By good dividend yield 2026 US stocks
No single number dey define good yield. Most US payers yield under 4%, and sector norms plus 10-year Treasury dey shift di bar. Click see real clusters.
A good dividend yield na range, no be one number, and di range tight pass wetin most stock screeners dey show. For US-listed companies wey worth pass $1 billion, 81.3% of all dividend payers dey yield under 4%, and only 62 names dey inside di 8% and up band. Wetin be good yield dey change based on di industry and wetin Treasury note dey pay dat same week, and di growth rate of di payment matter as much as di size.
Wetin be good dividend yield for 2026?
Make we start with how market dey look instead of one rule wey everybody dey follow. Every company wey dey list for US, wey get market value pass $1 billion and share price pass $5, wey dey pay dividend, we don sort dem into yield bands based on di latest snapshot wey we get:
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH payers AS (
SELECT ticker,
argMax(dividend_yield, date) * 100 AS yield_pct
FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios
WHERE date = (SELECT max(date) FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios)
AND price >= 5
AND market_cap >= 1000000000
AND dividend_yield > 0
GROUP BY ticker
),
banded AS (
SELECT multiIf(yield_pct < 1, 'under 1%',
yield_pct < 2, '1 to 2%',
yield_pct < 3, '2 to 3%',
yield_pct < 4, '3 to 4%',
yield_pct < 6, '4 to 6%',
yield_pct < 8, '6 to 8%',
'8% and up') AS yield_band,
min(yield_pct) AS band_floor,
count() AS company_count
FROM payers
GROUP BY yield_band
)
SELECT yield_band,
company_count,
round(100 * company_count / sum(company_count) OVER (), 1) AS pct_of_payers,
round(100 * sum(company_count) OVER (ORDER BY band_floor) / sum(company_count) OVER (), 1) AS cumulative_pct
FROM banded
ORDER BY band_floorDi middle dey full. Di 1 to 2% and 2 to 3% bands get 21.5% and 20.2% of all payers, and by di time you reach di top of di 3 to 4% band, you don cover 81.3% of dem. After dat point, di number dey reduce fast: 132 companies for di 4 to 6% band, 44 for 6 to 8%, and 62 for 8% and up.
Dose bands dey work like vocabulary. Di under 1% and 1 to 2% bands na where company dey return most of ein cash for some oda way. Di 2 to 3% and 3 to 4% bands na di middle wey plenty for US market. Di 4 to 6% band dey really high and e dey gather for few industries. If you see reading of 6 to 8% or more, e no common, so make you check di price chart before you look di payout.
Wetin be good dividend yield for each sector?
The main thing wey dey determine normal yield na di industry. A sector fund show di clearest picture for im own part of market: twelve months of distributions divide by di fund price for late July 2026.
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH px AS (
SELECT ticker,
argMax(close, window_start) AS price
FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
WHERE ticker IN ('XLU','XLRE','XLP','XLE','XLF','XLV','XLB','XLI','XLC','XLY','XLK')
AND window_start >= toDateTime('2026-07-20 00:00:00')
AND window_start < toDateTime('2026-07-31 00:00:00')
AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
+ toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
GROUP BY ticker
),
dv AS (
SELECT ticker,
sum(cash_amount) AS ttm_distributions
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker IN ('XLU','XLRE','XLP','XLE','XLF','XLV','XLB','XLI','XLC','XLY','XLK')
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ex_dividend_date > toDate('2025-07-30')
AND ex_dividend_date <= toDate('2026-07-30')
GROUP BY ticker
)
SELECT transform(px.ticker,
['XLU','XLRE','XLP','XLE','XLF','XLV','XLB','XLI','XLC','XLY','XLK'],
['Utilities','Real estate','Consumer staples','Energy','Financials',
'Health care','Materials','Industrials','Communications',
'Consumer discretionary','Technology'],
'Other') AS sector,
px.ticker AS fund_ticker,
round(dv.ttm_distributions, 3) AS annual_distributions_usd,
round(dv.ttm_distributions / px.price * 100, 2) AS trailing_yield_pct
FROM px
INNER JOIN dv ON px.ticker = dv.ticker
ORDER BY trailing_yield_pct DESCDi spread big. Utilities dey pay 3.31% and Energy dey pay 3.2%, while Technology dey pay 0.55%. A yield wey dey near di top of dat list na normal for one industry but e be outlier for anoda one, wey be why one single company dey read better against im own sector dan against market-wide average.
