Market statistics
S&P 500 annual returns, every year since 1928
Ninety-eight complete calendar years of S&P 500 price returns, computed from daily closing levels. The average year is nothing like the typical year, and the column showing the worst drop *inside* each year is the one worth reading twice.
98 complete years · data through 28 Aug 2026
1928–2025 at a glance
- Compound rate
- 6.27%
- what it actually grew at
- Average year
- 8.10%
- median 11.8%
- Years positive
- 66 / 98
- 67.3%, 2 flat
- Best year
- +45.0%
- 1954
- Worst year
- -47.1%
- 1931
- Volatility
- 18.9%
- std dev of annual returns
How the 98 years were distributed
- Worse than −20%6
- −20% to −10%14
- −10% to 0%10
- 0% to +10%16
- +10% to +20%24
- +20% to +30%19
- Better than +30%9
Share of years that fell at least this much inside the year
- Fell 5%+94%
- Fell 10%+62%
- Fell 15%+40%
- Fell 20%+26%
- Fell 30%+10%
| Held for | Periods | Positive | Worst | Median | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 98 | 67.3% | -47.07% | +11.78% | +45.02% |
| 3 years | 96 | 80.2% | -31.42% | +8.44% | +28.32% |
| 5 years | 94 | 76.6% | -17.09% | +8.86% | +26.18% |
| 10 years | 89 | 86.5% | -5.98% | +7.32% | +16.04% |
| 15 years | 84 | 96.4% | -4.79% | +7.22% | +15.59% |
| 20 years | 79 | 96.2% | -2.33% | +6.96% | +13.95% |
| 30 years | 69 | 100.0% | +2.76% | +7.52% | +10.05% |
| Decade | Per year | Decade total | Up years | Best | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s2 yr | +10.21% | +21.5% | 1 / 2 | +37.9% 1928 | -11.9% 1929 |
| 1930s | -5.29% | -41.9% | 4 / 10 | +44.1% 1933 | -47.1% 1931 |
| 1940s | +3.03% | +34.8% | 5 / 10 | +30.7% 1945 | -17.9% 1941 |
| 1950s | +13.56% | +256.7% | 8 / 10 | +45.0% 1954 | -14.3% 1957 |
| 1960s | +4.39% | +53.7% | 6 / 10 | +23.1% 1961 | -13.1% 1966 |
| 1970s | +1.60% | +17.2% | 7 / 10 | +31.6% 1975 | -29.7% 1974 |
| 1980s | +12.59% | +227.4% | 9 / 10 | +27.3% 1989 | -9.7% 1981 |
| 1990s | +15.31% | +315.8% | 8 / 10 | +34.1% 1995 | -6.6% 1990 |
| 2000s | -2.72% | -24.1% | 6 / 10 | +26.4% 2003 | -38.5% 2008 |
| 2010s | +11.22% | +189.7% | 7 / 10 | +29.6% 2013 | -6.2% 2018 |
| 2020s6 yr | +13.33% | +111.9% | 5 / 6 | +26.9% 2021 | -19.4% 2022 |
| Year | Return | Deepest drop | Year-end close |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026YTD | +12.65% | -9.1% | 7,711.76 |
| 2025 | +16.39% | -18.9% | 6,845.49 |
| 2024 | +23.31% | -8.5% | 5,881.62 |
| 2023 | +24.23% | -10.3% | 4,769.82 |
| 2022 | -19.44% | -25.4% | 3,839.50 |
| 2021 | +26.89% | -5.2% | 4,766.18 |
| 2020 | +16.26% | -33.9% | 3,756.07 |
| 2019 | +28.88% | -6.8% | 3,230.78 |
| 2018 | -6.24% | -19.8% | 2,506.85 |
| 2017 | +19.42% | -2.8% | 2,673.61 |
| 2016 | +9.54% | -9.3% | 2,238.83 |
| 2015 | -0.73% | -12.4% | 2,043.94 |
| 2014 | +11.39% | -7.4% | 2,058.90 |
| 2013 | +29.60% | -5.8% | 1,848.36 |
| 2012 | +13.41% | -9.9% | 1,426.19 |
| 2011 | 0.00% | -19.4% | 1,257.60 |
| 2010 | +12.78% | -16.0% | 1,257.64 |
| 2009 | +23.45% | -27.6% | 1,115.10 |
| 2008 | -38.49% | -48.0% | 903.25 |
