Which returned more over the last year, USO or VEA?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VEA +17.1%.

Which is cheaper, USO or VEA?

VEA is cheaper, by 0.83 percentage points a year. That is about $83 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and VEA an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +17.1%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $231.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF.

USO on its own →VEA on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+17.1%

VEA total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.03%

VEA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VEA costs 0.83 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 116.2 points.

USO vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VEA
Return
Measure	USO	VEA
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+17.1%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	VEA
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008	4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USO	VEA
What it tracks	Oil futures	FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	VEA
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.03%
Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.9bn	$231.6bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	VEA
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		13.6%

Method

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF Vanguard

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +17.1%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 3906

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.9bn $231.6bn

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

Alert

About each fund

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.

VEA

VEA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,906 positions, with the top ten at 13.6%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or VEA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VEA +17.1%.
Which is cheaper, USO or VEA?: VEA is cheaper, by 0.83 percentage points a year. That is about $83 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

EFA vs USO IXUS vs USO IDEV vs USO ACWX vs USO BWET vs VEA GLDM vs VEA IAU vs VEA GLD vs VEA

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

VEA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VEA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VEA ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, USO against VEA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-vea

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