S&P 500 Annual Returns and Historical Performance

Here's how much the benchmark index has returned every year since 1928.

By Adam Levy – Updated Mar 17, 2025 at 11:48 PM

Key Points

S&P 500 tracks top 500 U.S. companies, offering a benchmark for portfolio performance.
Investing in S&P 500 index funds links directly to the components' collective performance.
Historical data on annual returns aids investors in anticipating portfolio growth trends.

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) is one of the most popular stock indexes for tracking the performance of the U.S. stock market. It tracks approximately 500 of the biggest companies in the U.S. by market capitalization.

Many investors use the S&P 500 as a benchmark for their own portfolio and overall stock market returns. Some investors invest directly in the S&P 500 components using an index fund. As such, tracking its annual returns can provide some insight into what to expect from your stock portfolio.

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S&P 500 listed repeatedly. — Image source: Getty Images.

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Data source: Yahoo! Finance, Robert Shiller. Calculations by author.
Year	Average Closing Price	Year Open	Year High	Year Low	Year Close	Nominal Return	Total Return (Dividends Reinvested)	Real Total Return (Inflation Adjusted)
1928	$19.94	$17.76	$24.35	$16.95	$24.35	37.88%	42.70%	44.36%
1929	$26.12	$24.81	$31.86	$17.66	$21.45	-11.91%	-7.93%	-8.46%
1930	$21.03	$21.18	$25.92	$14.44	$15.34	-28.48%	-23.92%	-18.72%
1931	$13.63	$15.85	$18.17	$7.72	$8.12	-47.07%	-41.72%	-35.73%
1932	$6.91	$7.56	$9.31	$4.40	$6.92	-14.78%	-8.62%	1.84%
1933	$9.06	$6.83	$12.20	$5.53	$9.97	44.08%	50.43%	49.29%
1934	$9.83	$10.11	$11.82	$8.36	$9.50	-4.71%	-0.20%	-1.69%
1935	$10.58	$9.51	$13.46	$8.06	$13.43	41.37%	46.32%	42.07%
1936	$15.44	$13.40	$17.69	$13.40	$17.18	27.92%	33.28%	31.38%
1937	$15.38	$16.93	$18.67	$10.17	$10.55	-38.59%	-33.93%	-35.77%
1938	$11.47	$10.52	$13.91	$8.50	$13.14	24.55%	29.38%	33.08%
1939	$12.05	$13.08	$13.23	$10.42	$12.46	-5.18%	-0.46%	-0.46%
1940	$11.01	$12.63	$12.77	$8.99	$10.58	-15.09%	-9.71%	-10.35%
1941	$9.83	$10.48	$10.86	$8.37	$8.69	-17.86%	-11.15%	-19.18%
1942	$8.66	$8.89	$9.77	$7.47	$9.77	12.43%	19.22%	9.34%
1943	$11.52	$9.92	$12.64	$9.89	$11.67	19.45%	25.69%	22.08%
1944	$12.47	$11.66	$13.28	$11.56	$13.28	13.80%	19.28%	16.60%
1945	$15.13	$13.33	$17.68	$13.21	$17.36	30.72%	35.69%	32.71%
1946	$17.09	$17.25	$19.25	$14.12	$15.30	-11.87%	-7.78%	-21.93%
1947	$15.16	$15.20	$16.14	$13.77	$15.30	0.00%	5.49%	-3.08%
1948	$15.55	$15.34	$17.06	$13.84	$15.20	-0.65%	5.42%	2.36%
