thumb|[[Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by the Eagles is the best-selling album of all time in the U.S.]]
The following is a list of the best-selling albums in the United States based on RIAA certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the album must have achieved at least a diamond certification from the RIAA. The albums released prior to March 1991 should be included with their certified units only, as their Nielsen SoundScan sales are not complete.
Since February 2016, album certifications include "on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent" units.
Groupings are based on different benchmarks; the highest being for at least 20 million units, and the lowest being for multi-disc albums certified at least 10 times platinum and single-disc albums that have been certified at least 10 times platinum but with sales figures lower than 10,000,000. Albums are listed in order of units certified, or sales figures when available, by greatest to least.
As a result of the RIAA's methodology of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification, most double albums on the list—such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—have been certified with a number double the number of copies sold. Such albums have the shipments of copies, not discs, indicated. Conversely, the certification level for double albums that fit onto one compact disc such as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack reflect the actual number of copies sold.
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The albums in this list are ordered first by number of units, then by platinum awards received, and finally by artist name and album title.
Albums with two references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club. Albums with three references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club and Columbia House.
The best-selling album in the United States is Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by the Eagles.
20 million or more copies
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Artist
!Album
!Label
!Shipments (Sales)
!Certification
|-
|-
|1976
|Eagles
|Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
|Asylum
|40,000,000
|40× Platinum
|-
|1982
|
|Thriller
|Epic
|34,000,000
|34× Platinum
|-
|1976
|Eagles
|Hotel California
|Asylum
|28,000,000
|28× Platinum
|-
|1980
|AC/DC
|Back in Black
|Atlantic
|27,000,000
|27× Platinum
|-
|1971
|Led Zeppelin
|Untitled ("Led Zeppelin IV")
|Atlantic
|24,000,000
|24× Platinum
|-
|1977
|Fleetwood Mac
|Rumours
|Warner Bros.
|21,000,000
|21× Platinum
|-
|}
15–19 million copies
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Artist
!Album
!Label
!Shipments (Sales)
!Certification
|20× Platinum
|-
|1997
|
|Come On Over
|Mercury Nashville
|(17,720,000)
|20× Platinum
|-
|1974
|
|Greatest Hits
|Polydor
|17,000,000
|17× Platinum
|-
|1976
|Boston
|Boston
|Epic
|17,000,000
|17× Platinum
|-
|1984
|
|Born in the U.S.A.
|Columbia
|17,000,000
|17× Platinum
|-
|1977
|Soundtrack / Bee Gees
|Saturday Night Fever
|RSO
|16,000,000
|16× Platinum
|-
|1995
|
|Jagged Little Pill
|Maverick
|(15,550,000)
|17× Platinum
|-
|1973
|Pink Floyd
|The Dark Side of the Moon
|Harvest/Capitol
|15,000,000
|15× Platinum
|-
|1978
|Steve Miller Band
|Greatest Hits 1974–78
|Capitol
|15,000,000
|15× Platinum
|-
|1986
|Bon Jovi
|Slippery When Wet
|Mercury
|15,000,000
|15× Platinum
|}
10–14 million copies
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Artist
!Album
!Label
!Shipments (Sales)
!Certification
|22× Platinum
|-
|1971
|
|Tapestry
|Ode
|14,000,000
|14× Platinum
|-
|1972
|Simon & Garfunkel
|Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
|Columbia
|14,000,000
|14× Platinum
|-
|1977
|Meat Loaf
|Bat Out of Hell
|Epic
|14,000,000
|14× Platinum
|-
|1985
|
|Whitney Houston
|Arista
|14,000,000
|14× Platinum
|-
|1987
|Soundtrack
|Dirty Dancing
|RCA
|14,000,000
|14× Platinum
|-
|1999
|Backstreet Boys
|Millennium
|Jive
|(13,890,000)
|13× Platinum
|-
|1992
|Soundtrack / Whitney Houston
|The Bodyguard
|Arista
|(13,450,000)
|19× Platinum
|-
|1999
|Santana
|Supernatural
|Arista
|(13,110,000)
|11× Platinum<div><small>(as of 2010)</small></div>
|-
|1978
|Soundtrack
|Grease
|RSO
|13,000,000
|13× Platinum
|-
|1984
|Prince and the Revolution
|Purple Rain
|Warner
|13,000,000
|13× Platinum
|-
|2000
|Eminem
|The Marshall Mathers LP
|Aftermath
|(12,940,000)
|17× Platinum
|-
|1968
|The Beatles
|The Beatles ("The White Album")
|Apple
|12,000,000
|24× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1969
|
|Abbey Road
|Apple
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1969
|Led Zeppelin
|Led Zeppelin II
|Atlantic
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1976
|Creedence Clearwater Revival
|Chronicle, Vol. 1
|Fantasy
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1977
|
|The Stranger
|Columbia
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1980
|Aerosmith
|Greatest Hits
|Columbia
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1980
|
|Greatest Hits
|Liberty
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1985
|
|No Jacket Required
|Atlantic
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1987
|Def Leppard
|Hysteria
|Mercury
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|1992
|Kenny G
|Breathless
|Arista
|12,000,000
|12× Platinum
|-
|2000
|Linkin Park
|Hybrid Theory
|Warner Bros.
|(11,956,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1999
|Creed
|Human Clay
|Wind-up
|(11,700,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|1991
|Nirvana
|Nevermind
|DGC
|(11,640,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|2002
|
|Come Away with Me
|Blue Note
|(11,100,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1967
|
|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
|Capitol
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1973
|Led Zeppelin
|Houses of the Holy
|Atlantic
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1976
|
|Greatest Hits
|Warner Bros.
