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S&P 500 · § III
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 18.40 (2026-03-31). The series starts 1960-12-31 and holds 67 observations; the long-run mean is 13.80, the all-time high 20.50 (2021-12-31) 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.

Latest Snapshot

Updated
2026-07-11
Average
+1,380.0%
Observations
67
Sample
1960-12-31 – 2026-03-31
Latest value
18.42026-03-31

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

S&P 500 return on equity — year-end readings
DateValue
2026-03-3118.40
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

Static Preview

S&P 500 · Return on Equity Chart

Data & Source

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

Yahoo Finance · Macrotrends · Robert Shiller · FRED · S&P Global · Nasdaq · NBER.

FAQ

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

18.40 as of 2026-03-31. The long-run average is 13.80.

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 including Yahoo Finance, Macrotrends, Robert Shiller, FRED, S&P Global, Nasdaq, and NBER. 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.