1949	$15.22	$14.95	$16.79	$13.55	$16.79	10.46%	17.96%	20.46%
1950	$18.40	$16.66	$20.43	$16.66	$20.43	21.68%	30.43%	23.13%
1951	$22.32	$20.77	$23.85	$20.69	$23.77	16.35%	23.25%	16.27%
1952	$24.50	$23.80	$26.59	$23.09	$26.57	11.78%	17.71%	16.83%
1953	$24.72	$26.54	$26.66	$22.71	$24.81	-6.62%	-1.17%	-1.90%
1954	$29.72	$24.95	$35.98	$24.80	$35.98	45.02%	51.23%	52.36%
1955	$40.50	$36.75	$46.41	$34.58	$45.48	26.40%	30.96%	30.47%
1956	$46.64	$45.16	$49.64	$43.11	$46.67	2.62%	6.44%	3.36%
1957	$44.42	$46.20	$49.13	$38.98	$39.99	-14.31%	-10.48%	-13.00%
1958	$46.20	$40.33	$55.21	$40.33	$55.21	38.06%	42.44%	39.97%
1959	$57.42	$55.44	$60.71	$53.58	$59.89	8.48%	11.79%	9.89%
1960	$55.85	$59.91	$60.39	$52.20	$58.11	-2.97%	0.28%	-1.06%
1961	$66.27	$57.57	$72.64	$57.57	$71.55	23.13%	26.60%	25.76%
1962	$62.32	$71.55	$71.96	$51.35	$63.10	-11.81%	-8.83%	-10.03%
1963	$69.86	$63.10	$75.36	$62.32	$75.02	18.89%	22.50%	20.52%
1964	$81.37	$75.02	$86.80	$74.82	$84.75	12.97%	16.30%	15.18%
1965	$88.16	$84.75	$93.30	$80.73	$92.43	9.06%	12.27%	10.15%
1966	$85.18	$92.43	$94.72	$72.28	$80.33	-13.09%	-9.99%	-13.00%
1967	$91.96	$80.33	$98.31	$79.43	$96.47	20.09%	23.73%	20.08%
1968	$98.38	$96.47	$109.37	$86.73	$103.86	7.66%	10.84%	5.85%
1969	$97.77	$103.86	$106.74	$88.04	$92.06	-11.36%	-8.32%	-13.67%
1970	$83.15	$92.06	$94.25	$68.61	$92.15	0.10%	3.51%	-1.95%
1971	$98.32	$92.15	$105.60	$89.34	$102.09	10.79%	14.12%	10.51%
1972	$109.13	$102.09	$119.79	$100.87	$118.05	15.63%	18.72%	14.81%
1973	$107.44	$118.06	$121.74	$91.05	$97.55	-17.37%	-14.50%	-21.35%
1974	$82.78	$97.55	$101.05	$60.96	$68.56	-29.72%	-26.03%	-34.15%
1975	$86.18	$68.65	$96.58	$68.65	$90.19	31.55%	36.92%	28.04%
1976	$102.04	$90.19	$108.72	$89.81	$107.46	19.15%	23.64%	17.90%
1977	$98.18	$107.46	$107.97	$90.01	$95.10	-11.50%	-7.16%	-12.99%
1978	$96.11	$95.10	$108.05	$86.45	$96.11	1.06%	6.39%	-2.41%
1979	$103.00	$96.11	$112.16	$95.22	$107.94	12.31%	18.19%	4.32%
1980	$118.71	$107.94	$141.96	$94.23	$135.76	25.77%	31.48%	16.85%
1981	$128.04	$135.76	$140.32	$110.19	$122.55	-9.73%	-4.85%	-12.64%
1982	$119.71	$122.55	$144.36	$102.20	$140.64	14.76%	20.37%	15.93%
1983	$160.47	$140.65	$172.65	$138.08	$164.93	17.27%	22.31%	17.84%
1984	$160.46	$164.93	$170.41	$147.26	$167.24	1.40%	5.97%	1.94%
1985	$186.83	$167.20	$213.08	$163.36	$211.28	26.33%	31.06%	26.26%
1986	$236.39	$211.28	$254.87	$202.60	$242.17	14.62%	18.54%	17.25%
1987	$287.00	$242.17	$337.89	$216.46	$247.08	2.03%	5.67%	1.18%
1988	$265.88	$247.10	$283.95	$240.17	$277.72	12.40%	16.35%	11.42%
1989	$323.05	$277.72	$360.44	$273.81	$353.40	27.25%	31.23%	25.40%
1990	$334.63	$353.40	$369.78	$294.51	$330.22	-6.56%	-3.14%	-8.71%
1991	$376.19	$330.20	$418.32	$309.35	$417.09	26.31%	30.00%	26.14%
