# What is tracking difference in an ETF?

> As of Nov 4, 2026, the median stock ETF finished 4.3 points from its ETFIQ benchmark over a year, and the median bond ETF finished 0.60 points away.

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

## What is tracking difference in an ETF?

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

As of Nov 4, 2026, the median stock ETF finished 4.3 points from its ETFIQ benchmark over a year, and the median bond ETF finished 0.60 points away.

### In plain words

Tracking difference is how far a fund’s return strayed from its index over a period. If an index rose 10% and the fund 9.8%, the difference is 0.2 points. Part is the fee; the rest is trading costs and how the fund is built.

The median stock ETF finished 4.3 points from its benchmark over a year, across 941 funds; bond ETFs 0.60 points, across 294. Stock gaps run wider because many funds are active or follow a different index. A small gap is the goal for an index fund. ETFIQ shows sign, window and date, and only against the benchmark a fund names.

### Questions

Is tracking difference the same as tracking error? No. Difference is the gap in return over a period. Error is how much the gap varies from day to day.

Why does a fund trail its index? The fee comes out of returns, and the fund pays trading costs the index does not.

Where do I see a fund’s gap? On its fund page, beside its benchmark, with the window and the date.

### Where to next

---

Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, What is tracking difference in an ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-tracking-difference-in-an-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.
HTML: https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-tracking-difference-in-an-etf