Which returned more over the last year, SHY or VTEB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and VTEB −0.4%.

Which is cheaper, SHY or VTEB?

VTEB is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SHY vs VTEB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SHY's duration was 1.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VTEB's 7.1 on Jul 31, 2026; VTEB charges 0.03% to SHY's 0.15%.

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Net assets: $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, and $49.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF.

SHY on its own →VTEB on its own →

At a glance

+1.6%

SHY total return, 1 year

−0.4%

VTEB total return, 1 year

0.15%

SHY expense ratio

0.03%

VTEB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VTEB costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; VTEB is 1.9 times larger.

SHY vs VTEB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SHY	VTEB
Return
Measure	SHY	VTEB
Total return, 1 year	+1.6%	−0.4%
Benchmark
Measure	SHY	VTEB
What it tracks	ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index	S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	SHY	VTEB
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$26.3bn	$49.6bn
Holdings
Measure	SHY	VTEB
Holdings in common	0%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Sep 4, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026 · 581 weekly returns

SHY VTEB

Return

Total return edge VTEB +19.3% +26.3%

Annualized edge VTEB +1.6% +2.1%

Price return edge VTEB −3.9% −2.9%

Risk

Volatility edge SHY 1.4% 6.7%

Max drawdown edge SHY −5.6% −14.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VTEB −0.48 0.00

Sortino edge VTEB −0.69 0.01

Calmar edge SHY 0.29 0.14

Reading

VTEB returned more: +26.3% to +19.3%. SHY swung less: 1.4% to 6.7%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −14.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SHY vs VTEB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SHY	VTEB	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+19.3%	+26.3%	VTEB	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+1.6%	+2.1%	VTEB	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−3.9%	−2.9%	VTEB	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	1.4%	6.7%	SHY	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	1.0%	4.6%	SHY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−5.6%	−14.8%	SHY	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.48	0.00	VTEB	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.69	0.01	VTEB	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.29	0.14	SHY	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 581 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SHY and VTEB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SHY VTEB

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SHY

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Apr 30, 2028 1.97%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Jan 31, 2028 1.71%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Jun 30, 2028 1.61%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Apr 30, 2029 1.51%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due May 31, 2029 1.49%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Aug 15, 2027 1.48%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Jun 30, 2029 1.47%

U.S. Treasury Notes, due Feb 15, 2028 1.40%

Only in VTEB

NEW YORK CITY-F-1-REF, due Aug 1, 2034 0.12%

CA REGENTS UNIV-CD, due May 15, 2036 0.11%

IDAHO ST-TANS, due Jun 30, 2027 0.10%

CA REF, due Aug 1, 2032 0.10%

MARYLAND ST-GROUP 2, due Jun 1, 2038 0.09%

NY ST THRUWAY AUTH-A, due Sep 15, 2035 0.09%

TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE-A-1, due Feb 1, 2028 0.09%

DALLAS ISD-B, due Feb 15, 2056 0.08%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF VTEB Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Tracks an index of Tax-Exempt Bond

Total return, 1 year +1.6% −0.4%

Its benchmark over the same days +1.7% (BBSB) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs BBSB not measured

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.03%

Holdings 90 11155

Net assets, SHY as of Oct 27, 2026 and VTEB as of Sep 30, 2026 $27.4bn $49.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-71E51D9B29

SHY and VTEB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. SHY follows ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index and VTEB follows S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index.
Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SHY returned +1.6% and VTEB −0.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

SHY

SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.

VTEB

VTEB tracks an index of Tax-Exempt Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SHY or VTEB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and VTEB −0.4%.
Which is cheaper, SHY or VTEB?: VTEB is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

MUB vs SHY HYMB vs SHY AGG vs SHY BND vs SHY IEI vs VTEB VGSH vs VTEB LQD vs VTEB IGSB vs VTEB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SHY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SHY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SHY ↗

VTEB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VTEB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VTEB ↗

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, SHY against VTEB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vteb

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