S&P 500: $100 in 1979 → $13,673.56 in 2021

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Stock market returns since 1979

If you invested $100 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1979, you would have about $13,673.56 at the beginning of 2021, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 13,573.56%, or 12.22% per year.

This investment result beats inflation during this period for an inflation-adjusted return of about 3,528.73% cumulatively, or 8.78% per year.

The graph below shows the performance of $100 over time if invested in an S&P 500 index fund. The returns assume that all dividends are automatically reinvested.

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This chart shows the rate of gains and loss by month, including dividends:

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Adjusting stock market return for inflation

The nominal return on investment of $100 is $13,573.56, or 13,573.56%. This means by 2021 you would have $13,673.56 in your pocket.

However, it's important to take into account the effect of inflation when considering an investment and especially a long-term investment. You can convert S&P returns to their real (inflation-adjusted) value using an inflation calculation based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI).

In the case of the returns described above, the CPI in 1979 was 72.600 and the CPI in 2021 was 273.567.

The ratio between these CPIs describes how relative buying power of a dollar has changed over 42 years.

Adjusted for inflation, the $13,673.56 nominal end value of the original $100 investment would have a real value of roughly $3,528.73 in 1979 dollars. This means the inflation-adjusted return is 3,528.73% as opposed to the original 13,573.56%.

For more information on inflation, see our U.S. inflation calculator for 1979.

Full monthly data

The table below shows the full dataset pertaining to a $100 investment, including gains and losses over the 512-month period between 1979 and 2021.

Note that data shown is the monthly average closing price. Returns include dividends.