| 2007 | +3.53% | -10.1% | 1,468.36 |
| 2006 | +13.62% | -7.7% | 1,418.30 |
| 2005 | +3.00% | -7.2% | 1,248.29 |
| 2004 | +8.99% | -8.2% | 1,211.92 |
| 2003 | +26.38% | -14.1% | 1,111.92 |
| 2002 | -23.37% | -33.8% | 879.82 |
| 2001 | -13.04% | -29.7% | 1,148.08 |
| 2000 | -10.14% | -17.2% | 1,320.28 |
| 1999 | +19.53% | -12.1% | 1,469.25 |
| 1998 | +26.67% | -19.3% | 1,229.23 |
| 1997 | +31.01% | -10.8% | 970.43 |
| 1996 | +20.26% | -7.6% | 740.74 |
| 1995 | +34.11% | -2.5% | 615.93 |
| 1994 | -1.54% | -8.9% | 459.27 |
| 1993 | +7.06% | -5.0% | 466.45 |
| 1992 | +4.46% | -6.2% | 435.71 |
| 1991 | +26.31% | -5.6% | 417.09 |
| 1990 | -6.56% | -19.9% | 330.22 |
| 1989 | +27.25% | -7.6% | 353.40 |
| 1988 | +12.40% | -7.6% | 277.72 |
| 1987 | +2.03% | -33.5% | 247.08 |
| 1986 | +14.62% | -9.4% | 242.17 |
| 1985 | +26.33% | -7.7% | 211.28 |
| 1984 | +1.40% | -12.7% | 167.24 |
| 1983 | +17.27% | -6.9% | 164.93 |
| 1982 | +14.76% | -16.6% | 140.64 |
| 1981 | -9.73% | -18.4% | 122.55 |
| 1980 | +25.77% | -17.1% | 135.76 |
| 1979 | +12.31% | -10.3% | 107.94 |
| 1978 | +1.06% | -13.6% | 96.11 |
| 1977 | -11.50% | -15.2% | 95.10 |
| 1976 | +19.15% | -8.4% | 107.46 |
| 1975 | +31.55% | -14.1% | 90.19 |
| 1974 | -29.72% | -37.6% | 68.56 |
| 1973 | -17.37% | -23.4% | 97.55 |
| 1972 | +15.63% | -5.1% | 118.05 |
| 1971 | +10.79% | -13.9% | 102.09 |
| 1970 | +0.10% | -25.9% | 92.15 |
| 1969 | -11.36% | -16.0% | 92.06 |
| 1968 | +7.66% | -9.3% | 103.86 |
| 1967 | +20.09% | -6.6% | 96.47 |
| 1966 | -13.09% | -22.2% | 80.33 |
| 1965 | +9.06% | -9.6% | 92.43 |
| 1964 | +12.97% | -3.6% | 84.75 |
| 1963 | +18.89% | -6.5% | 75.02 |
| 1962 | -11.81% | -26.4% | 63.10 |
| 1961 | +23.13% | -6.2% | 71.55 |
| 1960 | -2.97% | -13.6% | 58.11 |
| 1959 | +8.48% | -9.2% | 59.89 |
| 1958 | +38.06% | -4.4% | 55.21 |
| 1957 | -14.31% | -20.7% | 39.99 |
| 1956 | +2.62% | -10.6% | 46.67 |
| 1955 | +26.40% | -10.6% | 45.48 |
| 1954 | +45.02% | -4.4% | 35.98 |
| 1953 | -6.62% | -14.8% | 24.81 |
| 1952 | +11.78% | -6.9% | 26.57 |
| 1951 | +16.35% | -8.1% | 23.77 |
| 1950 | +21.68% | -14.0% | 20.43 |
| 1949 | +10.46% | -13.2% | 16.79 |
| 1948 | -0.65% | -13.5% | 15.20 |
| 1947 | 0.00% | -14.7% | 15.30 |
| 1946 | -11.87% | -26.7% | 15.30 |
| 1945 | +30.72% | -6.9% | 17.36 |
| 1944 | +13.80% | -6.9% | 13.28 |
| 1943 | +19.45% | -13.1% | 11.67 |
| 1942 | +12.43% | -17.8% | 9.77 |
| 1941 | -17.86% | -22.9% | 8.69 |
| 1940 | -15.09% | -29.6% | 10.58 |
| 1939 | -5.18% | -21.2% | 12.46 |
| 1938 | +24.55% | -28.9% | 13.14 |
| 1937 | -38.59% | -45.5% | 10.55 |
| 1936 | +27.92% | -12.8% | 17.18 |
| 1935 | +41.37% | -15.9% | 13.43 |
| 1934 | -4.71% | -29.3% | 9.50 |
| 1933 | +44.08% | -29.4% | 9.97 |
| 1932 | -14.78% | -51.0% | 6.92 |
| 1931 | -47.07% | -57.5% | 8.12 |
| 1930 | -28.48% | -44.3% | 15.34 |
| 1929 | -11.91% | -44.6% | 21.45 |
| 1928 | +37.88% | -10.3% | 24.35 |
Price returns from daily closing levels. Index price returns exclude dividends. Full provenance, method and a citation line are in Sources and method below.
