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Data last updated: Oct 02, 2026
Snapshot (as of Oct 02, 2026): Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) pays a $3.41 annual dividend ($0.80 quarterly), yielding 3.80% at $89.63/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-09-23. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 3.80%
Annual Dividend: $3.41 per share
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-09-23
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Financial Services
Years of Dividend History: 23
The Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend comes from a fund that holds equity in REITs owning commercial real estate, including office buildings and hotels, tracking the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index. VNQ currently yields 3.74%, with a trailing annual dividend rate of $3.4732 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is June 24, 2026, and the last quarterly payment was $0.8554 per share. With a beta of 0.983, VNQ moves roughly in line with the broader market, making it a fit for income-focused investors who want real estate exposure without the illiquidity of direct property ownership.
Vanguard Real Estate ETF pays out dividends sourced from the income generated by its underlying REIT holdings, and the payout ratio is not applicable (fund/ETF) because distributions flow through from portfolio income rather than corporate earnings. Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend safety is tied directly to the rental and property income produced by the commercial real estate assets the fund holds, including office buildings and hotels. The most significant pressure point is that those asset classes can see income disruption during periods of weak occupancy or rising interest rates, which has historically caused year-over-year dividend fluctuations in VNQ's payout.
Vanguard Real Estate ETF dividend history shows a CAGR of 3.8% per year from 2011 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $2.0500 to $3.4718 over that window (2026 data is a partial year and excluded from the growth calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 27.3% in 2016, but the history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, so growth has not been linear.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +2.5% | $3.23 (2022) | $3.47 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +0.8% | $3.33 (2020) | $3.47 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +1.1% | $3.12 (2015) | $3.47 (2025) |
VNQ fits income-focused investors who want exposure to commercial real estate income through a diversified REIT fund. The current yield of 3.74% is classified as moderate (2-4%), and it sits slightly above the 5-year average yield of 3.57%, which means the fund is currently paying out at the higher end of its recent range. Growth has averaged 3.8% annually since 2011, but the path has been uneven, with meaningful year-over-year swings in both directions. What an investor gets here is broad real estate income exposure with a yield that has historically kept pace with modest inflation. The trade-off is dividend volatility: this is not a fund where the payout moves in one direction only.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | $0.8046 |
| 2026-06-24 | $0.8554 |
| 2026-03-24 | $0.9457 |
| 2025-12-22 | $0.8005 |
| 2025-09-24 | $0.8716 |
| 2025-06-26 | $0.8678 |
| 2025-03-25 | $0.9319 |
| 2024-12-23 | $0.8555 |
| 2024-09-27 | $0.8128 |
| 2024-06-28 | $1.0328 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $2.6057 |
| 2025 | $3.4718 |
| 2024 | $3.4335 |
| 2023 | $3.4928 |
| 2022 | $3.2261 |
Project income from VNQ with the VNQ dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.