Year Month Return (%) Amount ($)
1979 1 -1.06% 98.94
1979 2 2.34% 101.26
1979 3 2.43% 103.72
1979 4 -1.89% 101.76
1979 5 2.42% 104.22
1979 6 1.42% 105.70
1979 7 5.01% 111.00
1979 8 1.54% 112.71
1979 9 -3.35% 108.93
1979 10 -0.32% 108.58
1979 11 4.40% 113.36
1979 12 3.31% 117.12
1980 1 4.40% 122.26
1980 2 -8.78% 111.53
1980 3 -1.16% 110.24
1980 4 5.04% 115.79
1980 5 6.86% 123.73
1980 6 4.97% 129.88
1980 7 3.50% 134.43
1980 8 2.84% 138.25
1980 9 3.32% 142.84
1980 10 4.61% 149.43
1980 11 -1.24% 147.57
1980 12 0.01% 147.59
1981 1 -3.07% 143.06
1981 2 4.14% 148.99
1981 3 1.29% 150.91
1981 4 -1.62% 148.47
1981 5 0.86% 149.75
1981 6 -2.02% 146.73
1981 7 0.80% 147.90
1981 8 -8.30% 135.62
1981 9 1.73% 137.97
1981 10 3.04% 142.17
1981 11 1.18% 143.84
1981 12 -4.80% 136.93
1982 1 -1.91% 134.31
1982 2 -2.74% 130.62
1982 3 5.47% 137.77
1982 4 0.57% 138.55
1982 5 -5.27% 131.25
1982 6 0.24% 131.57
1982 7 0.79% 132.62
1982 8 12.10% 148.66
1982 9 8.88% 161.86
1982 10 4.50% 169.14
1982 11 1.36% 171.44
1982 12 3.93% 178.17
1983 1 2.13% 181.96
1983 2 3.87% 189.00
1983 3 4.20% 196.93
1983 4 4.42% 205.64
1983 5 1.75% 209.25
1983 6 0.71% 210.73
1983 7 -2.41% 205.66
1983 8 3.31% 212.47
1983 9 0.65% 213.85
1983 10 -1.14% 211.41
1983 11 -0.13% 211.14
1983 12 1.58% 214.46
1984 1 -5.11% 203.50
1984 2 0.44% 204.40
1984 3 0.51% 205.44
1984 4 -0.25% 204.92
1984 5 -1.85% 201.13
1984 6 -0.91% 199.30
1984 7 9.21% 217.65
1984 8 1.41% 220.71
1984 9 -0.41% 219.80
1984 10 1.29% 222.63
1984 11 -0.71% 221.06
1984 12 4.70% 231.44
1985 1 5.79% 244.83
1985 2 -0.48% 243.66
1985 3 1.02% 246.16
1985 4 2.74% 252.89
1985 5 2.51% 259.24
1985 6 2.25% 265.07
1985 7 -1.85% 260.18
1985 8 -1.88% 255.27
1985 9 1.50% 259.09
1985 10 6.42% 275.73
1985 11 5.29% 290.32
1985 12 0.75% 292.51
1986 1 5.70% 309.17
1986 2 6.18% 328.29
1986 3 2.74% 337.29
1986 4 0.49% 338.95
1986 5 3.13% 349.57
1986 6 -1.80% 343.26
1986 7 2.28% 351.09
1986 8 -2.46% 342.47
1986 9 -0.09% 342.16
1986 10 3.53% 354.25
1986 11 1.71% 360.30
1986 12 6.67% 384.34
1987 1 6.46% 409.18
1987 2 4.38% 427.09
1987 3 -0.86% 423.43
1987 4 0.17% 424.16
1987 5 4.50% 443.24
1987 6 3.12% 457.08
1987 7 6.45% 486.58
1987 8 -3.03% 471.84
1987 9 -11.85% 415.91
1987 10 -12.30% 364.73
1987 11 -1.33% 359.87
1987 12 4.25% 375.15
1988 1 3.33% 387.64
1988 2 3.23% 400.16
1988 3 -0.89% 396.62
1988 4 -2.19% 387.94
1988 5 6.00% 411.21
1988 6 -0.31% 409.95
1988 7 -1.72% 402.90
1988 8 1.93% 410.67
1988 9 3.80% 426.28
1988 10 -2.02% 417.67
1988 11 2.33% 427.38
1988 12 3.51% 442.39
1989 1 3.30% 456.99
1989 2 -0.16% 456.25
1989 3 3.56% 472.52
1989 4 4.12% 491.96
1989 5 3.39% 508.65
1989 6 2.80% 522.90
1989 7 4.69% 547.42
1989 8 0.46% 549.92
1989 9 0.29% 551.49
1989 10 -1.81% 541.49
1989 11 2.74% 556.31
1989 12 -2.21% 544.01
1990 1 -2.53% 530.26
1990 2 2.71% 544.62
1990 3 0.20% 545.68
1990 4 3.85% 566.70
1990 5 3.17% 584.66
1990 6 0.17% 585.65
1990 7 -7.86% 539.61
1990 8 -4.34% 516.19
1990 9 -2.32% 504.24
1990 10 2.98% 519.28
1990 11 4.59% 543.10
1990 12 -0.69% 539.38
1991 1 11.61% 601.98
1991 2 3.04% 620.31
