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S&P 500 dividend yield: 1.60%

The S&P 500 yields 1.60% (as of market close, Jul 22, 2026) — the weighted average of every member's indicated dividend yield, non-payers at zero. That is lower than 95.90% of all months since 1871 (long-run median 4.22%) — partly rich valuations, partly the buyback era: much of today's cash return never appears in a yield figure.

Dividend yield since 1871

1%4%7%10%13%18801900192019401960198020002020now 1.60%
Long-run median
4.22%
Long-run mean
4.27%
Highest
13.84% · Jun 1932
Lowest
1.11% · Aug 2000

Historical series: trailing 12-month dividends ÷ price (Shiller data, monthly, through Jun 2023). The dashed green line is today's bottom-up weighted yield.

The same history as a distribution

Every month since 1871, binned by its yield — the green bin is where today sits (hover a bar for example years).

1%–1.25%: 22 months (e.g. 1999, 2000, 2001)1.25%–1.50%: 41 months (e.g. 1998, 2001, 2021, 2022)1.50%–1.75%: 62 months (e.g. 1997, 2003, 2007, 2023) · now 1.60% · Jul 22, 20261.75%–2%: 116 months (e.g. 1997, 2007, 2015, 2022)2%–2.25%: 73 months (e.g. 1995, 2010, 2013, 2020)2.25%–2.50%: 13 months (e.g. 1995, 2008, 2016)2.50%–2.75%: 17 months (e.g. 1972, 1993, 1994, 2009)2.75%–3%: 90 months (e.g. 1961, 1965, 1987, 2009)3%–3.25%: 103 months (e.g. 1899, 1965, 1971, 2009)3.25%–3.50%: 80 months (e.g. 1899, 1960, 1986, 2009)3.50%–3.75%: 98 months (e.g. 1897, 1936, 1966, 2009)3.75%–4%: 94 months (e.g. 1886, 1902, 1955, 1990)4%–4.25%: 116 months (e.g. 1879, 1892, 1935, 1985)4.25%–4.50%: 108 months (e.g. 1880, 1896, 1935, 1985)4.50%–4.75%: 103 months (e.g. 1879, 1896, 1937, 1984)4.75%–5%: 91 months (e.g. 1879, 1912, 1943, 1984)5%–5.25%: 106 months (e.g. 1878, 1912, 1943, 1982)5.25%–5.50%: 90 months (e.g. 1871, 1904, 1933, 1981)5.50%–5.75%: 82 months (e.g. 1871, 1903, 1922, 1982)5.75%–6%: 59 months (e.g. 1871, 1913, 1938, 1982)6%–6.25%: 38 months (e.g. 1873, 1919, 1940, 1982)6.25%–6.50%: 37 months (e.g. 1873, 1920, 1931, 1951)6.50%–6.75%: 31 months (e.g. 1876, 1917, 1940, 1951)6.75%–7%: 36 months (e.g. 1874, 1919, 1941, 1951)7%–7.25%: 47 months (e.g. 1873, 1884, 1921, 1951)7.25%–7.50%: 23 months (e.g. 1873, 1874, 1932, 1950)7.50%–7.75%: 6 months (e.g. 1876, 1918, 1938, 1941)7.75%–8%: 8 months (e.g. 1873, 1932, 1938, 1942)8%–8.25%: 10 months (e.g. 1873, 1877, 1931, 1942)8.25%–8.50%: 9 months (e.g. 1876, 1877, 1918, 1942)8.50%–8.75%: 5 months (e.g. 1877, 1918, 1942)8.75%–9%: 3 months (e.g. 1877, 1932)9%–9.25%: 3 months (e.g. 1918)9.25%–9.50%: 10 months (e.g. 1917, 1931, 1932)now 1.60% · Jul 22, 20261.25%2.50%3.75%5%6.25%7.50%8.75%1160

Yield isn't the whole payout anymore

Since the 1980s, buybacks have grown into a cash return as large as dividends — often larger. A company repurchasing 3% of its shares returns cash just as surely as one paying a 3% dividend, but only the latter shows up here. That's why comparing today's 1.60% against the pre-1980 chart overstates how "stingy" the modern index is. We measure the combined figure from actual SEC cash-flow filings on the shareholder yield list (dividends + net buybacks ÷ market cap), and the pure-income ranking on the highest dividend stocks list.

FAQ

What is the S&P 500's dividend yield?
About 1.60% — the weighted average of every member's indicated dividend yield (non-payers counted at zero), updated daily.
Why is the yield low by historical standards?
Two reasons. Valuations are high (yield is dividends ÷ price, so expensive markets mechanically yield less), and since the 1980s companies have shifted cash returns from dividends to share buybacks, which don't show up in yield at all. The long-run median yield is 4.22%; today's 1.60% sits lower than 95.90% of history — but adding buybacks, total cash returned to shareholders is far closer to historical norms.
Which S&P 500 stocks pay the highest dividends?
See our highest-dividend-stocks list — the 50 fattest verified S&P 500 yields, each cross-checked against price data to confirm the dividend was actually paid. For dividends plus buybacks combined, the shareholder-yield list ranks total cash returned to owners from SEC cash-flow filings.

Notes & related

Current yield: weighted average of members' indicated dividend yields (Twelve Data snapshot), index weights from the tracking fund's SEC N-PORT filing rolled forward daily; refreshed with each market close. History: Robert Shiller's long-run series. Yield definitions differ slightly (indicated vs trailing), so the joint is approximate. Not investment advice.

ChartRow is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, S&P Global, or Nasdaq, Inc. "S&P 500®" and "Dow Jones®" are registered trademarks of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC; "Nasdaq-100®" is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc. They are used here only to identify the indexes discussed. All index-related figures on this page are independently derived from public sources — SEC filings, Robert Shiller's public dataset, and our own computations — not from any index provider's data feed.