Pickup trucks are the backbone of the American vehicle market — and its most reliable store of value. We lined up median asking prices for four best-selling trucks across six model years, 2021 through 2026, in a single August 2026 snapshot. Two stories emerge: how steeply new-truck prices have climbed, and how stubbornly used trucks refuse to get cheap.
The index: median ask by model year
| Model year | Ford F-150 | Ram 1500 | Toyota Tacoma | Toyota Tundra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $33,823 | $31,442 | $32,995 | $39,730 |
| 2022 | $38,191 | $34,500 | $34,072 | $41,077 |
| 2023 | $41,980 | $37,995 | $37,224 | $45,187 |
| 2024 | $45,270 | $36,488 | $39,617 | $48,300 |
| 2025 | $53,000 | $44,337 | $40,582 | $52,502 |
| 2026 | $60,802 | $57,258 | $46,186 | $66,462 |
Read down any column and the climb is relentless: a 2026 F-150 asks 80% more than a 2021 — five model years apart, $27,000 apart. The 2026 Tundra jumped $14,000 over the 2025 alone.
Value retention: the Tacoma is the outlier
2021 model as % of 2026 model price
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Toyota Tacoma71%
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Toyota Tundra60%
-
Ford F-15056%
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Ram 150055%
A five-year-old Tacoma keeps 71% of the current model’s price — the strongest retention of the four, and consistent with the mid-size pickup strength in our depreciation study. Full-size trucks cluster at 55–60%: still far better than luxury sedans, but the sheer new-price inflation of 2025–2026 models has stretched the ladder.
One anomaly worth knowing: Ram 1500 2024 lists below Ram 2023 ($36,488 vs $37,995). That is not depreciation running backwards — the “Ram 1500” badge covered both the current-generation truck and the cheaper carried-over Classic in different proportions across those years. Badge-level medians inherit that mix.
What this means if you’re buying
- The used ladder has no cheap rung. Waiting a year on a used truck saved almost nothing in this market — 2023 F-150 asks actually rose during 2026.
- The 2024 model year is the ladder’s soft spot for the F-150 and Ram: the biggest single-step savings against 2025–2026 stock ($8,000–$21,000) with one-to-two-year-old hardware.
- Tacoma buyers pay for durability twice — once in the premium, once in how slowly it fades. If you plan to resell, that is a feature, not a bug.
Methodology notes
Median national asking prices by model year, snapshot of August 4, 2026, minimum 30 active listings per cell. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 was excluded: its state-level rows dominate our dataset and the national cells for several model years fell below threshold. Newer model years mix new and used listings; retention percentages compare 2021 medians against 2026 medians. Medians throughout. See how we build these studies.