Cheapest short-term bond ETFs by expense ratio

As of Nov 12, 2026, BSV has the lowest fee of 53 short-term bond ETFs with at least $100m in net assets: 0.03%. 4 funds tie there. See 25 funds ranked by fee, lowest first. Updated Nov 12, 2026.

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1	BSV	Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF	0.03%	Tie	$46.9bn	+0.9%
2	VCSH	Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF	0.03%	Tie	$45.9bn	+1.3%
3	SCHJ	Schwab 1-5 Year Corporate Bond ETF	0.03%	Tie	$870m	+1.4%
4	AGGM	iShares 1-10 Year U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	0.03%	Tie	$130m	−1.4%
5	IGSB	iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	0.04%	Tie	$23.7bn	+1.4%
6	SPIB	State Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF	0.04%	Tie	$11.3bn	0.0%
7	SPSB	State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF	0.04%	Tie	$11.1bn	+2.2%
8	ISTB	iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF	0.06%	Tie	$5.3bn	+1.0%
9	SLQD	iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	0.06%	Tie	$2.4bn	+1.9%
10	VBCB	Vanguard Target Maturity 2028 Corporate Bond ETF	0.08%		$138m	Not measured
11	IBDT	iShares iBonds Dec 2028 Term Corporate ETF	0.10%	Tie	$4.1bn	+2.3%
12	IBDU	iShares iBonds Dec 2029 Term Corporate ETF	0.10%	Tie	$4.0bn	+1.4%
13	BSCS	Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF	0.10%	Tie	$3.5bn	+2.3%
14	IBDV	iShares iBonds Dec 2030 Term Corporate ETF	0.10%	Tie	$3.4bn	+0.3%
15	BSCT	Invesco BulletShares 2029 Corporate Bond ETF	0.10%	Tie	$3.1bn	+1.3%
16	BSCU	Invesco BulletShares 2030 Corporate Bond ETF	0.10%	Tie	$2.8bn	+0.3%
17	IBDW	iShares iBonds Dec 2031 Term Corporate ETF	0.10%	Tie	$2.7bn	−0.5%
18	BSCV	Invesco BulletShares 2031 Corporate Bond ETF	0.10%	Tie	$1.9bn	−0.4%
19	LDRC	iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Corporate Ladder ETF	0.10%	Tie	$101m	+2.0%
20	SUSB	iShares ESG Aware 1-5 Year USD Corporate Bond ETF	0.12%		$1.3bn	+1.2%
21	VSDB	Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF	0.15%	Tie	$1.2bn	+1.7%
22	MYCH	State Street My2028 Corporate Bond ETF	0.15%	Tie	$907m	+2.3%
23	SKOR	Northern Trust Credit-Scored US Corporate Bond ETF	0.15%	Tie	$737m	0.0%
24	AVSF	Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	0.15%	Tie	$638m	+1.0%
25	MYCI	State Street My2029 Corporate Bond ETF	0.15%	Tie	$108m	+1.4%

Cheapest short-term bond ETFs by expense ratio, ranked by fee, lowest first, as of Nov 12, 2026. Fees are each fund’s net expense ratio from its latest filing, dated Dec 18, 2025 to Nov 3, 2026. Net assets are dated Jun 30, 2026 to Nov 12, 2026, each fund’s latest. 1-year returns run Nov 12, 2025 to Nov 12, 2026, 365 days each. Source: ETFIQ.

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Questions people ask

What is an expense ratio?

An ETF’s expense ratio is the yearly fee taken from its assets, net of any waiver, as its prospectus states it. A fee of 0.03% costs $3 a year on $10,000.

Which short-term bond ETFs have the lowest fee?

As of Nov 12, 2026, BSV ranks first of 53 short-term bond ETFs with at least $100m in net assets on fee, at 0.03%. VCSH is next at 0.03%.

How these numbers are computed

53 short-term bond ETFs with at least $100m in net assets are listed by ETFIQ with a fee; the 25 with the lowest fee are shown. Across all 53, the median is 0.19% and the range runs from 0.03% to 0.55%.

Lowest first. Funds with the same printed number are marked Tie and ordered by net assets, largest first.

The set is ETFIQ’s own segment, computed from each fund’s filings and holdings. The list sorts one published number, with no scoring or weighting.

Closed funds are not listed. A ranking is not a recommendation.

Where to next

Every bond ETF Every ranking Screen every ETF Compare two ETFs Largest bond ETFs by net assets 25 Largest government bond ETFs by net assets 25 Cheapest municipal bond ETFs by expense ratio 25 Largest high yield bond ETFs by net assets 25 Cheapest corporate bond ETFs by expense ratio 25 Largest corporate bond ETFs by net assets 25 How each fund is placed The screener file

About these rankings

Links are sources, not endorsements. A ranking is not a recommendation or an opinion.

Sources

SEC EDGAR, full-text search of fund filings ↗ SEC Form N-PORT, what a fund filed it holds ↗ Rule 19a-1, what a distribution notice must say ↗

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ETFIQ, Cheapest short-term bond ETFs by expense ratio, ranked by fee, lowest first, data as of Nov 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/rankings/bonds-cheapest-short-term-bond-etfs

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