SCHD dividend calculator and payout history since 2016
SCHD pays four times a year, in March, June, September and December. Enter an amount or a number of shares to see a year of payouts at the latest rate, then compare SCHD's record with SPY and with the high-yield option income funds.
Short answers
How much does SCHD pay per share?
The latest SCHD payout, ex-date September 23, 2026, was 0.267 a share, about 0.80% of that day's price. The last four payouts summed to about 2.9% of the share price, and SCHD has paid every March, June, September and December since 2016.
How much do I need in SCHD to make 1,000 a month?
About 400,000 at the latest payout rate: 12,000 a year divided by a yield of about 3.0%. The calculator above works it out for any goal. SCHD needs far more money for the same cash than the option income funds do, but it also grew its share price about 184% since 2016 while most of them shrank.
Has SCHD beaten the S&P 500?
Not over the whole record: from January 2016 to November 13, 2026, SCHD returned about 13.8% a year with dividends reinvested against SPY's 14.8%. It beat SPY in 2016, 2021, 2022 and so far in 2026 (+34.9% against +11.5%), and trailed it by more than ten points in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The calculator
Income calculator: pick a fund and an amount (or a number of shares) to see a year of payouts at the latest rate, the last twelve months of payouts, and how much it would take to reach a monthly income goal. It runs in your browser with JavaScript on. The figures, through the 2026-11-13 close, with total return measured with every payout reinvested, from each fund's first close:
| Fund | Payouts a year | Trailing 12 month yield | Total return a year | Index | Index a year | Share price since launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QQQI | 12 | 14.9% | 16.2% | QQQ | 18.9% | 2.6% |
| JEPQ | 12 | 12.4% | 14.2% | QQQ | 18.0% | 10.0% |
| GPIQ | 12 | 10.9% | 22.9% | QQQ | 25.6% | 36.7% |
| QDTE | 52 | 45.9% | 17.0% | QQQ | 17.7% | -42.9% |
| QYLD | 12 | 12.1% | 8.9% | QQQ | 19.1% | -23.4% |
| SPYI | 12 | 12.0% | 14.2% | SPY | 18.0% | 6.8% |
| JEPI | 12 | 7.9% | 11.4% | SPY | 17.2% | 16.1% |
| GPIX | 12 | 8.4% | 21.5% | SPY | 23.5% | 40.0% |
| XYLD | 12 | 10.3% | 8.4% | SPY | 14.8% | -4.8% |
| DIVO | 12 | 6.4% | 12.5% | SPY | 14.7% | 89.7% |
| SCHD | 4 | 2.9% | 13.8% | SPY | 14.8% | 184.3% |
| IWMI | 12 | 14.8% | 14.7% | IWM | 15.8% | -2.3% |
| MSTY | 52 | 156.7% | 9.5% | MSTR | 17.9% | -89.6% |
| NVDY | 52 | 65.1% | 41.9% | NVDA | 64.3% | -55.5% |
| TSLY | 52 | 74.7% | 9.2% | TSLA | 21.0% | -89.4% |
| CONY | 52 | 138.2% | 1.2% | COIN | 15.8% | -93.2% |
| ULTY | 53 | 101.9% | -1.2% | QQQ | 18.2% | -89.4% |
| BTCI | 12 | 34.5% | -0.3% | IBIT | 1.1% | -44.1% |
SCHD payouts by year
Per share, split adjusted (SCHD split three for one in October 2024), and summed as a share of the price on each ex-date: 2016: 0.419 (3.0%). 2017: 0.449 (2.9%). 2018: 0.480 (2.9%). 2019: 0.575 (3.2%). 2020: 0.676 (3.9%). 2021: 0.750 (3.0%). 2022: 0.854 (3.5%). 2023: 0.886 (3.7%). 2024: 0.995 (3.7%). 2025: 1.047 (3.9%). 2026 through September: 0.777 (2.4%).
The yearly amount grew every year in the record, about two and a half times from 2016 to 2025. Single payouts do dip: 17 of 42 were lower than the one before, most often the March payout after a larger December one (10 of the 17).
The last eight payouts
Ex-date, amount per share, and that amount as a share of the day's close: December 11, 2024: 0.265 (0.94%). March 26, 2025: 0.249 (0.90%). June 25, 2025: 0.260 (0.99%). September 24, 2025: 0.260 (0.96%). December 10, 2025: 0.278 (1.01%). March 25, 2026: 0.257 (0.84%). June 24, 2026: 0.253 (0.80%). September 23, 2026: 0.267 (0.80%).
SCHD against SPY and the option income funds
With dividends reinvested, SCHD returned about 13.8% a year since 2016 against SPY's 14.8%, with almost the same worst drawdown (-33.4% against -33.7%, both in March 2020). In the 2022 bear market it fell 3.3% while SPY fell 18.2%. By year: 2017 +20.8% vs +21.7%, 2019 +27.3% vs +31.2%, 2021 +29.9% vs +28.7%, 2023 +4.5% vs +26.2%, 2024 +11.7% vs +24.9%, 2025 +4.3% vs +17.7%, 2026 so far +34.9% vs +11.5%.
The option income funds pay far more cash per dollar: JEPI about 7.9% of its price over the last twelve months, QQQI about 14.9%. Their total return has trailed their index by more: JEPI about 11.4% a year against SPY's 17.2% since 2020. The dividend calculator puts all of them side by side.
How we measured
Daily closing prices and distributions from Yahoo Finance through the November 13, 2026 close, split adjusted. Total return reinvests each distribution on its ex-date. Each fund is compared with what it is measured against on exactly the same days, from the fund's first close. No taxes or trading costs are included, and past returns do not predict future ones. This is a measurement, not advice for anyone's account.
Measured from daily closes and distributions, every payout reinvested, each fund against its index on the same days. Past returns do not predict future ones. This is education, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.