Dividend Growth Rate Calculator
Find out how fast a dividend has actually grown. Enter two figures, or a full year-by-year history, and get the compound annual growth rate along with doubling time and yield on cost. Free, no signup, and everything runs in your browser.
How do you calculate dividend growth rate?
Divide the current annual dividend per share by the dividend from n years ago, raise the result to the power of 1/n, then subtract 1. A dividend that rose from $1.50 to $2.25 over five years grew about 8.45% per year.
(Ending Dividend ÷ Beginning Dividend)^(1/n) − 1
Your dividend figures
Results
Enter your figures and press Calculate.
| Year | Dividend per share | Change from prior year |
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What the dividend growth rate measures
Dividend yield tells you what a stock pays today. The dividend growth rate tells you how fast that payment is rising. For anyone holding for the long run, the second number often matters more than the first, because a modest dividend that climbs every year eventually overtakes a larger one that sits still.
It's expressed as a single annualized percentage, which makes it comparable across companies with completely different payout sizes and histories. A stock paying $0.40 a share and one paying $4.00 a share can be measured against each other on growth alone.
This page works backward from dividends that have already been paid. If you want to work forward from a rate you've chosen, use the dividend growth calculator on the homepage.
How this calculator works
The calculation is the compound annual growth rate, the same method used across the industry for annualizing any kind of growth:
Growth rate = (Ending Dividend ÷ Beginning Dividend)^(1/n) − 1
- Find the total annual dividend per share for your starting year.
- Find the total annual dividend per share for the most recent full year.
- Count the years between them.
- Apply the formula above.
- Check your starting year. If the dividend had just been cut, the result will flatter the company.
Counting the years correctly
This is where most people go wrong, and it's worth slowing down on. If you have dividend figures for 2014 through 2024, that's eleven numbers but only ten years of growth. The gap between the first and last figure is what goes into the formula, not how many figures you wrote down.
Getting this wrong by one year doesn't sound like much, but it shifts the result noticeably. In detailed mode the calculator works the number out from your start and end years so you never have to think about it.
CAGR versus a simple average
You could instead add up each year's percentage change and divide by the number of years. That's the arithmetic average, and it will almost always come out higher than the CAGR, because it ignores the effect of compounding on an uneven series.
Detailed mode shows both. When they're close together, growth was steady. When the average sits well above the CAGR, the dividend moved in fits and starts, and the CAGR is the more honest summary of what happened.
What this calculator does not do
It doesn't fetch dividend data for you, so the figures have to come from your brokerage or the company's own investor relations pages. It doesn't adjust for stock splits, so use split-adjusted per-share figures if a split occurred during your period. It doesn't account for currency movement on foreign stocks, and it can't tell you whether a past rate will continue.
Worked example
Say a company paid $1.50 per share in dividends five years ago and pays $2.25 per share today.
- Divide the ending dividend by the beginning one: $2.25 ÷ $1.50 = 1.5
- Raise that to the power of 1/5: 1.50.2 = 1.0845
- Subtract 1: 0.0845, or 8.45% per year
The dividend grew 50% in total, but that's spread across five years of compounding, which is why the annual figure is 8.45% rather than 10%. At that pace the dividend would double in roughly 8.5 years.
Why the averaging method misleads
Picture a dividend that rises 20% one year and then falls 10% the next. Averaging those gives 5% a year. But run the actual numbers: 1.20 × 0.90 = 1.08, so the dividend is 8% higher after two years, which works out to 3.92% a year compounded. The 5% figure describes the percentages. The 3.92% figure describes the money.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate dividend growth rate?
Divide the current annual dividend per share by the dividend per share from n years ago, raise the result to the power of 1/n, then subtract 1. That gives the compound annual growth rate. A dividend that rose from $1.50 to $2.25 over five years grew about 8.45% per year.
What is the difference between CAGR and average growth rate?
A simple average adds up each year's growth rate and divides by the number of years. CAGR accounts for compounding. If a dividend grows 20% one year and falls 10% the next, the simple average is 5% but the CAGR is 3.92%. CAGR reflects what actually happened to the money, which is why it is the standard measure.
How many years should I measure dividend growth over?
It is a tradeoff. A shorter window reflects recent behaviour but is noisier, since one unusual raise or freeze can dominate the result. A longer window smooths out one-off events but may include an era that no longer reflects how the company operates. Running both a short and a long window and comparing them is often more informative than picking one.
Where do I find a stock's dividend history?
Your brokerage account's transaction history is the most reliable record of dividends you have actually received. For researching a stock you do not own, most companies publish dividend history in the investor relations section of their own site, and ETF providers publish full distribution histories on the fund's page.
What if the dividend was cut during the period?
The calculator still works, but read the result carefully. Measuring from a year in which the dividend had just been cut produces a rate that overstates the normal trajectory, because the starting point is artificially low. In detailed mode the calculator flags any year where the dividend declined so you can see whether this is affecting your result.
Should I use quarterly or annual dividends?
Use annual totals. Add up all payments made in each year and enter that figure. Comparing one quarter against another can miss a mid-year raise or double-count a special dividend, which distorts the growth rate.
Does this calculator work for ETFs?
Yes. Enter the fund's total annual distribution per share for each year. Fund distributions tend to vary more than an individual company's dividend because they reflect the underlying holdings, so a longer measurement window is usually more informative for a fund.
Sources
The CAGR method used on this page was checked against independent references before publishing:
Disclaimer: This calculator is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or tax advice. A historical growth rate describes what a company has already done. It is not a forecast, and it carries no guarantee that the same pace will continue. Dividends can be reduced or eliminated at any time. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Always consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions.
Last updated: August 1, 2026