by Howard Willman
(as of February 14, 2024)
WR = mark was a World Record; AR = mark was an American Record; WL = mark was also yearly world leader
i = mark made indoors (if best for year was indoors, outdoor best is also listed)
The C19 pandemic left its mark on ’20, with Cooper Teare’s 3:55.50i the slowest American leader since ’76. Matthew Centrowitz’s 3:49.26 in ’21 is the fastest ever by an American on U.S. soil.
| View World Best Chart | View U.S. Soil (All-Comers) Chart | ||||||
| 1954 | 4:00.6 | AR | Wes | Santee | Compton | 6/04/54 |
| 1955 | 4:00.5 | AR | Wes | Santee | Austin | 4/02/55 |
| 1956 | 4:00.8 | Fred | Dwyer | Compton | 6/01/56 | |
| 1957 | 3:58.7 | AR | Don | Bowden | Stockton | 6/01/57 |
| 1958 | 4:01.7 | Ed | Moran | Bakersfield | 6/21/58 | |
| Jim | Grelle | Bakersfield | 6/21/58 | |||
| Jerome | Walters | Bakersfield | 6/21/58 | |||
| 1959 | 4:01.0 | Jim | Grelle | Västerås | 8/12/59 | |
| 1960 | 3:58.0 | AR | Jim | Beatty | Modesto | 5/28/60 |
| 1961 | 3:57.6 | AR, WL | Dyrol | Burleson | Eugene | 5/24/61 |
| 1962 | 3:56.3 | AR | Jim | Beatty | Helsinki | 8/21/62 |
| 1963 | 3:55.5 | AR | Jim | Beatty | Compton | 6/07/63 |
| 1964 | 3:56.4i | Tom | O’Hara | Chicago | 3/06/64 | |
| 3:57.4 | Dyrol | Burleson | Eugene | 5/13/64 | ||
| 3:57.4 | Dyrol | Burleson | Compton | 6/05/64 | ||
| 1965 | 3:55.3 | AR | Jim | Ryun | San Diego | 6/27/65 |
| 1966 | 3:51.3 | WR | Jim | Ryun | Berkeley | 7/17/66 |
| 1967 | 3:51.1 | WR | Jim | Ryun | Bakersfield | 6/23/67 |
| 1968 | 3:55.9 | Jim | Ryun | Walnut | 8/10/68 | |
| 1969 | 3:55.9 | WL | Jim | Ryun | Los Angeles | 60/7/69 |
| 1970 | 3:56.3 | WL | Roscoe | Divine | Eugene | 6/05/70 |
| 1971 | 3:54.6 | Marty | Liquori | Philadelphia | 5/16/71 | |
| 1972 | 3:52.8 | WL | Jim | Ryun | Toronto | 7/29/72 |
| 1973 | 3:53.3 | Dave | Wottle | Eugene | 6/20/73 | |
| 1974 | 3:53.2 | WL | Tony | Waldrop | Philadelphia | 4/27/74 |
| 1975 | 3:52.2 | Marty | Liquori | Kingston | 5/17/75 | |
| 1976 | 3:56.77 | Rick | Wohlhuter | Wichita | 5/29/76 | |
| 1977 | 3:55.1 | Steve | Scott | Philadelphia | 4/30/77 | |
| 1978 | 3:52.93 | Steve | Scott | Stockholm | 7/03/78 | |
| 1979 | 3:51.11 | AR | Steve | Scott | Oslo | 7/17/79 |
| 1980 | 3:52.7 | Steve | Scott | Brussels | 8/22/80 | |
| 1981 | 3:48.83 | AR | Sydney | Maree | Rieti | 9/09/81 |
| 1982 | 3:47.69 | AR, WL | Steve | Scott | Oslo | 7/07/82 |
| 1983 | 3:49.21 | WL | Steve | Scott | Berlin | 8/17/83 |
| 1984 | 3:51.39 | Richie | Harris | Koblenz | 8/29/84 | |
