CAGR Calculator (Compound Annual Growth Rate)
Compute the compound annual growth rate linking a starting value to an ending value over N years, or solve for the end value or the time needed instead.
CAGR
6.46%
Total return (cumulative)
65.00%
Doubles in
11.1 years
Year-by-year projection
| Year | Value | Growth that year |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 10,000 | — |
| 1 | 10,645.98 | +645.98 |
| 2 | 11,333.68 | +687.7 |
| 3 | 12,065.81 | +732.13 |
| 4 | 12,845.23 | +779.42 |
| 5 | 13,675 | +829.77 |
| 6 | 14,558.38 | +883.37 |
| 7 | 15,498.81 | +940.44 |
| 8 | 16,500 | +1,001.19 |
Nominal figures only — no inflation or tax adjustments. Use the year-by-year table to spot how compounding accelerates in later years.
How to use
- Pick a mode at the top: solve for CAGR, end value, or years.
- Enter the two known values plus the time horizon (or rate, depending on mode).
- Read the headline answer, the total cumulative return, the doubling time, and the year-by-year growth table.
About this tool
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CAGR is the single most useful number for talking about long-term investment returns: it's the constant annual rate that, compounded year over year, takes a starting amount to an ending amount. This tool runs in three modes — solve for CAGR (you know start, end, and years), solve for the end value (you know start, rate, and years), or solve for how many years you need (you know start, end, and rate). It also shows total return (cumulative, not annualized), a year-by-year growth projection up to 40 years, and the doubling time derived from the rule of 72's exact form (ln 2 ÷ ln(1+r)). Useful for comparing index funds, validating advisor claims, planning a savings goal, or sanity-checking a 'doubled in 5 years' marketing line.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between CAGR and average return?
Average return takes the arithmetic mean of yearly returns; CAGR uses the geometric mean. For volatile assets these differ significantly — a portfolio that goes +50%, −50% has an average return of 0% but a CAGR of about −13.4% (you really lost money). Use CAGR when comparing long-term outcomes; arithmetic mean is misleading whenever there's variance.
Does this account for inflation or taxes?
No — CAGR is a nominal number. If you want a real (inflation-adjusted) CAGR, subtract the inflation CAGR over the same period from your nominal CAGR (roughly: real ≈ nominal − inflation). For taxes, multiply the CAGR by (1 − tax rate on gains) before adding 1 and raising to the power of years, or just adjust the end value.
Why does the year-by-year table only go to 40?
It's a sanity cap — beyond 40 years, the table becomes uninformative for most planning purposes (and small CAGR errors compound into huge end values). If you need longer projections, run the calculator a second time with a 40-year intermediate as the new start.
Why doesn't the solve-for-years mode work for negative rates?
If your rate is ≤ −100%, the multiplier (1 + rate) is zero or negative and the logarithm is undefined. The mode also requires that start and end have the same sign — you can't grow a positive balance into a negative one through compounding.
Guides on this topic
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