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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VYM +18.0%.

Which is cheaper, USO or VYM?

VYM is cheaper, by 0.82 percentage points a year. That is about $82 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs VYM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and VYM an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +18.0%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $78.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF.

USO on its own →VYM on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+18.0%

VYM total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.04%

VYM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VYM costs 0.82 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 115.3 points.

USO vs VYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VYM
Return
Measure	USO	VYM
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+18.0%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	VYM
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	USO	VYM
What it tracks	Oil futures	FTSE High Dividend Yield Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	VYM
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.04%
Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VYM as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.9bn	$78.9bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	VYM
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		90%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		26.2%

Method

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP VYM Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF Vanguard

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of US high dividend

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +18.0%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.04%

Holdings not counted 595

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VYM as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.9bn $78.9bn

USO and VYM 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.

VYM

VYM tracks an index of US high dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% 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 595 positions, with the top ten at 26.2%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or VYM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VYM +18.0%.
Which is cheaper, USO or VYM?: VYM is cheaper, by 0.82 percentage points a year. That is about $82 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

FNDX vs USO SPHD vs USO IWD vs USO SCHD vs USO BWET vs VYM GLDM vs VYM IAU vs VYM GLD vs VYM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

VYM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VYM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VYM ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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