Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
USO vs USOY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% to USOY's +80.7%, and USO charges 0.86% to USOY's 1.12%.
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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $76m on Oct 27, 2026 for Defiance Oil Enhanced Options Income ETF.
Pair scorecard
USO costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 52.6 points; USO is far larger, $1.9bn against $76m.
| Measure | USO | USOY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +133.3% | +80.7% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 133.3% | rose 9.9% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 43.9% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 95% of the Oct 16, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Oil futures | Benchmark: United States Oil Fund, LP, measured through USO |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.86% | 1.12% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.9bn | $76m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
May 17, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 127 weekly returnsUSO returned more: +120.3% to +75.4%. USOY swung less: 28.1% to 42.5%. USOY fell less at its worst: −23.3% to −29.9%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | USO | USOY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +120.3% | +75.4% | USO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +38.2% | +25.9% | USO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +120.3% | −61.0% | USO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 42.5% | 28.1% | USOY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 23.2% | 18.7% | USOY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −29.9% | −23.3% | USOY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.86 | 0.81 | USO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.58 | 1.22 | USO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 1.28 | 1.11 | USO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 127 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
USO and USOY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
USO and USOY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and USOY is measured against United States Oil Fund, LP through USO.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and USOY +80.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 52.6 points.
- Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and USOY 1.12%, a gap of 0.26 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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USO
USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.
USOY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USOY paid 52.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 9.9%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +80.7%. United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) returned +133.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 52.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 43.9%, paid weekly. Defiance estimates that 95% of the distribution paid Oct 16, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are USO and USOY in the same category?
- USO is a commodity ETF and USOY is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, USO or USOY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and USOY +80.7%.
- Which is cheaper, USO or USOY?
- USO is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
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ETFIQ, USO against USOY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-usoy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). USO against USOY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-usoy
[USO against USOY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-usoy)
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