CAGR Calculator

Compound Annual Growth Rate is the constant rate at which a value would have to grow each year to go from where it started to where it ended. It's the standard way to compare investment returns across different time periods on equal footing — a 50% total return over 3 years isn't the same animal as a 50% total return over 10 years, and CAGR is the number that makes them comparable.

Investment

Starting value ($)

Ending value ($)

Period

Number of years

Decimals are fine — 2.5 means two and a half years.

CAGR

13.99%

per year, compounded over 7 years

Total return ($)

$15,000.00

Total return (%)

150.00%

Period

7 years

What-if: project forward

If a starting value grows at a constant CAGR for some years, what does it end up worth? Useful for sanity-checking the CAGR you just computed against a forward projection.

Starting value ($)

CAGR (%)

Years

Future value

$38,696.84

Gain (loss)

$28,696.84

Educational, not financial advice. CAGR smooths volatility — it tells you the rate a hypothetical straight-line investment would have needed to match your actual outcome. Real markets don't move in straight lines, so CAGR does not reflect the maximum drawdown along the way. A 12% CAGR with a 50% mid-period drop is a very different lived experience than a 12% CAGR that gained 1% every month. Use CAGR to compare returns across periods, not to predict how an investment will feel.