1991 3 2.26% 634.32
1991 4 -0.18% 633.19
1991 5 0.35% 635.38
1991 6 0.78% 640.34
1991 7 2.68% 657.50
1991 8 -0.30% 655.50
1991 9 0.18% 656.69
1991 10 0.02% 656.80
1991 11 0.94% 662.94
1991 12 7.36% 711.72
1992 1 -0.60% 707.44
1992 2 -1.01% 700.28
1992 3 0.26% 702.13
1992 4 2.07% 716.65
1992 5 -1.33% 707.13
1992 6 1.91% 720.65
1992 7 0.94% 727.44
1992 8 0.38% 730.19
1992 9 -1.18% 721.56
1992 10 2.76% 741.45
1992 11 3.27% 765.70
1992 12 0.14% 766.80
1993 1 1.72% 780.02
1993 2 2.15% 796.79
1993 3 -1.34% 786.10
1993 4 0.72% 791.80
1993 5 0.87% 798.65
1993 6 0.06% 799.14
1993 7 1.76% 813.22
1993 8 1.35% 824.24
1993 9 1.24% 834.47
1993 10 0.01% 834.54
1993 11 0.89% 841.94
1993 12 1.74% 856.56
1994 1 -0.08% 855.91
1994 2 -1.42% 843.72
1994 3 -3.35% 815.49
1994 4 1.06% 824.12
1994 5 1.11% 833.25
1994 6 -0.52% 828.93
1994 7 3.08% 854.47
1994 8 0.82% 861.46
1994 9 -0.44% 857.63
1994 10 -0.37% 854.46
1994 11 -1.03% 845.70
1994 12 2.45% 866.43
1995 1 3.82% 899.52
1995 2 2.56% 922.53
1995 3 3.22% 952.19
1995 4 3.35% 984.07
1995 5 3.18% 1,015.35
1995 6 3.55% 1,051.37
1995 7 0.51% 1,056.76
1995 8 3.72% 1,096.05
1995 9 0.91% 1,106.05
1995 10 2.36% 1,132.14
1995 11 3.39% 1,170.50
1995 12 0.16% 1,172.41
1996 1 5.90% 1,241.63
1996 2 -0.20% 1,239.14
1996 3 0.20% 1,241.58
1996 4 2.35% 1,270.82
1996 5 1.28% 1,287.07
1996 6 -3.48% 1,242.32
1996 7 3.08% 1,280.53
1996 8 2.02% 1,306.45
1996 9 4.12% 1,360.27
1996 10 5.05% 1,428.99
1996 11 1.20% 1,446.11
1996 12 3.26% 1,493.22
1997 1 4.36% 1,558.34
1997 2 -0.62% 1,548.62
1997 3 -3.41% 1,495.89
1997 4 9.22% 1,633.77
1997 5 5.34% 1,720.97
1997 6 5.74% 1,819.68
1997 7 0.35% 1,826.01
1997 8 1.19% 1,847.77
1997 9 1.65% 1,878.18
1997 10 -1.15% 1,856.54
1997 11 2.63% 1,905.45
1997 12 0.24% 1,909.97
1998 1 6.40% 2,032.25
1998 2 5.31% 2,140.22
1998 3 3.41% 2,213.11
1998 4 -0.22% 2,208.20
1998 5 0.12% 2,210.77
1998 6 4.47% 2,309.54
1998 7 -6.97% 2,148.54
1998 8 -4.90% 2,043.30
1998 9 1.29% 2,069.67
1998 10 10.97% 2,296.81
1998 11 4.10% 2,391.07
1998 12 5.05% 2,511.76
1999 1 -0.07% 2,510.09
1999 2 2.92% 2,583.47
1999 3 4.25% 2,693.27
1999 4 -0.10% 2,690.61
1999 5 -0.61% 2,674.15
1999 6 4.52% 2,795.08
1999 7 -3.77% 2,689.58
1999 8 -0.60% 2,673.50
1999 9 -1.27% 2,639.48
1999 10 7.11% 2,827.04
1999 11 2.81% 2,906.44
1999 12 -0.12% 2,902.99
2000 1 -2.48% 2,831.05
2000 2 3.94% 2,942.62
2000 3 1.42% 2,984.54
2000 4 -2.84% 2,899.82
2000 5 3.16% 2,991.55
2000 6 0.85% 3,016.99
2000 7 0.94% 3,045.34
2000 8 -1.08% 3,012.46
2000 9 -5.21% 2,855.39
2000 10 -0.77% 2,833.33
2000 11 -3.32% 2,739.26
2000 12 0.46% 2,751.72
2001 1 -2.14% 2,692.94
2001 2 -9.08% 2,448.42
2001 3 0.45% 2,459.41
2001 4 6.88% 2,628.60
2001 5 -2.39% 2,565.81
2001 6 -2.66% 2,497.55
2001 7 -2.05% 2,446.46
2001 8 -11.25% 2,171.30
2001 9 3.18% 2,240.43
2001 10 5.05% 2,353.64
2001 11 1.47% 2,388.15
2001 12 -0.30% 2,381.04
2002 1 -3.35% 2,301.21
2002 2 4.95% 2,415.01
2002 3 -3.51% 2,330.14
2002 4 -2.82% 2,264.42
2002 5 -5.92% 2,130.34
2002 6 -10.76% 1,901.15
2002 7 1.14% 1,922.80
2002 8 -4.76% 1,831.32
2002 9 -1.37% 1,806.28
