Average Russell 1000 return

Over the last 10 years the Russell 1000 has returned +15.2% a year (CAGR) with dividends reinvested — +13.5% from price alone, and +11.5% after inflation. Since 2001 the annualized figure is +8.6%. Every standard window, through Oct 7, 2026:

Window	Since	Total return /yr	Price only /yr	Dividends /yr	After inflation /yr
1 year	Oct 7, 2025	+16.66%	+15.52%	+1.14%	+13.62%
3 years	Oct 9, 2023	+22.74%	+21.38%	+1.36%	+19.43%
5 years	Oct 7, 2021	+12.82%	+11.43%	+1.39%	+8.65%
10 years	Oct 7, 2016	+15.19%	+13.49%	+1.70%	+11.53%
15 years	Oct 10, 2011	+15.07%	+13.21%	+1.87%	+12.13%
20 years	Oct 9, 2006	+11.06%	+9.19%	+1.87%	+8.29%
26.4 years (all data)	May 19, 2000	+8.61%	+6.82%	+1.78%	+5.90%

Annualized (CAGR) from IWB daily closes at exact anniversary dates; inflation adjustment uses CPI (CPIAUCSL). The dividends column is the reinvested-dividend contribution — total return minus price return.

The years behind the average#

“Average” hides how lumpy the ride is: across 25 full calendar years, the market finished positive 80% of the time, with a best year of +32.8% (2013) and a worst of -37.4% (2008). The arithmetic mean of single years is +10.4% and the median +15.4% — but compounding through the crashes brings the realized annualized return to +8.6%. Almost no individual year lands near the average.