The average year is not the typical year
Across 98 complete years the S&P 500's average calendar-year price return is 8.1% and its median is 11.8%. Neither describes a year you are likely to live through. The distribution above is not a bell curve centred on the average — it is bimodal, piling up in the +10% to +30% range and again below −10%, with the middle relatively empty. Years that finish near the average are among the rarer outcomes.
The compound rate is the number to use for anything forward-looking, and it is lower: 6.27% a year. The gap between it and the 8.1% average is the cost of the volatility in between — a standard deviation of 18.9% across the annual returns. This is the same arithmetic the CAGR calculator lays out, applied to a real century of data.
Now read the intra-year column. The years that finished perfectly respectably almost all contained a decline that felt like something was going wrong at the time. That column is the strongest available argument against reading annual returns as a description of the experience of holding the index — the return is what you got if you did nothing, and the drop is what you had to sit through to get it.
One thing these figures are not: total returns. They track the index level, which excludes dividends. Reinvested dividends have added roughly two percentage points a year over this period, so a total-return series sits materially higher — that is not a small adjustment over ninety-eight years, and it is the single most common reason two sources disagree about what the S&P 500 returned.
Questions people ask about this
- Are these total returns or price returns?
- Price returns. They track the index level, which excludes dividends. Over the full period reinvested dividends have added roughly two percentage points a year, so a total-return series would sit meaningfully higher — the figures here are the ones that match the index level you see quoted.
- Why is the average return higher than the compound growth rate?
- The average of the yearly returns and the rate the index actually compounded at are different numbers, and the gap is a function of volatility. Both are shown on this page. The compound figure is the one to use for any projection; the average is the one that gets quoted.
- How often does the S&P 500 finish a year positive?
- About two years in three across the whole record. But the same table shows why that statistic is close to useless on its own: the years that finished down include several that fell more than 20%, and a majority of years dropped at least 10% at some point before finishing wherever they finished.
Sources and method
- Data
- Financial Modeling Prep — Daily adjusted closing levels and quotes, retrieved through Plutux's own data service.
- S&P Dow Jones Indices — Publisher and methodology owner of the S&P 500 index itself.
- How it was calculated
- Each calendar year's return is the last close of that year against the last close of the prior year, computed from the full daily series. The maximum intra-year decline is the deepest peak-to-trough move between closing levels inside the same year. Averages are arithmetic; the compound rate is geometric over full years only. Dividends are excluded, so these are price returns, not total returns.
- How often it changes
- Regenerated from the full daily history about once a year; the date it runs through is at the top of the page.
- Citing this page
Free to quote — please link rather than copy the table.
Plutux. "S&P 500 annual returns, every year since 1928." Data through 28 Aug 2026. https://plutux.ai/resources/tools/sp-500-annual-returns
Historical figures for information only — not investment advice, and not a forecast.
Related tools
- Historical drawdownsPeak, trough, depth, and how long it took to get back — for every decline of at least 10% in the record.
- Monthly seasonalityWhat every calendar month has actually done across ninety-eight years — average, median, and how often it finished up.
- Record highsEvery record close since 1928, how long the droughts between them ran, and what a year from a record actually paid.
Plutux is not an investment adviser. Market data and AI-generated analysis are for information and education only, not investment advice. Disclaimer