ETF Comparison

SCHD vs VIG vs DGRO: Dividend Growth

Compare annual dividend growth for SCHD, VIG, and DGRO from 2017–2025 and see how their year-to-year growth patterns differed.

Published September 30, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026

SCHD · VIG · DGRO

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SCHD vs VIG vs DGRO: Dividend Growth

Annual Dividend Growth Heatmap (2017–2025)

SCHD vs VIG vs DGRO: Dividend GrowthAnnual Dividend Growth Heatmap (2017–2025)201720182019202020212022202320242025CAGR1DGROiShares Core Dividend Growth ETFiShares Core Dividend…7.4%14.9%14.8%10.5%4.2%9%12.7%5.3%4.7%9.2%2SCHDSchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETFSchwab U.S. Dividend …7%7%19.8%17.6%10.9%13.9%3.8%12.2%5.3%10.7%3VIGVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETFVanguard Dividend App…5.1%6.2%4.7%7.6%15.8%11.8%7.9%5.3%5.3%7.7%3–6%6–10%10–20%

Introduction

SCHD, VIG, and DGRO all focus on dividend growth, but their annual growth patterns have differed considerably. This heatmap compares year-over-year dividend growth from 2017 through 2025, making it easier to see both long-term growth and the variation hidden behind a single CAGR.

Key insights

  • SCHD Had the Highest CAGR

    SCHD recorded the highest row CAGR at 10.7%, compared with 9.2% for DGRO and 7.7% for VIG. Its annual results also varied substantially, ranging from 3.8% growth in 2023 to 19.8% in 2019.

  • DGRO Followed a Different Path

    DGRO's 9.2% CAGR included strong growth of roughly 14.9% in both 2018 and 2019, followed by 10.5% in 2020. Growth reached 12.7% again in 2023 before moderating to 5.3% in 2024 and 4.7% in 2025.

  • All Three Avoided Cuts and Freezes

    Across the 27 observations shown, every cell falls into the moderate, strong, or high growth categories. None of the three ETFs recorded a dividend cut or freeze in the supplied 2017–2025 data. This does not mean growth was uniform: individual annual growth rates varied considerably across the period.

  • CAGR Does Not Show the Year-to-Year Journey

    A long-term CAGR summarizes growth across the full period but can obscure annual variation. The heatmap makes those differences visible, showing that similar long-term dividend-growth profiles can be built from different sequences of stronger and more moderate years.

Methodology

Each heatmap cell represents the supplied year-over-year dividend growth percentage for an ETF in that calendar year. These percentages measure dividend growth, not dividend yield, dollar payout, or total return. Cell colors correspond to DividendXray's dividend-growth categories—cut, freeze, low, moderate, strong, high, and exceptional—based on the supplied growth percentage for each cell. Negative growth would represent a dividend cut, not a negative dividend payment, while 0% growth would represent a freeze. The visualization covers 2017–2025 with nine observations for each ETF and 27 company-year cells in total. The displayed row CAGR summarizes the supplied growth data across the period and should not be interpreted as the growth rate investors received in every individual year. Missing cells, when present in other heatmaps, represent unavailable observations rather than 0% growth.

Data as of: September 30, 2026

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