Which returned more over the last year, IYR or XLB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYR returned +3.4% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, IYR or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IYR and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 80% of IYR and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IYR vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IYR returned +3.4% to XLB's +18.5%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $3.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF, and $8.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

IYR on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+3.4%

IYR total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.37%

IYR expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.1 points; XLB is 2.0 times larger.

IYR vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IYR	XLB
Return
Measure	IYR	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+3.4%	+18.5%
Drawdown
Measure	IYR	XLB
Below its high	8.6%, high on Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IYR	XLB
What it tracks	Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Capped Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	IYR	XLB
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$4.0bn	$8.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IYR	XLB
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	52.5%	58.5%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IYR and XLB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IYR XLB

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IYR

WELLTOWER 9.85%

PROLOGIS REIT 8.77%

AMERICAN TOWER REIT 4.96%

SIMON PROPERTY GROUP REIT INC 4.71%

EQUINIX REIT 4.57%

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST REIT 4.54%

REALTY INCOME REIT 4.19%

PUBLIC STORAGE REIT 4.10%

Only in XLB

LINDE PLC 12.96%

NEWMONT CORP 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 5.23%

ECOLAB INC 4.98%

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 4.89%

NUCOR CORP 4.89%

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 4.84%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 4.77%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IYR iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of U.S. Real Estate Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +3.4% +18.5%

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 80.0% 99.8%

Holdings 59 25

Net assets, IYR as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLB as of Oct 27, 2026 $3.9bn $8.1bn

IYR and XLB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

IYR

IYR tracks an index of U.S. Real Estate. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.37% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 80% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 59 positions, with the top ten at 52.5%. It sat 8.6% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IYR or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IYR returned +3.4% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, IYR or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IYR and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 80% of IYR and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IYR vs XLI IYR vs XHB IYR vs XLV IYR vs XLF XLB vs XLRE SCHH vs XLB VNQ vs XLB VDC vs XLB

Where to next

IYR on its own →XLB on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →IYR dividend history →IYR holdings →XLB dividend history →XLB holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

IYR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IYR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IYR ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IYR against XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iyr-vs-xlb

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.