# List of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era

This is a list of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era. SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991. SoundScan data is unrelated to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certifications, and is based on actual sales while the RIAA's certification process is based on shipments.

## Best-sellers (overall)

List of the best-selling albums in the United States since 1991, showing title, release year, artist, and sales figure :
| Album | Release year | Artist(s) | Pure sales figures |
| Metallica | 1991 | Metallica | 17,300,000 |
| Come On Over | 1997 | Shania Twain | 15,730,000 |
| Jagged Little Pill | 1995 | Alanis Morissette | 15,200,000 |
| 1 | 2000 | The Beatles | 13,000,000 |
| Legend | 1984 | Bob Marley and the Wailers | 12,300,000 |
| Millennium | 1999 | Backstreet Boys | 12,300,000 |
| The Bodyguard | 1992 | Whitney Houston | 12,140,000 |
| 21 | 2011 | Adele | 12,100,000 |
| Supernatural | 1999 | Santana | 11,850,000 |
| Human Clay | 1999 | Creed | 11,690,000 |
| No Strings Attached | 2000 | NSYNC | 11,160,000 |
| Come Away with Me | 2002 | Norah Jones | 11,100,000 |
| The Marshall Mathers LP | 2000 | Eminem | 11,000,000 |
| Falling into You | 1996 | Celine Dion | 10,900,000 |
| ...Baby One More Time | 1999 | Britney Spears | 10,700,000 |
| The Eminem Show | 2002 | Eminem | 10,600,000 |
| Hybrid Theory | 2000 | Linkin Park | 10,500,000 |
| Nevermind | 1991 | Nirvana | 10,300,000 |
| Confessions | 2004 | Usher | 10,300,000 |
| Cracked Rear View | 1994 | Hootie & the Blowfish | 10,270,000 |
| Titanic | 1997 | James Horner | 10,170,000 |
| Backstreet Boys | 1997 | Backstreet Boys | 10,120,000 |
| Ten | 1991 | Pearl Jam | 10,000,000 |

## Best-selling albums by decade
### 1991–1999

Best-selling albums in the United States in the 1990s :
| Album | Release year | Artist(s) | Sales |
| Jagged Little Pill | 1995 | Alanis Morissette | 13,542,393 |
| Come On Over | 1997 | Shania Twain | 12,110,660 |
| Metallica | 1991 | Metallica | 11,715,533 |
| The Bodyguard | 1992 | Whitney Houston | 11,605,690 |
| Falling into You | 1996 | Celine Dion | 10,224,282 |
| Cracked Rear View | 1994 | Hootie & the Blowfish | 9,817,666 |
| Titanic | 1997 | James Horner | 9,806,175 |
| Human Clay | 1999 | Creed | 9,495,000 |
| Millennium | 1999 | Backstreet Boys | 9,445,732 |
| Ropin' the Wind | 1991 | Garth Brooks | 9,370,863 |
| Backstreet Boys | 1997 | Backstreet Boys | 9,258,265 |

### 2000–2009

Best-selling albums in the United States in the 2000s :
| Album | Release year | Artist(s) | Sales |
| 1 | 2000 | The Beatles | 11,564,000 |
| No Strings Attached | 2000 | NSYNC | 11,113,000 |
| The Marshall Mathers LP | 2000 | Eminem | 11,100,000 |
| The Eminem Show | 2002 | Eminem | 10,900,000 |
| Come Away With Me | 2002 | Norah Jones | 10,579,000 |
| Confessions | 2004 | Usher | 9,730,000 |
| Hybrid Theory | 2000 | Linkin Park | 9,697,000 |
| Oops!... I Did It Again | 2000 | Britney Spears | 9,184,000 |
| Country Grammar | 2000 | Nelly | 8,464,000 |

### 2010–2019

Best-selling albums in the United States in the 2010s :
| Album | Release year | Artist(s) | Sales |
| 21 | 2011 | Adele | 12,009,000 |
| 25 | 2015 | Adele | 9,517,000 |
| 1989 | 2014 | Taylor Swift | 6,215,000 |
| Recovery | 2010 | Eminem | 4,867,000 |
| Speak Now | 2010 | Taylor Swift | 4,694,000 |
| Red | 2012 | Taylor Swift | 4,465,000 |
| Christmas | 2011 | Michael Bublé | 4,379,000 |
| Frozen | 2014 | Various artists | 4,314,000 |
| Need You Now | 2010 | Lady Antebellum | 4,221,000 |
| The 20/20 Experience | 2013 | Justin Timberlake | 3,743,000 |

