What were the hottest years on record in the US?

Through 2025, 2024 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous US, 3.5°F above the 1901–2000 average of 52.0°F. The 10th hottest, 2006, was 2.2°F above it. Records began in 1895.

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Key facts

Measure: °F warmer than the 1901–2000 average. Written from the data below.

  • 2024 has the highest figure, 3.47, followed by 2012 (3.26) and 2016 (2.89).
  • 2006 has the lowest figure, 2.23, followed by 2023 (2.35) and 2020 (2.35).

This chart is one of the 50 in The U.S. in 50 charts, 2026, a yearly report of the key numbers on how the country is doing.

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Source and date

Source
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “What were the hottest years on record in the US?” Chart. Data: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/national/time-series (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/hottest-years-in-the-us (accessed November 4, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).

Year °F warmer than the 1901–2000 average
2024 3.47
2012 3.26
2016 2.89
2025 2.61
2017 2.53
2021 2.49
2015 2.37
2020 2.35
2023 2.35
2006 2.23

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