Compare
S&P 500 vs Inflation (US CPI)
Daily referenceSingle source
Index levelSingle source
Over the last 10 years (Sep 1, 2016 → Sep 1, 2026), S&P 500 returned +251.54% and Inflation (US CPI) returned +39.56%. $10,000 in S&P 500 became $35,154; in Inflation (US CPI), $13,956.
Aligned on the sparser series (monthly observations where daily data is unavailable).
Side by side (10Y)
| Metric | S&P 500 | Inflation (US CPI) |
|---|---|---|
| Total return | +251.54% | +39.56% |
| Annualised return (CAGR) | +13.40% | +3.39% |
| $10,000 became | $35,154 | $13,956 |
| Volatility (annualised) | 16.1% | 1.2% |
| Worst drawdown | −24.77% | −0.88% |
| Best year | 2024 (+31.29%) | 2021 (+7.04%) |
| Worst year | 2022 (−9.67%) | 2020 (+1.36%) |
| Correlation of returns | −0.00 | |
Bold marks the higher value. Returns exclude storage, fees and taxes.
How to read this
Both series are rebased to 100 at the first common date in the range, so the chart shows relative performance regardless of price level. Correlation is computed on period-to-period returns of the aligned observations: values near +1 mean the two moved together, near 0 independently, negative in opposite directions.
Where one series is monthly (for example CPI, or metals before daily data begins), the comparison is aligned on the sparser series, so short ranges may contain few observations. Try longer ranges for macro comparisons.
S&P 500 is a price index: it excludes dividends, which have added about 1–2% a year in recent decades (and more before the 1990s), so the total return of owning the index was higher than this line.