US P/E Ratio
Current US P/E
As of September 2025 · ratio
Source: multpl — S&P 500 trailing P/E
By Dominic Roe · Data Engineer & Business Intelligence Developer Updated September 2025
- Historical average
- 16.2
- 1857 months
- Historical median
- 15.1
- Percentile rank
- 96th percentile
- vs full history
- All-time range
- 5.3 – 123.7
- Last updated
- September 2025
- since January 1871
Understanding this metric
What is it?
The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the US stock market (S&P 500) divides the index price by its trailing twelve-month earnings per share. Unlike the cyclically adjusted CAPE — which averages a decade of inflation-adjusted earnings — the standard P/E uses only the most recent year of reported earnings, so it reacts quickly to the latest profits.
How is it calculated?
It is the price of the S&P 500 divided by the sum of its reported (GAAP) earnings over the trailing twelve months. A P/E of 25 means investors pay $25 for each $1 of the past year's earnings. The series shown here is multpl.com's monthly S&P 500 trailing P/E, kept current to the latest close.
Historical interpretation
A higher P/E means a more expensive market relative to recent earnings; a lower one, cheaper. Because it leans on a single year of profits, the standard P/E is far more volatile than CAPE — it spikes when earnings collapse in a recession (price falls less than earnings) and dips when earnings are temporarily high. Read it against its own history, and alongside CAPE, rather than as a stand-alone signal.
Limitations
The trailing P/E's reliance on one year of earnings is its main weakness: recession-depressed earnings can send it to misleadingly high levels just as stocks become cheap, and peak-cycle earnings can flatter it. Reported (GAAP) earnings also swing with one-off write-downs. For a steadier valuation read, compare it with the cyclically adjusted CAPE.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal P/E for the S&P 500?
Over the long run the S&P 500 has averaged roughly the mid-teens, but the 'normal' level has drifted higher in recent decades. Compare today's reading to the metric's own history — the average, median and percentile above — rather than to a fixed number.
How is the P/E ratio different from CAPE?
The standard P/E uses the last twelve months of earnings; CAPE (the Shiller P/E) averages ten years of inflation-adjusted earnings to smooth out the business cycle. CAPE is steadier; the trailing P/E is timelier but noisier.
Why does the P/E sometimes spike when stocks fall?
In a recession reported earnings can fall faster than prices, so the ratio (price ÷ earnings) rises even as the market gets cheaper. This is exactly why a cyclically adjusted measure like CAPE is often preferred.
Is the data real?
The site clearly labels every series as either real imported data or generated sample (mock) data. Sample data is for demonstration only and must not be used for investment decisions.
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