{"url":"https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/","section":"trading","title":"IQ Liquidity Score: How to Read ETF Liquidity | ETFIQ","description":"As of Oct 22, 2026, ETFIQ scored 181 ETFs. The median IQ Liquidity Score was 75, Liquid. A guide to trading conditions, not advice.","as_of":"Oct 22, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"Article","headline":"How to read the IQ Liquidity Score","url":"https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/","dateModified":"2026-10-22","author":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"about":"ETF trading","isAccessibleForFree":true},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How is ETF liquidity measured?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"By what a trade costs, what the holdings can absorb, how closely the price tracks NAV and how many APs stand behind the fund."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I compare liquidity when selecting an ETF?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Compare spreads, capacity and active APs on each fund\u2019s trading page. The score puts them on one 0 to 100 scale."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the bid-ask spread of an ETF?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask. Each side pays about half of it, so a round trip pays it once."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trading","item":"https://etfiq.com/trading/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to read the IQ Liquidity Score","item":"https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"IQ Liquidity Score: How to Read ETF Liquidity","description":"As of Oct 22, 2026, ETFIQ scored 181 ETFs. The median IQ Liquidity Score was 75, Liquid. A guide to trading conditions, not advice.","url":"https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/","dateModified":"2026-10-22","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":3481,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Trading / How to read the IQ Liquidity Score \n \n Figures as of Oct 22, 2026.\n How to read the IQ Liquidity Score\n As of Oct 22, 2026, ETFIQ scored 181 ETFs. The median IQ Liquidity Score was 75, Liquid.\n The IQ Liquidity Score measures how easily an ETF trades, from 0 to 100. 100 is the easiest.\n It uses fixed anchors, so a fund\u2019s score does not move because other funds changed.\n Beside it, the page prints the fund\u2019s percentile in its category.\n The tiers\n Trades like a giant: 85 to 100. Liquid: 70 to 84. Liquid with care: 55 to 69.\n Thin: 35 to 54. Hard to trade: 0 to 34.\n 122 ETFs scored Liquid or better on Oct 22, 2026.\n The six components\n Cost to trade: the fund\u2019s 30-day median bid-ask spread, from its issuer.\n Capacity: what the holdings could absorb in a day.\n Price fidelity: how closely the closing price tracked net asset value (NAV).\n Primary market: the active authorized participants (APs) named in Form N-CEN.\n Bad-day behaviour: how the price held against NAV on the market\u2019s hardest days.\n Depth: how much is offered at the quote. It needs quote data ETFIQ does not hold yet.\n Reading one fund\n Each component prints with its raw figure, so you can see what drives the score.\n The score describes trading in a fund, not whether to own it.\n The low volume guide explains why a small fund can score high.\n Live \u00b7 181 ETFs \u00b7 Oct 22, 2026 \n 75\n The median IQ Liquidity Score, Liquid. 122 ETFs score Liquid or better.\n Trades like a giant (85 to 100) 53 Liquid (70 to 84) 69 Liquid with care (55 to 69) 48 Thin (35 to 54) 10 Hard to trade (0 to 34) 1 Scores as of Oct 22, 2026 \u00b7 ETFIQ\n Related funds\n BIL trading costs TQQQ trading costs QLD trading costs NOBL trading costs Related rankings\n Most liquid small ETFs ETFs with the tightest bid-ask spreads Questions people ask\n How is ETF liquidity measured? By what a trade costs, what the holdings can absorb, how closely the price tracks NAV and how many APs stand behind the fund. How do I compare liquidity when selecting an ETF? Compare spreads, capacity and active APs on each fund\u2019s trading page. The score puts them on one 0 to 100 scale. What is the bid-ask spread of an ETF? The gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask. Each side pays about half of it, so a round trip pays it once. Where to next\n ETF trading costs and liquidity Limit orders vs market orders for ETFs Why low volume does not mean illiquid Premiums and discounts to NAV International ETFs when the home market is closed Bond ETFs in a sell-off Stop orders and Aug 24, 2015 Leveraged and inverse ETFs: trading costs on top of decay Trading a new ETF in its first weeks Ex-dividend days and income ETFs Buffer ETFs: reset day and buying mid-period How the IQ Liquidity Score is built A guide to trading conditions, not advice. ETFIQ makes no recommendations. Standards and sources \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, How to read the IQ Liquidity Score, data as of Oct 22, 2026. https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/ Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, How to read the IQ Liquidity Score, data as of Oct 22, 2026. https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/ APA ETFIQ. (Oct 22, 2026). How to read the IQ Liquidity Score. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/ Markdown [How to read the IQ Liquidity Score (ETFIQ, Oct 22, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, How to read the IQ Liquidity Score, data as of Oct 22, 2026. https://etfiq.com/trading/reading-the-score/"}