1992	$415.75	$417.03	$442.65	$392.41	$435.71	4.46%	7.43%	4.41%
1993	$451.61	$435.70	$471.29	$426.88	$466.45	7.06%	9.94%	7.00%
1994	$460.42	$466.51	$482.85	$435.86	$459.27	-1.54%	1.28%	-1.35%
1995	$541.72	$459.21	$622.88	$457.20	$615.93	34.11%	37.11%	33.72%
1996	$670.49	$615.93	$762.12	$597.29	$740.74	20.26%	22.68%	18.74%
1997	$873.43	$740.74	$986.25	$729.55	$970.43	31.01%	33.10%	30.87%
1998	$1,085.50	$970.43	$1,244.93	$912.83	$1,229.23	26.67%	28.34%	26.30%
1999	$1,327.33	$1,229.23	$1,473.10	$1,205.46	$1,469.25	19.53%	20.88%	17.72%
2000	$1,427.22	$1,469.25	$1,552.87	$1,254.07	$1,320.28	-10.14%	-9.03%	-12.01%
2001	$1,194.18	$1,320.28	$1,383.37	$944.75	$1,148.08	-13.04%	-11.85%	-13.20%
2002	$993.93	$1,148.08	$1,176.97	$768.63	$879.82	-23.37%	-21.97%	-23.78%
2003	$965.23	$879.82	$1,112.56	$788.90	$1,111.92	26.38%	28.36%	25.99%
2004	$1,130.65	$1,111.92	$1,217.33	$1,060.72	$1,211.92	8.99%	10.74%	7.25%
2005	$1,207.23	$1,211.92	$1,275.80	$1,136.15	$1,248.29	3.00%	4.83%	1.37%
2006	$1,310.46	$1,248.29	$1,431.81	$1,219.29	$1,418.30	13.62%	15.61%	12.75%
2007	$1,477.18	$1,418.03	$1,576.09	$1,363.98	$1,468.36	3.53%	5.48%	1.35%
2008	$1,220.04	$1,467.97	$1,471.77	$741.02	$903.25	-38.49%	-36.55%	-36.61%
2009	$948.05	$902.99	$1,130.38	$666.79	$1,115.10	23.45%	25.94%	22.60%
2010	$1,139.97	$1,116.56	$1,262.60	$1,010.91	$1,257.64	12.78%	14.82%	13.13%
2011	$1,267.64	$1,257.62	$1,370.58	$1,074.77	$1,257.60	0.00%	2.10%	-0.84%
2012	$1,379.35	$1,258.86	$1,474.51	$1,258.86	$1,426.19	13.41%	15.89%	13.91%
2013	$1,643.80	$1,426.19	$1,849.44	$1,426.19	$1,848.36	29.60%	32.05%	30.10%
2014	$1,931.38	$1,845.86	$2,093.55	$1,737.92	$2,058.90	11.39%	13.52%	12.67%
2015	$2,061.07	$2,058.90	$2,134.72	$1,867.01	$2,043.94	-0.73%	1.38%	0.65%
2016	$2,094.65	$2,038.20	$2,277.53	$1,810.10	$2,238.83	9.54%	11.77%	9.50%
2017	$2,449.08	$2,251.57	$2,694.97	$2,245.13	$2,673.61	19.42%	21.61%	19.09%
2018	$2,746.21	$2,683.73	$2,940.91	$2,346.58	$2,506.85	-6.24%	-4.23%	-6.02%
2019	$2,913.36	$2,476.96	$3,247.93	$2,443.96	$3,230.78	28.88%	31.20%	28.27%
2020	$3,217.86	$3,244.67	$3,760.20	$2,191.86	$3,756.07	16.26%	18.06%	16.48%
2021	$4,273.39	$3,764.61	$4,808.93	$3,662.71	$4,766.18	26.89%	28.50%	20.05%
2022	$4,098.51	$4,778.14	$4,818.62	$3,491.58	$3,839.50	-19.44%	-18.04%	-23.01%
2023	$4,283.73	$3,853.29	$4,793.30	$3,794.33	$4,769.83	24.23%	26.06%	21.97%
2024	$5,428.24	$4,745.20	$6,099.97	$4,682.11	$5,881.63	23.31%	24.88%	21.37%

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S&P 500 Annual Returns

Here's how much the benchmark index has returned every year since 1928.

Key Points

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