History of Market · The Chronicle of the U.S. Stock Market S&P 500
Gathering I · leaf 15 of 27
S&P 500 · ROE

S&P 500 · ROE — S&P 500 · Return on Equity

Return on equity — The S&P 500's aggregate ROE through history.

Annual profit produced per dollar of shareholder equity. Remarkably stable near 15% over the past two decades — the index's earnings-power anchor.

View the interactive chart Download raw JSON

What this page answers

The latest reading for S&P 500 return on equity is 20.80 (2026-03-31). The series starts 1960-12-31 and holds 67 observations; the long-run mean is 13.83, the all-time high 20.80 (2026-03-31) and the low 7.20 (2001-12-31).

Annual profit produced per dollar of shareholder equity. Remarkably stable near 15% over the past two decades — the index's earnings-power anchor. The data is refreshed by the History of Market pipeline and published as a stable JSON endpoint for research, citation, and AI-agent use.

The plate

S&P 500 · ROE — S&P 500 · Return on Equity10%15%20%198020002020
Plate I.15 Annual profit produced per dollar of shareholder equity. Remarkably stable near 15% over the past two decades — the index's earnings-power anchor. 2026-08-29

Latest Snapshot

Updated
2026-08-29
Average
+1,380.0%
Observations
67
Sample
1960-12-31 – 2026-03-31
Latest value
20.82026-03-31

S&P 500 return on equity — year-end readings

S&P 500 return on equity — year-end readings
DateValue
2026-03-3120.80
2025-09-3018.70
2024-12-3119.20
2023-12-3118.80
2022-12-3118.00
2021-12-3120.50
2020-12-3113.50
2019-12-3116.20
2018-12-3117.60
2017-12-3115.60
2016-12-3113.70
2015-12-3113.80
2014-12-3115.00
2013-12-3115.20
2012-12-3113.90
2011-12-3114.50
2010-12-3114.80
2009-12-3112.10
2008-12-318.00
2007-12-3116.50
2006-12-3117.60
2005-12-3116.80
2004-12-3115.40
2003-12-3112.30
2002-12-318.10
2001-12-317.20
2000-12-3114.80
1999-12-3117.50
1998-12-3116.00
1997-12-3117.00
1996-12-3116.50
1995-12-3116.00
1994-12-3115.50
1993-12-3113.20
1992-12-3111.50
1991-12-3111.10
1990-12-3113.00
1989-12-3115.00
1988-12-3116.20
1987-12-3113.00
1986-12-3110.20
1985-12-3111.50
1984-12-3113.00
1983-12-3111.50
1982-12-3110.70
1981-12-3113.50
1980-12-3114.00
1979-12-3115.80
1978-12-3114.30
1977-12-3113.50
1976-12-3113.20
1975-12-3111.60
1974-12-3114.00
1973-12-3113.50
1972-12-3111.80
1971-12-3110.50
1970-12-319.80
1969-12-3111.50
1968-12-3112.10
1967-12-3111.90
1966-12-3113.00
1965-12-3112.50
1964-12-3111.80
1963-12-3111.00
1962-12-3110.50
1961-12-319.80
1960-12-3110.20

Showing the 67 most recent of 67 observations — the full series is in the JSON: https://historyofmarket.com/api/sp500/roe.json

Data & Source

GET /api/sp500/roe.json — Canonical dataset endpoint.

Exchange closing prices · Company filings · Robert Shiller · FRED · NBER.

FAQ

What is the latest S&P 500 return on equity reading?

20.80 as of 2026-03-31. The long-run average is 13.83.

What period does the S&P 500 return on equity data cover?

1960-12-31 through 2026-03-31 — 67 observations.

Where does this data come from?

History of Market combines public market and macro datasets — exchange closing prices, company filings, Robert Shiller, FRED, NBER, and the UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook (Dimson–Marsh–Staunton). The exact endpoint for this panel is linked below.

How often is it updated?

Daily-tier datasets refresh after the U.S. market close, with a broader weekly refresh on Sunday. The timestamp shown on this page comes from the JSON payload.

Can I use the data?

Yes, for research and education with attribution to History of Market. Upstream data sources retain their own terms.