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ETF Comparison

SPYD vs SCHD: Maximum Yield or Dividend Quality?

SPYD equal-weights the 80 highest-yielding stocks in the S&P 500 for a 4.42% yield. SCHD screens 100 companies for a decade of dividend payments and financial quality at 3.44%. Compare income, risk, returns, and construction.

Data as of September 28, 2026

SPYD

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF

State Street SPDR

High Dividend Yield

Price

$46.03

Yield (TTM)

4.42%

SPYD dividend calculator →

SCHD

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

Charles Schwab

Dividend Growth

Price

$31.20

Yield (TTM)

3.44%

SCHD dividend calculator →

Run these ETFs through the calculator

Project compounded returns, dividend income, and reinvestment using each ETF's real yield, expense ratio, and distribution frequency.

Calculate with SPYDCalculate with SCHDCompare side by side

Quick Comparison Summary

SPYD vs SCHD: compare dividend yield (4.4% vs 3.4%), expense ratio (0.07% vs 0.06%), holdings, returns, and our verdict for dividend investors.

Side-by-Side Metrics
MetricSPYDSCHD
IssuerState Street SPDRCharles Schwab
Inception2015-10-212011-10-20
CategoryHigh Dividend YieldDividend Growth
Price$46.03$31.20
NAV$46.03$31.19
Dividend Yield (TTM)4.42%3.44%
Expense Ratio0.07%0.06%
Distribution FrequencyQuarterlyQuarterly
AUM$7.3B$88.3B
Total Returns

3Y and 5Y figures are annualized. A 0% value indicates the fund had not been listed for the full period.

Holdings & Sector Exposure

SPYD

Top 5 / 5 shown

  • T

    AT&T

    1.85%

  • VZ

    Verizon

    1.78%

  • PFE

    Pfizer

    1.72%

  • MO

    Altria

    1.68%

  • BMY

    Bristol-Myers Squibb

    1.62%

Sector Weights

  • Real Estate18.4%
  • Utilities16.5%
  • Financials15.8%
  • Consumer Staples12.4%
  • Energy10.2%
  • Health Care9.4%

SCHD

Top 5 / 5 shown

  • TXN

    Texas Instruments

    4.31%

  • AMGN

    Amgen

    4.18%

  • CSCO

    Cisco Systems

    4.05%

  • VZ

    Verizon

    3.97%

  • HD

    Home Depot

    3.85%

Sector Weights

  • Financials18.4%
  • Health Care16.9%
  • Consumer Staples14.7%
  • Industrials13.5%
  • Information Tech11.2%
  • Energy8.6%

Pros & Cons

SPYDPros
  • 4.42% yield — roughly a full point above SCHD
  • 0.07% expense ratio
  • Equal weighting avoids mega-cap concentration
  • 80-name portfolio still provides meaningful diversification
SCHDPros
  • Requires at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments plus quality screens
  • Higher risk-adjusted return profile historically (11.18% annualized over 5 years)
  • 3.44% yield with a growing payout
  • 0.06% expense ratio
SPYDCons
  • No dividend-growth or safety screen — yield-trap risk is real
  • Equal weighting and sector concentration increase volatility
  • Lower 5-year returns than SCHD (9.85% vs 11.18% annualized)
SCHDCons
  • Lower starting yield than SPYD
  • Value tilt can lag growth-led markets
  • Only about 100 holdings
The Verdict

SPYD delivers more current income — 4.42% versus 3.44% — by equal-weighting the S&P 500's highest yielders, with no dividend-growth requirement. SCHD gives up roughly a percentage point of yield for a quality screen and 11.18% annualized 5-year returns versus SPYD's 9.85%. The extra yield in SPYD is compensation for taking on more yield-trap risk and a concentrated, equal-weighted portfolio.

Best for
SPYD

Income investors who explicitly want the highest yields in the S&P 500 and accept the risks

Best for
SCHD

Investors who prefer quality screens and dividend growth over maximum current yield

Strategy Summary

SPYD

Tracks the S&P 500 High Dividend Index — the 80 highest-yielding stocks in the S&P 500, equally weighted. Pure yield maximization within a large-cap universe.

SCHD

Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index — large-cap U.S. companies with at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments, screened on cash-flow-to-debt, ROE, dividend yield, and 5-year dividend growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

SPYD yields about 4.42% versus SCHD's 3.44%. SPYD explicitly tracks the 80 highest-yielding S&P 500 stocks, so a higher headline yield is by design.

It can be. SPYD has no dividend-growth requirement, so some holdings may be paying out a large share of earnings — a pattern that can precede cuts. SCHD requires a decade of payments plus cash-flow and profitability screens. A higher yield is not free income.

Equal weighting means every one of the 80 holdings has the same influence regardless of size, so small and mid-cap names matter more than in a cap-weighted fund. That avoids mega-cap concentration but increases single-stock and sector swings.

Over the trailing five years SCHD has returned about 11.18% annualized versus 9.85% for SPYD, according to the data on this page. SPYD's higher yield narrowed the income gap, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Yes — some investors pair SCHD as a quality income core with SPYD as a higher-yield satellite. Watch for overlap in large dividend payers and keep position sizes deliberate. Run either fund's assumptions through the calculator to compare income.
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Disclaimer: This page is for educational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or tax advice. ETF data is sourced from issuer fact sheets and may be slightly out of date. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified advisor before making investment decisions.