Two structural facts dey behind di top of di list. Real estate investment trusts must distribute most of dia taxable income to keep dia tax treatment, and regulated utilities dey run on rate-based cash flows with long payout histories. A big yield for those places na feature of di business model. Di same number for a fast-growing software company na anomaly wey you suppose investigate. How dem dey calculate dividend yield cover di trailing and forward versions of di ratio, wey often dey disagree.
Yield abi dividend growth?
Yield dey measure one year of payments against today price. E no talk anything about where the payment dey go. Ten household payers, current yield beside the change for the annual dividend over five years:
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH px AS (
SELECT ticker,
argMax(close, window_start) AS price
FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
WHERE ticker IN ('MSFT','MCD','HD','PG','KO','JNJ','XOM','CVX','VZ','MO')
AND window_start >= toDateTime('2026-07-20 00:00:00')
AND window_start < toDateTime('2026-07-31 00:00:00')
AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
+ toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
GROUP BY ticker
),
dv AS (
SELECT ticker,
sumIf(cash_amount, ex_dividend_date > toDate('2025-07-30')
AND ex_dividend_date <= toDate('2026-07-30')) AS ttm_now,
sumIf(cash_amount, ex_dividend_date > toDate('2020-07-30')
AND ex_dividend_date <= toDate('2021-07-30')) AS ttm_five_years_ago
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker IN ('MSFT','MCD','HD','PG','KO','JNJ','XOM','CVX','VZ','MO')
AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ((ex_dividend_date > toDate('2020-07-30') AND ex_dividend_date <= toDate('2021-07-30'))
OR (ex_dividend_date > toDate('2025-07-30') AND ex_dividend_date <= toDate('2026-07-30')))
GROUP BY ticker
)
SELECT px.ticker AS symbol,
round(dv.ttm_now / px.price * 100, 2) AS current_yield_pct,
round(100 * (dv.ttm_now / dv.ttm_five_years_ago - 1), 1) AS five_year_dividend_growth_pct,
round(dv.ttm_now, 2) AS dividends_per_share_ttm
FROM px
INNER JOIN dv ON px.ticker = dv.ticker
WHERE dv.ttm_five_years_ago > 0
AND dv.ttm_now > 0
ORDER BY current_yield_pctRead the two columns together. MSFT dey for bottom of the yield column at 0.79%, with im annual payment up 62.6% across the five years. MO dey for top at 6.23% with growth of 23.3%. For between na the long-established payers: MCD at 2.73% with 43.6% growth, and HD at 2.78% with 47%.
The mechanic behind the tradeoff clear well well. Yield on cost, the current payment wey you divide by the price wey you actually pay, e dey rise with every raise and e no ever move with the share price after that. A fast-growing payment wey start from low yield fit pass a flat payment wey start from high one over a long holding period, and a payment wey dem cut dey move the other way. Dividend growth champions dey rank the names with the longest unbroken raise records.
When high dividend yield be warning
Yield na fraction wey get price for denominator, and dat denominator dey move every trading day. Yield fit double while di company dey write di same check. Intel across di 42 months from January 2021 go June 2024 na di textbook example of dat arithmetic.
