What $1,000 Invested in the S&P 500 Would Be Worth Today
The S&P 500 is the most common benchmark for investment performance. It tracks 500 of the largest US companies and is widely considered the best single measure of the US stock market. Here's what $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 (via the SPY ETF) would be worth from six different start years.
| Start year | $1K became | Total return | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $7,693 | +669% | 8.1% |
| 2005 | $8,438 | +744% | 10.6% |
| 2010 | $8,394 | +739% | 14.0% |
| 2015 | $4,084 | +308% | 13.3% |
| 2020 | $2,294 | +129% | 14.2% |
| 2023 | $1,731 | +73% | 18.4% |
The dot-com crash matters
Starting in 2000 means buying right before the dot-com bust. The S&P 500 dropped roughly 50% from its 2000 peak to its 2002 low. Despite that, $1,000 invested in January 2000 would still be worth $7,693 today. Time eventually overcame even the worst possible timing.
Starting in 2005 or 2010 avoided that drawdown and produced similar absolute returns in a shorter period, which is why the CAGR is meaningfully higher.
Recent years look strong
The 2020 and 2023 entries show impressive annualized numbers (14.2% and 18.4%), but those are over short periods. A few bad months could change those figures dramatically. Longer holding periods smooth out volatility and give a more reliable picture of expected returns.
The long-term average
Historically, the S&P 500 has returned roughly 10% per year on average (including dividends). Our figures are price-only, so the actual returns with dividends reinvested would be higher.
The S&P 500 is the baseline we compare every stock against on the site. When we say a stock "beat the market," we mean it outperformed what you would have earned in SPY over the same period.
Run your own numbers
Use the calculator to pick any start month going back to 1993. You can also compare the S&P 500 against individual stocks to see which investments would have beaten the index.