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Stock market crashes

S&P 500 calculator

S&P 500 total return, Jan 1871 – Nov 12, 2026, Before inflation, Monthly averages before 1928

Each crash from its peak

Every bear market from a record high

CrashDeclinePeakBottomRecoveredTo bottomLength
Great Depression−83.6%Sep 1929 in the S&P 500 calculatorJun 1932Jan 19452.7 years15.3 years
2008 financial crisis−55.3%Oct 2007 in the S&P 500 calculatorMar 2009Apr 20121.4 years4.5 years
Dot-com crash−47.4%Sep 2000 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 2002Oct 20062.1 years6.1 years
Oil crisis−45.0%Jan 1973 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 1974Jul 19761.7 years3.5 years
Panic of 1907−33.9%Sep 1906 in the S&P 500 calculatorNov 1907Dec 19081.2 years2.3 years
COVID-19 crash−33.8%Feb 2020 in the S&P 500 calculatorMar 2020Aug 20201 month6 months
Long Depression−33.1%Mar 1876 in the S&P 500 calculatorJun 1877Feb 18791.3 years2.9 years
Black Monday−33.0%Aug 1987 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 1987May 19892 months1.7 years
Recession of 1969–70−32.8%Nov 1968 in the S&P 500 calculatorMay 1970Mar 19711.5 years2.3 years
World War I−27.9%Nov 1916 in the S&P 500 calculatorDec 1917May 19191.1 years2.5 years
Kennedy Slide−26.8%Dec 1961 in the S&P 500 calculatorJun 1962Apr 19636 months1.4 years
Panic of 1903−25.7%Sep 1902 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 1903Nov 19041.1 years2.2 years
1946−25.6%May 1946 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 1946Oct 19494 months3.4 years
Panic of 1893−25.1%Jan 1893 in the S&P 500 calculatorAug 1893Aug 18977 months4.6 years
2022−24.5%Jan 2022 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 2022Dec 20239 months1.9 years
Depression of 1920–21−23.0%Oct 1919 in the S&P 500 calculatorAug 1921Apr 19221.8 years2.5 years
Panic of 1884−21.5%Sep 1882 in the S&P 500 calculatorJan 1885Nov 18852.3 years3.2 years
Credit crunch of 1966−20.5%Feb 1966 in the S&P 500 calculatorOct 1966Mar 19678 months1.1 years
Early 1980s recession−20.2%Nov 1980 in the S&P 500 calculatorAug 1982Oct 19821.7 years1.9 years

About stock market crashes

A bear market is a fall of 20% or more. Counting from record highs, the S&P 500 has had 19 since 1871, with dividends reinvested. Their median fall is 28%. From the peak, the median time to the bottom is 1.2 years, and back to the peak 2.5 years.

The deepest was the Great Depression, which fell 84% from Sep 1929 to Jun 1932. With dividends, the index was back at its peak in Jan 1945, 15.3 years after it. The 2008 financial crisis fell 55% from Oct 2007 to Mar 2009 and was back at its peak in Apr 2012, 4.5 years after it. The fastest fall was the COVID-19 crash: 34% in 1 month, back at its peak by Aug 2020.

Other lists count more bear markets, as they start a new one after every rise of 20%. Here a fall that came before the index was back at its old high, like 1937–38, is part of the crash before it. Most lists also leave out dividends, which makes falls deeper and longer: on price alone, 1956–57 reaches 21%, and 1929 takes until 1954 to recover. The same history after inflation is on S&P 500 history.