Gold vs S&P 500
Backtest gold vs the S&P 500Jan 1871 – Oct 8, 2026, Returns with dividends reinvested, Monthly averages
- S&P 500 to gold ratio
- 1.88Oct 8, 2026
- Gold since 1971
- +8.6%A year
- S&P 500 since 1971
- +11.2%A year with dividends
- Years gold won
- 24 of 541972–2025
S&P 500 to gold ratio · Ounces of gold per S&P 500 unit
Growth of $1 since Aug 1971 · Gold vs S&P 500
| S&P 500 with dividends | $351 | 11.2% a year |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | $97 | 8.6% a year |
| S&P 500 price only | $80 | 8.3% a year |
Gold vs S&P 500 returns
| Period | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | +15.5% | +12.5% |
| 25 years | +10.2% | +11.3% |
| Since 1971 | +11.2% | +8.6% |
| Since 1871 | +9.4% | +3.4% |
A year, with dividends reinvested.
Gold vs S&P 500 by decade
- S&P 500 with dividends
- Gold
* Partial decade: 1870s from Jan 1871, 2020s through Oct 8, 2026.
About gold vs the S&P 500
With dividends reinvested, the S&P 500 did better over the last 10 years, 15.5% a year against 12.5% for gold. Gold did better over the last 25 years, 11.3% a year against 10.2% for the S&P 500.
Since the US stopped exchanging dollars for gold in August 1971, $1 in the S&P 500 has grown to $351 and $1 in gold to $97, or 11.2% a year against 8.6% for gold. Without dividends the S&P 500 returned 8.3% a year, less than gold.
Since January 1871 the S&P 500 has returned 9.4% a year with dividends and gold 3.4%. Gold beat the S&P 500 with dividends in 24 of the 54 calendar years from 1972 to 2025. Gold won the 1930s, 1970s and 2000s, and so far the 2020s.
The S&P 500 to gold ratio is the index's price divided by the price of an ounce of gold, or how many ounces one unit of the S&P 500 buys. On October 8, 2026 it bought 1.88 ounces, above its median of 1.37 since August 1971. Over that time its high was 5.41 in August 2000, near the top of the dot-com bubble, and its low 0.16 in January 1980, when gold peaked amid double-digit inflation. Before 1971 gold's price was mostly fixed in dollars, at $20.67 an ounce from 1879 and $35 from 1934, so the ratio moved mostly with stocks.