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH px AS (
SELECT toStartOfMonth(toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) AS month_start,
argMax(close, window_start) AS price,
max(toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) AS last_day
FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
WHERE ticker = 'INTC'
AND toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) >= toDate('2021-01-01')
AND toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) <= toDate('2024-06-30')
AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
+ toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
GROUP BY month_start
),
dv AS (
SELECT ex_dividend_date, cash_amount
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker = 'INTC'
AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
AND frequency = 4
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2020-01-01')
)
SELECT formatDateTime(px.month_start, '%Y-%m') AS month,
formatDateTimeInJodaSyntax(px.month_start, 'MMMM yyyy') AS month_label,
round(any(px.price), 2) AS price,
round(argMax(dv.cash_amount, dv.ex_dividend_date), 4) AS quarterly_dividend_usd,
round(argMax(dv.cash_amount, dv.ex_dividend_date) * 4 / any(px.price) * 100, 2) AS dividend_yield_pct
FROM px, dv
WHERE dv.ex_dividend_date <= px.last_day
GROUP BY px.month_start
ORDER BY px.month_startFor January 2021 di quarterly payment of $0.33 against $55.48 share read 2.38%. Di payment stay while di price fall. By October 2022 di same $0.365 check against $28.44 show 5.13%, near di high of di stretch, and any screener wey sort by yield for don bring di company up on dat number.
Wetin come next na di part wey di screen no fit show. By May 2023 di quarterly payment na $0.125 and di quoted yield read 1.59%. Di last row of di panel, June 2024, show di same $0.125 per quarter at 1.62%. Nothing about di earlier quote na wrong for di day wey e print. E describe payment wey dem later reset.
Dat na di yield trap for one panel. Di screen show di reward column and hide di history of di denominator. Dividend cuts look at wetin di run-up to cut look like across di market, and di ex-dividend date explain which payments buyer get right to for di first place.
How good yield take compare with 10-year Treasury?
Every dividend dey compete with di option to lend money to government. Dat bar don move far for five years.
The exact SQL behind every number
SELECT formatDateTime(toStartOfMonth(date), '%Y-%m') AS month,
formatDateTimeInJodaSyntax(toStartOfMonth(date), 'MMMM yyyy') AS month_label,
round(argMax(yield_10_year, date), 2) AS treasury_10y_pct
FROM global_markets.treasury_yields
WHERE date >= toDate('2021-07-01')
AND date <= toDate('2026-07-30')
AND yield_10_year IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY toStartOfMonth(date)
ORDER BY toStartOfMonth(date)Di 10-year note pay 1.24% for July 2021 and 4.67% for di latest month wey dey file, July 2026. Hold dat beside di bands wey dey above: 69.9% of US dividend payers dey yield under 3%.
Di two instruments no be di same. Coupon dey fixed for di life of di note and di principal dey return at maturity. Dividend fit increase or cut, and di share price dey move on im own. Di comparison na one of opportunity cost, and di same dividend yield dey read different against 1.24% compared to 4.67%. Dividend yield vs 10-year Treasury dey track dat gap across ten years.
Dividend yield FAQ
6% dividend yield good?
E high. Among US payers wey get market value pass $1 billion, 44 names dey inside 6 to 8% band and 62 dey inside 8% and up, against 81.3% of payers wey dey under 4%. Number like dat dey concentrate for few industries, and e fit also be arithmetic of price wey dey fall.
Wetin be normal dividend yield by sector?
Sector funds give di cleanest read. For late-July 2026 snapshot, Utilities pay 3.31% for twelve months of distributions while Technology pay 0.55%. Single company dey best measure against im own sector reading first.
High dividend yield mean stock cheap?
No be by itself. Yield dey rise anytime price fall, with no change at all to payment. Intel quarterly dividend na $0.365 for October 2022 at quoted 5.13% yield, and $0.125 by May 2023.
Dividend yield or dividend growth dey more important?
Dem dey answer different questions. MSFT yield 0.79% with five-year dividend growth of 62.6%, while MO yield 6.23% with growth of 23.3%. Yield describe di cash today. Growth describe di direction of dat cash.
How dividend yield compare with cash or Treasuries?
Di 10-year Treasury pay 4.67% for di most recent monthly reading wey dey file, July 2026. Dat coupon dey fixed and di principal dey return at maturity, while dividend fit change and di share price carry im own risk. Where to park idle cash cover di short end of dat comparison.
Every figure for dis page na stored, versioned query over filed dividend records and real prices. Open any panel to read di SQL behind am, or screen di full payer list by yield for Strasmore terminal.