## Best-selling albums by year

The following list includes the annual best-selling albums since 1991, as reported by MRC Data (formerly Nielsen SoundScan). For albums released after 2015, the best-performing album of the year is determined by album-equivalent units consisted of album sales, digital songs sales, and on-demand streaming, while the best-selling album is determined by album sales only.
Key :
| † | Indicates album-equivalent units |
Best-selling albums by year in the United States since 1991 :
| Year | Album | Artist(s) | Figures |
| 1991 | Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey | 4,885,000 |
| 1992 | Some Gave All | Billy Ray Cyrus | 4,700,000 |
| 1993 | The Bodyguard | Whitney Houston | 5,460,000 |
| 1994 | The Lion King | Various Artists | 4,900,000 |
| 1995 | Cracked Rear View | Hootie & the Blowfish | 7,000,000 |
| 1996 | Jagged Little Pill | Alanis Morissette | 7,400,000 |
| 1997 | Spice | Spice Girls | 5,300,000 |
| 1998 | Titanic | James Horner | 9,338,061 |
| 1999 | Millennium | Backstreet Boys | 9,445,732 |
| 2000 | No Strings Attached | NSYNC | 9,936,104 |
| 2001 | Hybrid Theory | Linkin Park | 4,812,852 |
| 2002 | The Eminem Show | Eminem | 7,607,925 |
| 2003 | Get Rich or Die Tryin' | 50 Cent | 6,535,809 |
| 2004 | Confessions | Usher | 7,978,594 |
| 2005 | The Emancipation of Mimi | Mariah Carey | 4,968,606 |
| 2006 | High School Musical | Various Artists | 3,719,071 |
| 2007 | Noël | Josh Groban | 3,698,934 |
| 2008 | Tha Carter III | Lil Wayne | 2,874,420 |
| 2009 | Fearless | Taylor Swift | 3,216,988 |
| 2010 | Recovery | Eminem | 3,414,927 |
| 2011 | 21 | Adele | 5,823,628 |
| 2012 | 21 | Adele | 4,414,000 |
| 2013 | The 20/20 Experience | Justin Timberlake | 2,427,000 |
| 2014 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 3,661,000 |
| 2015 | 25 | Adele | 8,008,000† |
| 2015 | 25 | Adele | 7,441,000 |
| 2016 | Views | Drake | 4,140,000† |
| 2016 | 25 | Adele | 1,731,000 |
| 2017 | ÷ | Ed Sheeran | 2,764,000† |
| 2017 | Reputation | Taylor Swift | 1,903,000 |
| 2018 | Scorpion | Drake | 3,905,000† |
| 2018 | The Greatest Showman | Various Artists | 1,491,000 |
| 2019 | Hollywood's Bleeding | Post Malone | 3,001,000† |
| 2019 | Lover | Taylor Swift | 1,085,000 |
| 2020 | My Turn | Lil Baby | 2,632,000† |
| 2020 | Folklore | Taylor Swift | 1,276,000 |
| 2021 | Dangerous: The Double Album | Morgan Wallen | 3,226,000† |
| 2021 | 30 | Adele | 1,464,000 |
| 2022 | Un Verano Sin Ti | Bad Bunny | 3,400,000† |
| 2022 | Midnights | Taylor Swift | 1,818,000 |
| 2023 | One Thing at a Time | Morgan Wallen | 5,362,000 † |
| 2023 | 1989 (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 1,975,000 |
| 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 6,955,000 † |
| 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 3,491,000 |

## Single week best-sellers

The first album in the SoundScan era to sell a million copies or more in a week is the soundtrack of The Bodyguard by Whitney Houston in 1992; the most recent album to do so is The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift in 2024. The following is a list of all of the albums that sold at least one million copies in a single week:
Key :
| † | Indicates album-equivalent units |
| Week ending | Title | Artist | Total units | Pure sales | Week # |
| November 26, 2015 | 25 | Adele | 3,474,000† | 3,378,000 | 1st |
| April 25, 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 2,610,000† | 1,914,000 | 1st |
| March 26, 2000 | No Strings Attached | *NSYNC | 2,416,000 | 2,416,000 | 1st |
| July 29, 2001 | Celebrity | 1,880,000 | 1,880,000 | 1st | |
| May 28, 2000 | The Marshall Mathers LP | Eminem | 1,760,000 | 1,760,000 | 1st |
| November 9, 2023 | 1989 (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 1,653,000† | 1,359,000 | 1st |
| November 26, 2000 | Black & Blue | Backstreet Boys | 1,591,000 | 1,591,000 | 1st |
| October 27, 2022 | Midnights | Taylor Swift | 1,578,000† | 1,140,000 | 1st |
| June 2, 2002 | The Eminem Show | Eminem | 1,322,000 | 1,322,000 | 2nd |
| May 21, 2000 | Oops!... I Did It Again | Britney Spears | 1,319,000 | 1,319,000 | 1st |
| November 2, 2014 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 1,287,000 | 1,287,000 | 1st |
| December 24, 2000 | 1 | The Beatles | 1,259,000 | 1,259,000 | 6th |
| November 16, 2017 | Reputation | Taylor Swift | 1,238,000† | 1,216,000 | 1st |
| October 28, 2012 | Red | Taylor Swift | 1,208,000 | 1,208,000 | 1st |
| December 24, 2015 | 25 | Adele | 1,190,000† | 1,160,000 | 5th |
| December 3, 2015 | 25 | Adele | 1,160,000† | 1,110,000 | 2nd |
| March 6, 2005 | The Massacre | 50 Cent | 1,141,000 | 1,141,000 | 1st |
| May 23, 1999 | Millennium | Backstreet Boys | 1,134,000 | 1,134,000 | 1st |
| May 29, 2011 | Born This Way | Lady Gaga | 1,108,000 | 1,108,000 | 1st |
| March 28, 2004 | Confessions | Usher | 1,096,000 | 1,096,000 | 1st |
| November 22, 1998 | Double Live | Garth Brooks | 1,095,000 | 1,095,000 | 1st |
| December 28, 1992 | The Bodyguard | Soundtrack/Whitney Houston | 1,061,000 | 1,061,000 | 6th |
| October 22, 2000 | Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | Limp Bizkit | 1,055,000 | 1,055,000 | 1st |
| October 31, 2010 | Speak Now | Taylor Swift | 1,047,000 | 1,047,000 | 1st |
| May 22, 2016 | Views | Drake | 1,040,000† | 852,000 | 1st |
| February 17, 2004 | Feels Like Home | Norah Jones | 1,022,000 | 1,022,000 | 1st |
| June 21, 2008 | Tha Carter III | Lil Wayne | 1,006,000 | 1,006,000 | 1st |