SGOV dividend: how much does SGOV pay per month? (2026)

SGOV at a glance

Dividend yield

3.64%

Paid last 12 months

$3.67 / share

Pays dividends

monthly

Expense ratio

0.09%

Fund size

$116.8 billion

Average per year since 2020

+3%

Yield, expense ratio, fund size and total return from the TopDividendETFsPRO database, updated October 30, 2026. Per-share payments from StockAnalysis, through the October 2026 payment. SEC yield and holdings from iShares as of October 22 and 23, 2026.

The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF launched on May 26, 2020, and it has quietly become one of the biggest ETFs in the country, with over $116 billion in it. It's basically a high-yield savings account you can buy in a brokerage account: it holds U.S. Treasury bills that mature in three months or less and passes the interest to you every month.

A lot of people ask me "how much does $SGOV pay?" because they're parking cash in it. So let's walk through the real numbers, including the part nobody likes to hear: the check is smaller than it was a year ago.

SGOV dividend schedule for 2026

Here's every $SGOV payment counted toward 2026 so far. You need to own shares before the ex-dividend date to get paid, and the cash shows up on the pay date:

Notice there's no January ex-date. iShares pays $SGOV twice in December: once at the start of the month and once right before Christmas. That second December payment is effectively your "January" check. Counted by the month the cash arrives, you still get 12 a year.

The other thing to notice is how boring this table is. And that's the point. $0.27 to $0.31 every month, no surprises. Compare that with an option income fund like $JEPQ, whose monthly dividend swings from $0.47 to $0.70.

When is the next SGOV dividend?

$SGOV goes ex-dividend on the first business day of the month and pays three to five business days later. November 1, 2026 is a Sunday, so the next ex-date should be Monday, November 2, 2026, with the cash landing around November 5.

After that, expect one around December 1 and a second December payment a few days before Christmas, based on last year's pattern. iShares announces the exact amount right before each ex-date, so the November number isn't known yet. It will almost certainly be close to $0.30, because T-bill rates don't jump around much month to month.

My sister site TopDividendETFs.com keeps an updated list of $SGOV dividend dates and amounts if you want to check the confirmed date once it's announced.

SGOV dividend history: why the payout is falling

Here's what $SGOV paid per share, counted by ex-dividend date:

So the first nine payments of 2026 add up to $2.68 a share, versus $3.13 for the same nine months of 2025. That's about 14% less income on the same number of shares.

Nothing is wrong with the fund. This is just how T-bills work. $SGOV pays whatever short-term Treasury bills yield, and those yields track the Federal Reserve's policy rate. The Fed cut rates several times starting in late 2025, so new T-bills pay less, and within a few months that flows straight into the $SGOV check. If the Fed keeps cutting, the payout keeps drifting lower. If rates go back up, so does your income.

This is the part most people miss: $SGOV has zero dividend growth built in. With $SCHD or $DGRO, companies raise their dividends over time. With $SGOV, your income is a straight bet on where short-term interest rates go. Great for cash. Not a long-term income engine.

How SGOV makes its money (and why the price barely moves)

$SGOV tracks the ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index. As of October 23, 2026, iShares listed about 99.5% of the fund in U.S. Treasury debt, with a weighted average maturity of just 0.11 years. That's roughly 40 days.

Because the bills mature so fast, the share price hardly moves. It sits right around $100. What does happen is a tiny sawtooth every month: the price creeps up as interest builds during the month, then drops by about the size of the dividend on the ex-date. If you see $SGOV "fall" 30 cents on the first of the month, that's just the dividend leaving the fund and landing in your account.

The TopDividendETFsPRO database shows price decay: none for $SGOV and a total return of +21% since launch with dividends reinvested. That number looks small next to stock funds, but remember it launched in 2020 when T-bills paid almost nothing. Nearly all of that return came from the monthly interest, not price gains.

Is it safe? It's about as close to "risk-free" as a fund gets, since it holds U.S. government debt that matures within weeks. But it's not a bank account. It isn't FDIC insured, and the price can move a few cents. The real risk is the one above: falling rates mean falling income.