| 1985 | 3:49.93 | Steve | Scott | Oslo | 7/27/85 | |
| 1986 | 3:48.73 | Steve | Scott | Oslo | 7/05/86 | |
| 1987 | 3:51.91 | Jim | Spivey | Oslo | 7/04/87 | |
| 1988 | 3:50.09 | Steve | Scott | Oslo | 7/02/88 | |
| 1989 | 3:51.07 | Joe | Falcon | Oslo | 7/01/89 | |
| 1990 | 3:49.31 | WL | Joe | Falcon | Oslo | 7/14/90 |
| 1991 | 3:49.83 | Jim | Spivey | Oslo | 7/06/91 | |
| 1992 | 3:52.69 | Jim | Spivey | Copenhagen | 8/25/92 | |
| 1993 | 3:52.37 | Jim | Spivey | Oslo | 7/10/93 | |
| 1994 | 3:50.91 | Steve | Holman | Oslo | 7/22/94 | |
| 1995 | 3:50.76 | Steve | Holman | Zürich | 8/16/95 | |
| 1996 | 3:50.60 | Steve | Holman | Oslo | 7/05/96 | |
| 1997 | 3:50.40 | Steve | Holman | Oslo | 7/04/97 | |
| 1998 | 3:52.73 | Steve | Holman | Paris | 7/29/98 | |
| 1999 | 3:54.17 | Adam | Goucher | Eugene | 5/30/99 | |
| 2000 | 3:54.85 | Seneca | Lassiter | Eugene | 6/24/00 | |
| 2001 | 3:53.43 | Alan | Webb | Eugene | 5/27/01 | |
| 2002 | 3:55.30 | Seneca | Lassiter | Eugene | 5/26/02 | |
| 2003 | 3:53.43 | Jason | Lunn | Eugene | 5/24/03 | |
| 2004 | 3:50.73 | Alan | Webb | London | 7/30/04 | |
| 2005 | 3:48.38 | Bernard | Lagat | Oslo | 7/29/05 | |
| 2006 | 3:51.53 | Bernard | Lagat | Eugene | 5/28/06 | |
| 2007 | 3:46.91 | AR, WL | Alan | Webb | Brasschaat | 7/21/07 |
| 2008 | 3:53.97 | Lopez | Lomong | Eugene | 6/08/08 | |
| 2009 | 3:51.34i | Bernard | Lagat | Liévin | 2/10/09 | |
| 3:52.71 | Bernard | Lagat | London | 7/25/09 | ||
| 2010 | 3:50.64 | Leo | Manzano | London | 8/14/10 | |
| 2011 | 3:51.24 | Leo | Manzano | London | 8/06/11 | |
| 2012 | 3:52.01 | David | Torrence | Eugene | 6/02/12 | |
| 2013 | 3:50.92i | Galen | Rupp | Boston | 1/26/13 | |
| 3:51.45 | Lopez | Lomong | Eugene | 6/01/13 | ||
| 2014 | 3:50.53 | Matthew | Centrowitz | Eugene | 5/31/14 | |
| 2015 | 3:51.20 | Matthew | Centrowitz | Eugene | 5/20/15 | |
| 2016 | 3:50.63i 3:53.83 |
WL | Matthew Ben |
Centrowitz Blankenship |
New York Eugene |
2/20/16 5/28/16 |
| 2017 | 3:51.99 | Clayton | Murphy | Eugene | 5/27/17 | |
| 2018 | 3:53.40i 3:53.40 |
Izaic Clayton |
Yorks Murphy |
Boston Eugene |
2/25/18 5/26/18 |
|
| 2019 | 3:49.98i 3:51.60 |
Johnny Craig |
Gregorek Engels |
Boston Stanford |
3/03/19 6/30/19 |
|
| 2020 | 3:55.50i 3:56.18 |
Cooper Tripp |
Teare Hurt |
Boston Marion |
2/28/20 7/25/20 |
|
| 2021 | 3:49.26 | Matthew | Centrowitz | Portland | 7/24/21 | |
| 2022 | 3:50.17i 3:50.97 |
Cooper Cole |
Teare Hocker |
Chicago Eugene |
2/11/22 5/28/22 |
|
| 2023 | 3:43.97 | AR | Yared | Nuguse | Eugene | 9/16/23 |