(std::move(sock), global_api_server);
+  conn->start();
+
+  return {std::move(conn), read_fd};
+}
+
+// Test subclass to access protected configure_entity_() for benchmark setup.
+class TestSensor : public sensor::Sensor {
+ public:
+  void configure(const char *name) { this->configure_entity_(name, 0x12345678, 0); }
+};
+
+// --- send_sensor_state: immediate send path ---
+// Measures: send_message_smart_ → prepare buffer → dispatch_message_ →
+// try_send_sensor_state → fill key/device_id + proto encode → frame write →
+// TCP send. This is the per-client cost when batch_delay=0 and initial states
+// have been sent.
+
+static void SendSensorState_Immediate(benchmark::State &state) {
+  auto [conn, read_fd] = create_api_connection();
+  bench_enable_immediate_send(conn.get());
+
+  TestSensor sensor;
+  sensor.configure("test_sensor");
+  sensor.publish_state(23.5f);
+
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    for (int i = 0; i < kInnerIterations; i++) {
+      conn->send_sensor_state(&sensor);
+
+      if ((i & 0xFF) == 0)
+        drain_socket(read_fd);
+    }
+    drain_socket(read_fd);
+    benchmark::DoNotOptimize(conn.get());
+  }
+  state.SetItemsProcessed(state.iterations() * kInnerIterations);
+
+  ::close(read_fd);
+}
+BENCHMARK(SendSensorState_Immediate);
+
+// --- send_sensor_state: batch path (default for new connections) ---
+// Measures: send_message_smart_ → schedule_message_ → deferred batch add.
+// This is the default path until initial states are sent.
+
+static void SendSensorState_Batch(benchmark::State &state) {
+  auto [conn, read_fd] = create_api_connection();
+
+  TestSensor sensor;
+  sensor.configure("test_sensor");
+  sensor.publish_state(23.5f);
+
+  for (auto _ : state) {
+    for (int i = 0; i < kInnerIterations; i++) {
+      conn->send_sensor_state(&sensor);
+    }
+    benchmark::DoNotOptimize(conn.get());
+  }
+  state.SetItemsProcessed(state.iterations() * kInnerIterations);
+
+  ::close(read_fd);
+}
+BENCHMARK(SendSensorState_Batch);
+
+}  // namespace esphome::api::benchmarks
+
+#endif  // USE_API_PLAINTEXT && USE_SENSOR