The S&P 500 paid a dividend yield of 5.3% on Dec. 31, 1978. As of April 22, 2026, its trailing-12-month dividend yield was 1.1%, according to a U.S. News report published through WTOP. The gap says a lot about how the market has changed, and it explains why dividend-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) draw attention.
This article uses that report as its main source. U.S. News titled its list "best" high-dividend ETFs, but the text does not lay out the criteria used to choose them, so the funds below are best read as examples of different approaches. Unless noted, the yields, expense ratios and returns are as of April 22 to 23, 2026, and they may have changed since. Funds named are examples for education, not recommendations.