# What is a dividend ETF?

> As of Nov 4, 2026, 392 of 1,881 stock ETFs have a 12-month yield of 3% or more, and the median stock ETF yields 1.6%. Updated every trading night.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

## What is a dividend ETF?

Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

As of Nov 4, 2026, 392 of 1,881 stock ETFs have a 12-month yield of 3% or more, and the median stock ETF yields 1.6%.

### In plain words

A dividend ETF owns companies that pay part of their profit in cash: some pick the highest payers, others firms that have raised the payout for years. The fund passes the cash on, usually quarterly or monthly.

Across 1,881 stock ETFs the median 12-month yield is 1.6%, and 392 reach 3% or more. Option income funds yield far more, a median of 16.5%, by giving up upside for cash. A high yield can mean a company is paying more than it can afford, or that its price fell. ETFIQ shows price change and total return beside the cash.

### Questions

Is a dividend ETF the same as an income ETF? No. A dividend fund owns companies that pay. An income fund often writes options to make cash. ETFIQ keeps them in separate categories.

How is the yield measured? As cash paid over the past 12 months divided by the price. It looks back and is not a forecast.

Where do I find them? The screener filters stock ETFs by yield, fee and size.

### Where to next

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, What is a dividend ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-a-dividend-etf
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
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