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As of October 16, 2026, the Dow Jones to gold ratio is 12.5, from the Dow Jones at 52,002.41 and gold at $4,165.42 per troy ounce. Over the past 52 weeks the ratio has ranged from 9.05 to 13.3.
The Dow-to-gold ratio measures how many ounces of gold it takes to buy the Dow Jones Industrial Average, calculated by dividing the Dow's price level by the gold price per ounce. It is one of the oldest gauges of stocks versus hard money and dates back over a century.
Why is this ratio important?
The ratio bottomed near 1 to 2 ounces in 1932 and 1980, both before the period charted here, peaked above 40 at the 1999 dot-com top, and fell to about 6 in 2011. A high ratio means equities are expensive relative to gold, while a low ratio means gold is expensive relative to equities. Long-term investors watch it for generational rotations between paper assets and hard assets. This is educational information, not financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dow to gold ratio?
The Dow to gold ratio is the price level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average divided by the price of one ounce of gold. It tells you how many ounces of gold it would take to buy the Dow. A ratio of 15 means the Dow is worth 15 ounces of gold.
What is the historical range of the Dow to gold ratio?
Our chart starts in 1992, when its daily Dow data begins. Since then the ratio has ranged from above 40 ounces at the 1999 stock market top to just under 6 in August 2011, near that year's gold peak, before rising again through the 2010s. The 1980 low of roughly 1 ounce, at the gold peak, came before the charted period.
Why do investors watch the Dow to gold ratio?
It compares paper financial assets (stocks) to hard money (gold) over long cycles. A high ratio suggests equities are historically expensive versus gold, and a low ratio suggests the opposite. It is used to think about generational asset allocation, not short-term timing.
