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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VPU −3.3%.

Which is cheaper, USO or VPU?

VPU is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

USO is a commodity futures fund and VPU an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against −3.3%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about USO and VPU

Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.

USO on its own →VPU on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

−3.3%

VPU total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.09%

VPU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VPU costs 0.77 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 136.6 points.

USO vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VPU
Return
Measure	USO	VPU
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	−3.3%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	VPU
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008	8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USO	VPU
What it tracks	Oil futures	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	USO	VPU
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.09%
Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.9bn	$7.7bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	VPU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		90%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		52.3%

Method

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP VPU Vanguard Utilities ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF Vanguard

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +133.3% −3.3%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured −3.3% (FUTY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured 0.0 pts vs FUTY

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 70

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.9bn $7.7bn

USO and VPU 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.

VPU

VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or VPU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VPU −3.3%.
Which is cheaper, USO or VPU?: VPU is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

USO vs XLU USO vs VOX USO vs XLF USO vs XRT BWET vs VPU GLD vs VPU GLDM vs VPU IAU vs VPU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

VPU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VPU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VPU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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