VOO vs SCHD
VOO is a broad, market-cap-weighted S&P 500 fund. SCHD is built specifically around dividend-paying companies. They aren't really competing for the same job — here's how they differ.
VOO
S&P 500 — broad market-cap weighting
SCHD
Dividend-quality screen and weighting
What each fund tracks
VOO tracks the S&P 500 index, holding roughly 500 large U.S. companies weighted simply by market capitalization — bigger companies make up a bigger share of the fund. SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, which first screens for U.S. companies with a consistent history of paying dividends, then weights the ones that pass by a combination of fundamental factors rather than size alone. The selection process itself is the core difference — VOO takes the whole large-cap market, SCHD takes a specific subset chosen for dividend characteristics.
| VOO | SCHD | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Vanguard | Charles Schwab |
| Tracks | S&P 500 Index | Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index |
| Selection approach | Market-cap weighted, broad | Screened for dividend history and quality |
| Primary focus | Broad market growth | Dividend income and quality |
What's actually different
Because SCHD's selection process specifically favors established, profitable, dividend-paying companies, it tends to look and behave differently from VOO — often with a different sector mix and typically a higher dividend yield, since that's what its index is built to find. VOO's broader, unscreened approach means it also holds fast-growing companies that pay little or no dividend, which SCHD's criteria would tend to exclude. Neither approach is inherently better — they're answering different questions.
Expense ratios and current yields for both funds change over time — check current figures directly with Vanguard and Schwab rather than relying on a fixed number here.
An illustrative growth example
Because VOO and SCHD follow genuinely different strategies, a single growth projection can't responsibly represent both. The chart below illustrates the compounding mechanism only — $500 invested every month for 20 years at an assumed 7% annual return — not a claim that either fund would actually produce this outcome. Use the calculator below with your own assumed return for each fund to model them separately.
At this hypothetical rate, the 20-year total works out to $260,463, of which $120,000 came from contributions.
Which one fits your plan
If you want broad exposure to the overall U.S. large-cap market without a specific tilt, VOO fits that goal. If dividend income and companies with a track record of consistent payouts are a priority for you, SCHD is built specifically around that. Many long-term investors use funds like these for different roles within the same portfolio, rather than treating the choice as either/or. This page is educational, not a recommendation.
Curious about SCHD's dividend income specifically? Try our ETF dividend calculator with your own yield assumption, or use the VOO calculator to project VOO's growth on its own.