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1982
|Eagles
|Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
|Asylum
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1987
|
|Bad
|Epic
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1990
|Madonna
|The Immaculate Collection
|Sire
|11,000,000
|11× Platinum
|-
|1991
|Pearl Jam
|Ten
|Epic
|(10,790,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|2002
|Eminem
|The Eminem Show
|Aftermath
|(10,700,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|2000
|
|Oops!... I Did It Again
|Jive
|(10,411,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|2004
|Usher
|Confessions
|Arista
|(10,300,000)
|13× Platinum
|-
|1994
|Green Day
|Dookie
|Reprise
|(10,005,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1991
|
|Ropin' the Wind
|Capitol Nashville
|(9,600,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1996
|Matchbox Twenty
|Yourself or Someone Like You
|Atlantic
|(9,358,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1994
|Bob Seger
|Greatest Hits
|Capitol
|(9,062,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1994
|TLC
|CrazySexyCool
|LaFace
|(8,970,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1995
|
|The Woman in Me
|Mercury Nashville
|(8,894,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1995
|Jewel
|Pieces of You
|Atlantic
|(8,800,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|2000
|Nelly
|Country Grammar
|Universal
|(8,581,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1995
|
|Daydream
|Columbia
|(8,505,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|1973
|The Beatles
|1967–1970
|Apple
|8,500,000
|17× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1999
|Dixie Chicks
|Fly
|Monument
|(8,396,000)
|12× Platinum
|-
|1998
|
|The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
|Columbia
|(8,078,477)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1993
|
|Music Box
|Columbia
|(8,012,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1975
|Led Zeppelin
|Physical Graffiti
|Swan Song
|8,000,000
|16× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2005
|Nickelback
|All the Right Reasons
|Roadrunner
|(7,960,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1994
|Soundtrack
|The Lion King
|Walt Disney
|(7,879,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1994
|
|The Hits
|Liberty
|(7,821,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1992
|
|Unplugged
|Reprise
|(7,617,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1973
|The Beatles
|1962–1966
|Apple
|7,500,000
|15× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2008
|Taylor Swift
|Fearless
|Big Machine
|(7,286,000)
|11× Platinum
|-
|1997
|The Notorious B.I.G.
|Life After Death
|Bad Boy/Arista
|(6,480,000)
|11× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album, as of 2018)</small></div>
|-
|2014
|
|1989
|Big Machine
|(6,472,000)
|14× Platinum
|-
|1998
|
|Double Live
|Capitol Nashville
|(6,017,000)
|25× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1971
|The Rolling Stones
|Hot Rocks 1964–1971
|London
|6,000,000
|12× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2003
|Outkast
|Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
|LaFace, Arista
|(5,702,000)
|13× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1994
|
|Merry Christmas
|Columbia
|(5,700,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1997
|
|Sevens
|Capitol
|(5,700,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|2002
|
|Up!
|Mercury Nashville
|(5,409,000)
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1976
|
|Songs in the Key of Life
|Motown
|5,000,000
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1985
|
|The Best of The Doors
|Elektra
|5,000,000
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1996
|2Pac
|All Eyez On Me
|Death Row
|5,000,000
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2007
|
|The Ultimate Hits
|Pearl
|5,000,000
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1995
|The Smashing Pumpkins
|Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
|Virgin
|(4,900,000)
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1994
|Soundtrack
|Forrest Gump
|Epic
|(4,400,000)
|12× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|1986
|
|Live/1975–85
|Columbia
|4,333,333
|13× Platinum<div><small>(3-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2019
|Garth Brooks
|Triple Live
|Pearl
|4,333,333
|13× Platinum<div><small>(3-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2005
|Eminem
|Curtain Call: The Hits
|Aftermath
|(3,782,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|2010
|Katy Perry
|Teenage Dream
|Capitol
|(3,100,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|1990
|Led Zeppelin
|Led Zeppelin Boxed Set
|Atlantic
|2,500,000
|10× Platinum<div><small>(4-disc album)</small></div>
|-
|2011
|Drake
|Take Care
|Young Money/Cash Money/Republic
|(2,338,000)
|10× Platinum
|-
|2015
|Cast Recording
|Hamilton
|Atlantic
|(1,970,000)
|10× Platinum<div><small>(2-disc album)</small></div>
|}