2002 10 6.63% 1,925.96
2002 11 -1.04% 1,906.03
2002 12 -0.22% 1,901.78
2003 1 -6.41% 1,779.79
2003 2 1.31% 1,803.07
2003 3 5.29% 1,898.37
2003 4 5.31% 1,999.22
2003 5 5.70% 2,113.26
2003 6 0.60% 2,125.85
2003 7 -0.17% 2,122.31
2003 8 3.16% 2,189.40
2003 9 2.03% 2,233.80
2003 10 1.21% 2,260.84
2003 11 3.06% 2,330.11
2003 12 4.93% 2,445.10
2004 1 1.09% 2,471.67
2004 2 -1.57% 2,432.99
2004 3 0.97% 2,456.54
2004 4 -2.56% 2,393.55
2004 5 2.86% 2,461.95
2004 6 -2.24% 2,406.83
2004 7 -1.39% 2,373.43
2004 8 2.78% 2,439.48
2004 9 0.10% 2,441.98
2004 10 4.77% 2,558.56
2004 11 2.73% 2,628.34
2004 12 -1.35% 2,592.88
2005 1 1.68% 2,636.47
2005 2 -0.26% 2,629.73
2005 3 -2.41% 2,566.39
2005 4 1.34% 2,600.67
2005 5 2.18% 2,657.38
2005 6 1.81% 2,705.42
2005 7 0.31% 2,713.81
2005 8 0.28% 2,721.40
2005 9 -2.62% 2,649.98
2005 10 3.96% 2,754.96
2005 11 2.14% 2,814.03
2005 12 1.47% 2,855.31
2006 1 -0.02% 2,854.83
2006 2 1.49% 2,897.26
2006 3 0.80% 2,920.39
2006 4 -0.79% 2,897.42
2006 5 -2.71% 2,819.02
2006 6 0.72% 2,839.32
2006 7 2.29% 2,904.39
2006 8 2.53% 2,977.90
2006 9 3.62% 3,085.58
2006 10 2.00% 3,147.34
2006 11 2.15% 3,214.96
2006 12 0.69% 3,237.23
2007 1 1.60% 3,288.90
2007 2 -2.47% 3,207.53
2007 3 4.18% 3,341.62
2007 4 3.39% 3,454.96
2007 5 0.34% 3,466.87
2007 6 0.57% 3,486.80
2007 7 -4.20% 3,340.31
2007 8 3.07% 3,443.02
2007 9 2.99% 3,546.02
2007 10 -4.81% 3,375.59
2007 11 1.24% 3,417.38
2007 12 -6.64% 3,190.63
2008 1 -1.56% 3,140.73
2008 2 -2.63% 3,058.24
2008 3 4.24% 3,188.02
2008 4 2.56% 3,269.72
2008 5 -4.25% 3,130.87
2008 6 -6.08% 2,940.56
2008 7 2.11% 3,002.62
2008 8 -4.85% 2,857.07
2008 9 -20.19% 2,280.12
2008 10 -8.61% 2,083.91
2008 11 -0.35% 2,076.59
2008 12 -1.10% 2,053.84
2009 1 -6.70% 1,916.18
2009 2 -5.69% 1,807.20
2009 3 12.32% 2,029.88
2009 4 6.66% 2,165.07
2009 5 2.87% 2,227.18
2009 6 1.28% 2,255.63
2009 7 8.12% 2,438.81
2009 8 3.65% 2,527.83
2009 9 2.40% 2,588.58
2009 10 2.09% 2,642.79
2009 11 2.23% 2,701.62
2009 12 1.36% 2,738.28
2010 1 -2.90% 2,658.91
2010 2 5.94% 2,816.93
2010 3 4.09% 2,932.08
2010 4 -5.88% 2,759.61
2010 5 -3.54% 2,661.82
2010 6 -0.16% 2,657.58
2010 7 0.86% 2,680.54
2010 8 3.37% 2,770.90
2010 9 4.58% 2,897.74
2010 10 2.49% 2,969.92
2010 11 3.71% 3,080.21
2010 12 3.46% 3,186.86
2011 1 3.15% 3,287.27
2011 2 -1.11% 3,250.70
2011 3 2.22% 3,322.90
2011 4 0.66% 3,344.80
2011 5 -3.66% 3,222.30
2011 6 3.10% 3,322.24
2011 7 -10.40% 2,976.71
2011 8 -0.79% 2,953.21
2011 9 3.02% 3,042.37
2011 10 1.77% 3,096.13
2011 11 1.55% 3,144.27
2011 12 4.78% 3,294.65
2012 1 4.16% 3,431.79
2012 2 2.88% 3,530.76
2012 3 -0.04% 3,529.41
2012 4 -3.09% 3,420.31
2012 5 -1.15% 3,380.90
2012 6 2.92% 3,479.66
2012 7 3.39% 3,597.54
2012 8 3.02% 3,706.22
2012 9 -0.22% 3,698.18
2012 10 -2.84% 3,593.24
2012 11 2.18% 3,671.41
2012 12 4.27% 3,828.14
2013 1 2.33% 3,917.45
2013 2 2.72% 4,024.10
2013 3 1.45% 4,082.60
2013 4 4.57% 4,269.35
2013 5 -1.12% 4,221.63
2013 6 3.25% 4,359.02
2013 7 0.25% 4,370.03
2013 8 1.19% 4,422.14
2013 9 2.12% 4,515.78
2013 10 3.86% 4,690.09
2013 11 1.52% 4,761.46
