VYM dividend: schedule, yield and history (2026)

VYM at a glance

Dividend yield

2.3%

Paid last 12 months

$3.68 / share

Pays dividends

quarterly

Expense ratio

0.04%

Fund size

$82.8 billion

Average per year since 2006

+9.3%

Yield, expense ratio, fund size and total return from the TopDividendETFsPRO database, updated October 30, 2026. Per-share payments from StockAnalysis, through the September 2026 payment. Holdings as of September 30, 2026.

The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF launched on November 10, 2006. It's one of the oldest and biggest dividend ETFs out there, with over $80 billion in it, and it's the fund a lot of people land on when they want "more dividends than the S&P 500, but still cheap and diversified."

The name makes it sound like a high-yield fund. It isn't, really. At about 2.3%, it pays roughly double what $VOO pays, but well under $SCHD. So let's look at the real numbers and figure out where it actually fits.

VYM dividend schedule for 2026

$VYM pays four times a year. You need to own shares before the ex-dividend date to get paid, and the cash shows up a few business days later on the pay date:

Notice the amounts move around a bit from quarter to quarter. That's normal. $VYM passes through whatever its 600 or so companies paid during the quarter, and companies don't all pay on the same calendar. June tends to be a little bigger, and December often is too.

When is the next VYM dividend?

Vanguard has kept $VYM on a steady rhythm: ex-dividend dates land in the second half of March, June, September and December. The last two December ex-dates were December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025. So the next one should be around December 18, 2026, with the cash landing a few days before Christmas.

Vanguard announces the exact date and amount right before the ex-date, so the December number isn't known yet. Based on the last few years, I'd expect something in the $0.85 to $1.00 range, but that's a guess, not a promise. Dividends from a stock fund can go down as well as up.

If you're buying for the dividend, remember the share price drops by about the dividend amount on the ex-date. Buying the day before to "grab" the payment doesn't make you money. It just turns part of your investment into a taxable distribution.

VYM dividend history: is the payout growing?

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

This is the part most people miss about $VYM. From 2023 through 2025 the dividend basically went sideways: $3.48, $3.49, $3.50. That's not a dividend growth fund. It's a "pay me a decent yield and don't do anything weird" fund.

2026 looks better. The first three payments add up to $2.73 a share, versus $2.55 for the same three quarters of 2025. That's about 6.8% more income on the same shares. Whether that holds depends on the December check, but it's a nice change of pace.

If dividend growth is what you're after, a fund like $DGRO or $VIG is built for that, and both start with a lower yield. With $VYM you're trading growth speed for more income today.

What VYM holds (and why the yield isn't higher)

$VYM tracks the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. The idea is simple: take U.S. stocks, rank them by forecast dividend yield, and keep the top half or so, weighted by market cap. REITs are left out. As of September 30, 2026, that came to 603 holdings.

Here are the top 10, which make up about 26% of the fund:

See the number one holding? $AVGO is almost 7% of the fund, and Broadcom is not what most people picture when they hear "high dividend yield." Because the index is weighted by market cap, the biggest dividend payers by size end up on top, even if their own yield is modest. That's exactly why $VYM's overall yield sits around 2.3% instead of 4%.

I actually think that's a feature, not a bug. It means $VYM isn't loaded up on struggling companies with high yields because their stock price collapsed. You get banks, energy, healthcare, industrials and some tech, spread across hundreds of names. The TopDividendETFsPRO database shows price decay: none and a total return of +496% since launch with dividends reinvested.

The fee is tiny too. At 0.04%, you pay about $4 a year on $10,000.

Are VYM dividends qualified? How they're taxed

For the most part, yes. $VYM holds U.S. common stocks and skips REITs, so the large majority of its dividends usually count as qualified dividends. In a taxable account those are taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rates (0%, 15% or 20% depending on your income), as long as you've held the shares more than 60 days around the ex-date.

It's usually not 100%, though. Small slices can come from sources that don't qualify. Vanguard publishes the qualified percentage for each fund every tax season, and your 1099-DIV is the final word for your account.

That's a real edge over interest-based income. A T-bill fund like $SGOV or a covered call fund like $JEPI pays income that's mostly taxed at ordinary rates. In a taxable account, a 2.3% qualified yield can hold up better after tax than it looks on paper.

How much does $10,000 in VYM pay?

At today's yield of 2.3%, here's what $VYM would pay if the yield held for a year:

Scale it up and $50,000 is about $1,150 a year, and $100,000 is about $2,300 a year, paid in four chunks.

If your goal is $1,000 a month from $VYM alone, you'd need roughly $521,700 at today's yield. That's a big number, and it's honest. $VYM is a wealth builder that pays you along the way, not a fund you buy to replace your paycheck next year.

One more thing: if $10,000 had gone into $VYM at launch in 2006 with every dividend reinvested, it would be worth about $59,600 today. Reinvesting is where the magic happens.

VYM vs SCHD, HDV, DGRO and VIG

Most people looking at $VYM are deciding between it and a handful of other dividend ETFs. Same $10,000 in each:

$VYM sits right in the middle on income. $SCHD and $HDV pay more because they're far more concentrated: $SCHD holds about 100 stocks and screens hard on quality and yield, and $HDV holds even fewer. $VYM spreads across roughly 600, which makes it smoother but also more like the overall market. I break down $SCHD in my full SCHD review.

On the other side, $DGRO and $VIG pay less today but focus on companies that keep raising their dividends. If you're 25 and won't touch the money for decades, that tradeoff can make sense. If you want more income now, $VYM or $SCHD fit better.

To compare long-run total returns across all of these on equal footing, my sister site ETFTotalReturns.com ranks them side by side. For a ranked list of dividend ETFs with price decay flags, check TopDividendETFs.com, and if you'd rather get paid every month, MonthlyETFs.com lists every monthly payer.

My take: who VYM is for

I've been a dividend investor for over a decade, and $VYM is one of those funds I respect more the longer I look at it. It's not exciting. It's not supposed to be.

• You want a core dividend fund that won't blow up: 600 stocks, a 0.04% fee and no price decay. Hard to mess this up.
• You want more income than the S&P 500: roughly double $VOO's yield, without going all in on covered call funds.
• You invest in a taxable account: mostly qualified dividends make the income more tax friendly than bond or option income.

Where I'd push back: don't buy $VYM expecting fast dividend growth. The payout went flat for three years before picking up in 2026. And if income is the whole goal, $SCHD has paid more with a better long-run total return. I'd rather own $SCHD as my main dividend fund and use something like $VYM for broader diversification, but plenty of investors do the opposite and do just fine.

The point is to know what you own. If you want to see how $VYM compares on yield, total return and price decay against 130+ other income ETFs, that's exactly what TopDividendETFsPRO is built for.

Sources

• StockAnalysis: VYM dividend history (ex-dates, record dates, pay dates, amounts)
• StockAnalysis: VYM holdings (holdings count and top 10 weights as of September 30, 2026)
• Vanguard: VYM fund page (inception date, benchmark, expense ratio)
• 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. Yields, payments and returns change, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Dividend payments as of October 29, 2026; live numbers update daily.