How far is the Dow Jones Industrial Average from its all-time high?

Dow Jones is 5.0% below its all-time high, set Aug 5, 2026.

What was the biggest Dow drawdown ever?

−53.8%, bottoming Mar 9, 2009.

Are big drawdowns good times to buy?

Median forward returns after deep index drawdowns have been somewhat higher, but samples are small and this does not transfer to individual stocks. Not investment advice.

Market proxy DIA$515.881D -0.48%as of market close, Sep 18, 2026

Dow Jones drawdown: 5.0% below the all-time high

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 5.0% below its all-time high, set Aug 5, 2026 (as of market close, Sep 18, 2026). The chart shows every day as a percentage of the highest level reached up to that point: 100% means a fresh record, everything below is a drawdown.

Below all-time high: −5.0%; 95.0% of ATH
All-time high: $542.81; Aug 5, 2026
Time below the high: 44 days; since Aug 5, 2026
Worst-ever drawdown: −53.8%; Mar 9, 2009
Longest underwater: 6.7 yrs; between all-time highs
Today's level first reached: Jun 4, 2026; 3 mo ago
Last time this deep: Apr 7, 2026; in a previous episode

% of all-time high since 1998#

The classic underwater chart (drawdown curve), drawn as % of the all-time high — 100% is a fresh record, everything below it is time spent underwater. Basis and range are in the URL, so a particular view is a link.

Basis

Range

All-time high = 100%50%60%70%80%90%

DIA close · log100200500

200020052010201520202025

The deepest drawdowns on record#

Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.

Peak	Trough	Depth	Peak → trough	Recovered by	Underwater
Oct 9, 2007	Mar 9, 2009	−53.8%	17 mo	Mar 5, 2013	5.4 yrs
Jan 14, 2000	Oct 9, 2002	−37.8%	2.7 yrs	Oct 4, 2006	6.7 yrs
Feb 12, 2020	Mar 23, 2020	−37.1%	40 days	Nov 16, 2020	9 mo
Jan 4, 2022	Sep 30, 2022	−21.9%	9 mo	Dec 13, 2023	1.9 yrs
Jul 17, 1998	Aug 31, 1998	−19.8%	45 days	Nov 23, 1998	4 mo
Oct 3, 2018	Dec 24, 2018	−18.6%	3 mo	Jun 20, 2019	9 mo
Dec 4, 2024	Apr 8, 2025	−16.5%	4 mo	Aug 22, 2025	9 mo

Price basis (no dividends) — the convention crash histories use. With dividends reinvested, recoveries arrive years earlier; switch the basis on the chart above to see it.

What happened next: forward returns by drawdown depth#

For every month since 1998, how far the index stood below its all-time high — and the total return (dividends reinvested) over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.

Starting point	Months	Median next 1y	Median next 5y	Median next 10y	5y windows positive
At/near the high (0–1% off)	134	+11.4%	+10.3%/yr	+9.1%/yr	98%
1–10% off the high	142	+8.5%	+5.6%/yr	+7.8%/yr	94%
10–20% off	37	+10.4%	+8.2%/yr	+7.5%/yr	100%
20–30% off	21	+19.6%	+13.1%/yr	+12.0%/yr	100%
30–50% off	11	+22.3%	+17.1%/yr	+13.9%/yr	100%

Every month as one dot

1950–19992000–today

+0.0%+10.0%+20.0%100%80%60%% of all-time high at the start month (ATH on the left)today (−4.9%)

Read this honestly: monthly windows overlap heavily (they are not independent samples), and the deep-drawdown buckets are dominated by a handful of episodes — history rhymes, it doesn't promise. This pattern is specific to a broad, survivorship-free index; individual stocks deep below their highs frequently never recover. Not investment advice.

FAQ#

How far is the Dow Jones Industrial Average from its all-time high?: Dow Jones is currently 5.0% below its all-time high, set Aug 5, 2026 (as of market close, Sep 18, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
What was the biggest Dow drawdown ever?: The deepest decline on record in our data (since 1998) took the index 53.8% below its prior high, bottoming Mar 9, 2009. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.
Are big drawdowns good times to buy?: Historically, deeper drawdowns have been followed by somewhat higher median long-run returns for broad indexes — but the sample of deep crashes is small, the windows overlap, and an index can keep falling long after any threshold. This holds for diversified indexes (which have always eventually recovered), not for individual stocks, which can stay down permanently. Nothing here is investment advice.

Methodology & related#

Daily data since 1998 from DIA, the Dow Jones Industrial Average's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for the Dow Jones Industrial Average — for a 150-year drawdown record see the S&P 500 drawdown page. The price basis excludes dividends; the total-return basis reinvests them; the real basis additionally deflates by CPI. Forward-return analysis uses the total-return series. See also returns by year. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.

ChartRow is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, S&P Global, Nasdaq, Inc., Robert Shiller, RSBB-I, LLC, or Yale University. "S&P 500®" and "Dow Jones®" are registered trademarks of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC; "Nasdaq-100®" is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc.; "CAPE®" is a registered trademark of RSBB-I, LLC. They are used here only to identify the indexes and series discussed. All index-related figures on this page are independently derived from public sources — SEC filings, the public Shiller S&P 500 monthly series, and our own computations — not from any index provider's data feed.