2013 12 0.97% 4,807.54
2014 1 -0.13% 4,801.29
2014 2 2.72% 4,931.99
2014 3 0.20% 4,941.94
2014 4 1.53% 5,017.65
2014 5 3.20% 5,178.03
2014 6 1.50% 5,255.49
2014 7 -0.43% 5,233.05
2014 8 1.78% 5,326.09
2014 9 -2.65% 5,185.14
2014 10 5.71% 5,480.98
2014 11 0.63% 5,515.72
2014 12 -1.11% 5,454.50
2015 1 2.83% 5,608.72
2015 2 0.06% 5,611.82
2015 3 0.88% 5,661.12
2015 4 0.98% 5,716.53
2015 5 -0.44% 5,691.64
2015 6 -0.08% 5,687.11
2015 7 -2.42% 5,549.23
2015 8 -4.51% 5,299.12
2015 9 4.32% 5,527.89
2015 10 2.93% 5,689.99
2015 11 -1.10% 5,627.23
2015 12 -6.42% 5,265.99
2016 1 -0.55% 5,237.03
2016 2 6.36% 5,570.25
2016 3 2.83% 5,727.95
2016 4 -0.30% 5,710.52
2016 5 1.07% 5,771.42
2016 6 3.30% 5,961.73
2016 7 1.20% 6,033.23
2016 8 -0.44% 6,006.76
2016 9 -0.51% 5,976.37
2016 10 1.20% 6,048.15
2016 11 3.95% 6,286.81
2016 12 1.44% 6,377.19
2017 1 2.58% 6,541.50
2017 2 1.75% 6,655.93
2017 3 -0.15% 6,645.68
2017 4 1.69% 6,758.15
2017 5 1.78% 6,878.20
2017 6 0.99% 6,946.15
2017 7 0.25% 6,963.36
2017 8 1.65% 7,078.48
2017 9 2.73% 7,272.07
2017 10 1.59% 7,387.66
2017 11 2.88% 7,600.68
2017 12 4.86% 7,970.22
2018 1 -2.89% 7,740.14
2018 2 0.06% 7,745.14
2018 3 -1.66% 7,616.27
2018 4 1.96% 7,765.67
2018 5 2.11% 7,929.75
2018 6 1.58% 8,055.10
2018 7 2.45% 8,252.52
2018 8 1.68% 8,391.14
2018 9 -3.85% 8,068.17
2018 10 -2.08% 7,900.66
2018 11 -5.56% 7,461.19
2018 12 1.74% 7,590.69
2019 1 5.83% 8,033.14
2019 2 1.95% 8,189.63
2019 3 3.72% 8,494.55
2019 4 -1.53% 8,364.43
2019 5 1.40% 8,481.93
2019 6 3.83% 8,806.56
2019 7 -3.13% 8,530.52
2019 8 3.09% 8,793.71
2019 9 0.01% 8,794.57
2019 10 4.43% 9,184.50
2019 11 2.47% 9,411.29
2019 12 3.35% 9,726.23
2020 1 0.12% 9,738.10
2020 2 -18.92% 7,895.88
2020 3 4.32% 8,236.87
2020 4 5.89% 8,721.81
2020 5 6.51% 9,289.44
2020 6 3.48% 9,612.39
2020 7 5.89% 10,178.89
2020 8 -0.63% 10,115.07
2020 9 1.73% 10,289.66
2020 10 3.95% 10,696.52
2020 11 4.26% 11,152.20
2020 12 2.80% 11,463.94
2021 1 2.49% 11,749.57
2021 2 0.82% 11,846.07
2021 3 6.02% 12,559.38
2021 4 0.76% 12,654.86
2021 5 1.81% 12,883.97
2021 6 3.07% 13,279.27
2021 7 2.07% 13,554.66
2021 8 0.88% 13,673.56
Click to show 498 more rows

Data Sources

The information on this page is derived from Robert Shiller's book, Irrational Exuberance and the accompanying dataset, as well as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly CPI logs.

Note that S&P index value for the current quarter is based on a moving average of closing prices, per Robert Shiller's methodology. The inflation data used is based on annual CPI averages.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.

Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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S&P 500 from 1979 to 2021
Start Value
Average monthly close 		$99.71
End Value
Average monthly close 		$3,278.20
Change in price +3,187.74%
+8.89% / yr
Change incl. dividends +13,573.56%
+12.22% / yr
Change, inflation-adjusted +3,528.73%
+8.78%
Final amount, nominal
($100 base) 		$13,673.56
Final amount, inflation-adjusted
($100 base) 		$3,628.73