# How to Calculate the Steam-to-Cash Price Ratio

> Divide Steam's daily median sale price by CSFloat's daily completed-sale average on UTC dates where both archives return sales for the same exact item.

The result is an observed, item-specific relationship between Steam wallet value and one cash marketplace. It is not a universal withdrawal rate.

## The two sale series

| Archive | Daily price | Volume | Coverage |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Steam | Native median sale price | Number of purchases | Daily since April 26, 2013 |
| CSFloat | Arithmetic average completed-sale price | Number of completed sales | Daily since 2022 |

Both endpoints return prices normalized to USD and require Scale or Enterprise. Steam also offers native `1h` buckets from May 9, 2026; CSFloat is daily only. Steam sale history supports regular items, while CSFloat can include supported variant series.

## Calculating the ratio

Request matching daily date ranges and the same regular `market_hash_name`. Join rows by UTC date, then divide the Steam `price` by the CSFloat `price` only where both are positive and both volumes show completed sales.

For a period summary, publish the weighting rule. An unweighted mean gives a thin day the same influence as a busy one. A volume-aware method can weight each paired date by the smaller of its Steam and CSFloat sale counts, but that minimum remains a confidence weight rather than matched transactions.

Keep the inverse cash-per-Steam calculation separate. The average of daily reciprocals is generally different from the reciprocal of an averaged Steam-to-cash ratio.

## Applicable endpoints

| Endpoint | Returns | Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `POST /v1/archive/steam` | Native Steam median sale price and purchase count | Scale, Enterprise |
| `POST /v1/archive/csfloat` | CSFloat average completed-sale price and sale count | Scale, Enterprise |

## Interpretation limits

- Median and arithmetic mean react differently to the distribution of sold assets. Float and sticker mix can move the ratio.
- Do not fill a one-sided date with zero or a prior sale. Restrict the ratio to matched returned dates.
- Steam wallet value, marketplace fees, and withdrawal constraints are distinct concepts. The archives do not convert one into another.
- Do not apply one item's ratio to an inventory without checking several liquid, comparable items on matching dates.

The [Steam and CSFloat sales comparison](/resources/how-to-compare-steam-and-csfloat-sales-history) keeps the source definitions visible before calculating a ratio.