Is the SGOV dividend qualified? How it's taxed

No, $SGOV dividends are not qualified. The money comes from Treasury bill interest, so on your federal return it's taxed as ordinary income, at the same rate as your paycheck. It shows up on your 1099-DIV as an ordinary dividend, not in the qualified box.

Here's the good part. Interest from U.S. Treasuries is generally exempt from state and local income tax. Since $SGOV is almost all T-bills, most of its income usually qualifies. iShares publishes the percentage of each fund's income that came from U.S. government obligations every tax season, and you use that number to back it out of your state return. Rules vary a bit by state, so check yours or ask a tax pro.

That's a real edge over a high-yield savings account or a CD, which are fully taxable at the state level. If you live in a high-tax state, $SGOV's 3.6% can be worth noticeably more after tax than a bank paying the same rate.

One more thing people ask: does $SGOV reinvest dividends? No. It pays you cash every month. If you want to reinvest, turn on DRIP at your broker.

How much does $10,000 in SGOV pay per month?

At today's yield of 3.64%, here's what $SGOV would pay if the yield held for a year:

Another way to see it: about 100 shares (around $10,000) at roughly $0.30 a share each month is about $30. Scale it up and $50,000 is about $150 a month, and $100,000 is about $300 a month.

If your goal is $1,000 a month from $SGOV alone, you'd need roughly $329,700 at today's yield. That's the honest math on T-bills: they're amazing for safety, but it takes a lot of money to live off them, and the number goes up every time the Fed cuts.

SGOV vs WEEK, CSHI, SCHD and JEPI

Most people looking at $SGOV are deciding where to put cash, or wondering how much more they'd get by taking more risk. Same $10,000 in each:

$WEEK, from Roundhill, holds T-bills too but pays every week instead of every month. Same idea, roughly the same yield, a higher fee. If you like a weekly paycheck, WeeklyETFs.com tracks every weekly payer.

$CSHI pays more because it layers an S&P 500 options strategy on top of its T-bills. That extra 1% or so isn't free: it's compensation for taking on some stock market risk. It's a different product, not a better savings account.

And then there's $SCHD. Today it yields a bit less than $SGOV, but the companies inside raise their dividends over time, which is why its total return since 2011 is +590%. I break that down in my SCHD review. $JEPI pays more than double $SGOV, with stock market risk attached. To compare long-run total returns side by side, check ETFTotalReturns.com, and MonthlyETFs.com lists every ETF that pays monthly.

My take: who SGOV is for

I've been a dividend investor for over a decade, and I think $SGOV is one of the best tools out there. For the right job.

• Your emergency fund or cash cushion: this is where $SGOV shines. Monthly income, a stable price, a tiny 0.09% fee, and usually no state income tax on the interest. I'd rather have idle cash here than sitting at 0.5% in a checking account.
• Money you need in the next year or two: a house down payment, a tax bill, a car. You don't want that money in stocks.
• Dry powder: cash you're waiting to put to work in dividend stocks or ETFs.

Where I'd push back is using $SGOV as your long-term income plan. The income isn't growing, it's shrinking right now, and over 10 or 20 years inflation and rate cuts eat it alive. For money you won't touch for years, I'd much rather own something like $VOO or a dividend grower, and let the payout grow on its own. Use $SGOV for safety. Use real businesses for growth.

If you want to see exactly what you'd give up or gain by moving cash from $SGOV into a higher-income ETF, that comparison is what TopDividendETFsPRO is built for.

Sources

• StockAnalysis: SGOV dividend history (ex-dates, record dates, pay dates, amounts)
• iShares: SGOV fund page (inception date, expense ratio, SEC yield, holdings, weighted average maturity, benchmark)
• Live yield, total return, fund size, price decay and expense ratios: TopDividendETFsPRO.com database

This article is for education only and is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Do your own research and read the fund's prospectus before investing, and talk to a tax professional about your own situation, including state tax treatment. Yields, payments and returns change, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Dividend payments as of October 27, 2026; live numbers update daily.