ETF Comparison

SCHD vs VIG: $10,000 Dividend Income Growth From 2018–2025

See how $10,000 invested in SCHD and VIG developed into different annual cash-income streams from 2018 through 2025, with dividends taken as cash.

Published September 27, 2026 · Updated September 27, 2026

SCHD · VIG · dividend growth

$10k in SCHD vs $10k in VIGAnnual cash income from an initial $10,000 investment$10k in SCHD vs $10k in VIGAnnual cash income from an initial $10,000 investmentData as of 2026-09-26Annual income from initial $10,000 (USD)$0.0$150.0$300.0$450.0$600.0$750.0SCHD$281.2VIG$233.82018SCHD$336.9VIG$244.92019SCHD$396.3VIG$263.52020SCHD$439.4VIG$305.22021SCHD$500.5VIG$341.12022SCHD$519.3VIG$368.12023SCHD$582.9VIG$387.72024SCHD$614.1VIG$408.32025Yield-on-cost growth summaryInvestmentInitial yield YOC (2025)CAGR (2018–2025)SCHD — Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 2.7% 6.1% 11.8%VIG — Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF 2.5% 4.1% 8.3%Each series assumes an equal initial investment of $10,000 at its historical starting price. Annual payouts are taken as cash and not reinvested.

Introduction

SCHD and VIG are both dividend-growth ETFs, but equal $10,000 starting investments produced increasingly different cash-income streams over this eight-year period. This visualization tracks annual distributions taken as cash rather than reinvested, making it easier to see how dividend growth affected the income generated by the original investment.

Key insights

  • The income gap widened over time

    Both ETFs increased their annual distributions across the 2018–2025 period. SCHD's dividend CAGR was 11.80%, compared with 8.29% for VIG, allowing the income generated from equal initial investments to diverge over time.

  • SCHD's yield on the original cost basis grew faster

    SCHD began with a 2.7% initial yield based on its historical starting price and forward annualized dividend rate. Its 2025 dividend represented a 6.1% yield on that same starting cost basis. VIG moved from a 2.5% initial yield to a 4.1% yield on cost. These figures describe historical yield on cost, not current market yields.

  • Per-share dividends also show steady growth

    On a one-share basis, SCHD's calendar-year regular dividends increased from about $0.48 in 2018 to $1.05 in 2025, while VIG increased from about $2.04 to $3.56. The combined one-share dividend total rose from $2.52 to $4.61, representing a 9.01% combined CAGR.

Methodology

The primary visualization normalizes SCHD and VIG to equal hypothetical $10,000 investments using their historical starting prices. Annual distributions are taken as cash and are not reinvested. The supporting per-share analysis uses actual calendar-year regular dividends from 2018 through 2025. When combined, each year's total is simply the sum of one share of SCHD and one share of VIG; it is not ETF-level income, portfolio-weighted income, or an ETF distribution. Initial yield uses the forward annualized regular dividend rate in effect at the historical starting price, which serves as a standardized hypothetical cost basis. Ending yield on cost uses 2025 dividends against that same starting price. Because calendar-year dividends reflect payments actually made during the year, the first-year total can differ from the forward annualized dividend rate at the starting date. The 2026-09-26 date represents the visualization's data snapshot and is separate from the 2018–2025 historical analysis period.

Data as of: September 27, 2026

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