The free dividend tracker to help you grow your wealth. Link your brokerage accounts and MerryDiv automatically syncs your holdings and dividends.
Data last updated: Jul 18, 2026
Snapshot (as of Jul 18, 2026): Equity Residential (EQR) pays a $2.79 annual dividend ($0.70 quarterly), yielding 4.04% at $69.00/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-06-29. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 4.04%
Annual Dividend: $2.79 per share
Payout Ratio: 110.4%
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-06-29
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Real Estate
Years of Dividend History: 34
Equity Residential dividend income comes from one of the largest apartment REITs in the United States, owning or investing in 305 properties and 78,568 units across high-demand urban markets like New York, Boston, and San Francisco. The current yield stands at 4.06%, with a trailing annual dividend rate of $2.79 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is June 29, 2026, with the last quarterly payment of $0.7025 per share. A beta of 0.754 means EQR stock moves less than the broader market, which suits income-focused investors who prioritize lower volatility over aggressive growth.
Equity Residential pays out 110.4% of earnings as dividends, a payout ratio classified as high (above 75%). For a residential REIT, this is not automatically alarming, since REITs are required to distribute the majority of taxable income and are typically evaluated on funds from operations rather than net earnings alone. Equity Residential dividend safety is worth watching, however, because the payout ratio exceeds 100%, meaning reported earnings alone do not fully cover the current $2.79 annual dividend. The data also shows at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5% in the dividend history window, which confirms the dividend is not immune to cuts under pressure.
Equity Residential dividend history shows a CAGR of 2.1% per year from 2008 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $1.9320 to $2.7540 over that period (2026 is a partial year and excluded from this calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 488.7% in 2016, which reflects a special or one-time distribution rather than organic dividend growth, and the underlying trend across other years is considerably slower.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +3.3% | $2.50 (2022) | $2.75 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +2.7% | $2.41 (2020) | $2.75 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +2.2% | $2.21 (2015) | $2.75 (2025) |
EQR fits income-focused investors who want above-average yield from a large, urban apartment portfolio and can accept a high payout ratio. At 4.06%, the current yield sits above the 5-year average of 3.59%, meaning buyers today are locking in a historically elevated income rate from this stock. The trade-off is clear: dividend growth has averaged just 2.1% per year since 2008, so real purchasing power gains are limited. The payout ratio above 100% adds another layer of caution. What Equity Residential offers is a high (above 4%) yield backed by a geographically diversified portfolio of nearly 79,000 apartment units in supply-constrained metro markets. What it does not offer is fast dividend growth.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-29 | $0.7025 |
| 2026-03-30 | $0.7030 |
| 2026-01-02 | $0.6930 |
| 2025-09-25 | $0.6930 |
| 2025-06-24 | $0.6930 |
| 2025-03-31 | $0.6930 |
| 2025-01-02 | $0.6750 |
| 2024-09-24 | $0.6750 |
| 2024-07-01 | $0.6750 |
| 2024-03-22 | $0.6750 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $2.0985 |
| 2025 | $2.7540 |
| 2024 | $2.0250 |
| 2023 | $2.6520 |
| 2022 | $2.5000 |
Project income from EQR with the EQR dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.