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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLI +10.2%.

Which is cheaper, USO or XLI?

XLI is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and XLI an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +10.2%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $30.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

USO on its own →XLI on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+10.2%

XLI total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.08%

XLI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLI costs 0.78 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 123.1 points; XLI is 16.2 times larger.

USO vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XLI
Return
Measure	USO	XLI
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+10.2%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	XLI
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008	9.4%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USO	XLI
What it tracks	Oil futures	Industrial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	XLI
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.9bn	$30.8bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	XLI
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		37.8%

Method

Risk and return

Apr 21, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,070 weekly returns

USO XLI

Return

Total return edge XLI −70.9% +599.6%

Annualized edge XLI −5.8% +9.9%

Price return edge XLI −70.9% +371.8%

Risk

Volatility edge XLI 37.1% 20.8%

Max drawdown edge XLI −98.0% −61.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XLI −0.02 0.48

Sortino edge XLI −0.03 0.68

Calmar edge XLI −0.06 0.16

Reading

XLI returned more: +599.6% to −70.9%. XLI swung less: 20.8% to 37.1%. XLI fell less at its worst: −61.6% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USO vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XLI	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	−70.9%	+599.6%	XLI	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	−5.8%	+9.9%	XLI	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−70.9%	+371.8%	XLI	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	37.1%	20.8%	XLI	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	26.9%	14.5%	XLI	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−98.0%	−61.6%	XLI	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.02	0.48	XLI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.03	0.68	XLI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	−0.06	0.16	XLI	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,070 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP XLI State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF State Street

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Industrials

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +10.2%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.6% (SPY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −3.4 pts vs SPY

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 84

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLI as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.9bn $30.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-234B78A5AF

USO and XLI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and XLI follows Industrial Select Sector Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and XLI +10.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 123.1 points.
Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and XLI 0.08%, a gap of 0.78 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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.

XLI

XLI tracks an index of Industrials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 37.8%. It sat 9.4% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or XLI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLI +10.2%.
Which is cheaper, USO or XLI?: XLI is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

USO vs XLF USO vs XLP USO vs XLB USO vs XHB BWET vs XLI GLDM vs XLI IAU vs XLI GLD vs XLI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

XLI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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