CAGR Calculator

Enter a beginning value, ending value, and number of years to calculate the compound annual growth rate.

How to Use the CAGR Calculator

Enter the beginning value, ending value, and number of years between them. The compound annual growth rate updates automatically.

CAGR smooths an investment's actual year-to-year bumps into one steady annual rate — not what happened each year, but the single constant rate that would have produced the same start-to-finish result.

CAGR = ((Ending Value ÷ Beginning Value)^(1 ÷ Years) − 1) × 100

$10,000 growing to $16,000 over 5 years works out to a CAGR near 9.86% — not the average of five individual annual returns, which could easily differ if any single year swung hard in either direction. A portfolio that lost 20% one year and gained 30% the next didn't grow at a smooth 5% average; CAGR captures the compounding path a simple average can't.

Where CAGR Falls Short

It hides volatility. Two investments can post identical CAGRs over five years while one moved in a straight line and the other swung wildly between gains and losses that happened to cancel out by the end date. CAGR answers "what was the smoothed growth rate," not "how bumpy was the ride" — pair it with a volatility measure if that distinction matters for the decision at hand.