diff --git a/pip/cmdoptions.py b/pip/cmdoptions.py
index f71488cdf51..359cd8dd57e 100644
--- a/pip/cmdoptions.py
+++ b/pip/cmdoptions.py
@@ -450,7 +450,8 @@ def only_binary():
     dest="cache_dir",
     default=USER_CACHE_DIR,
     metavar="dir",
-    help="Store the cache data in <dir>."
+    help="Store the cache data in <dir>. Current cache directory is set to %s"%\
+            repr(USER_CACHE_DIR)
 )
 
 no_cache = partial(