SCHX vs VOO: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
Short answer
SCHX (Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF) tracks Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index at 0.03%; VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) tracks S&P 500 at 0.03%. They give you different exposure, so pick by what you want to own: SCHX for Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index, VOO for S&P 500. Neither is universally better.
SCHX vs VOO at a glance
| SCHX | VOO | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF |
| Tracks | Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index | S&P 500 |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| Dividend yield | ~1.00% | ~1.0% |
| AUM | ~$72.6 billion | ~$1.7 trillion |
| Top holding | NVDA | NVDA |
| Issuer | Schwab ETFs | Vanguard |
Approximate as of mid-2026; verify with each issuer.
What the differences actually mean
Cost. SCHX charges 0.03% a year and VOO charges 0.03%. On a $10,000 holding that is roughly $3 versus $3 a year. The cost is effectively identical, so fees should not decide it.
Dividend yield. SCHX yields about ~1.00% and VOO about ~1.0%. The yields are close, so income is not the deciding factor here.
Size and liquidity. SCHX holds about ~$72.6 billion versus VOO's ~$1.7 trillion. Both are large enough to trade with tight bid-ask spreads, so for a buy-and-hold investor the size gap rarely changes anything in practice; it mostly tells you how widely each fund is already held.
Concentration. SCHX's largest position is NVDA at about 7.49%, and VOO's is NVDA at ~7.9%. They share top names (NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL), so owning both is less diversification than it looks: you are doubling down on the same companies.
Issuer. SCHX is run by Schwab ETFs and VOO by Vanguard. Schwab competes hard on cost, often matching Vanguard. Vanguard is investor-owned and known for rock-bottom fees.
Which fits which investor
SCHX (Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index) and VOO (S&P 500) give you genuinely different exposure, so this is a choice of what you want to own, not just which is cheaper. A broad-market fund suits a core, long-horizon holding you can size large and forget. A narrower, sector, or growth-tilted fund adds concentration and usually more volatility, which suits a longer time horizon and a higher risk tolerance, and is better used as a satellite position than as your whole portfolio.
What is SCHX?
Tracks a broad large-cap US index of roughly the biggest 750 companies, wider than the S&P 500 but with near-identical top holdings and return profile. At 0.03% it is Schwab's core large-cap building block, comparable to VOO or ITOT.
What is VOO?
Tracks the S&P 500 Index, the standard measure of US large-cap equity. Effectively identical exposure to SPY and IVV at a 0.03% expense ratio. Used as a core building block in most diversified portfolios.
SCHX or VOO: which should you pick?
- Pick SCHX if you want Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index exposure at 0.03%.
- Pick VOO if you want S&P 500 exposure at 0.03%.
- Overlap: they share top holdings (NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL), so owning both adds less diversification than it appears.
- Cost: 0.03% vs 0.03%, a small but compounding difference.
The bottom line: SCHX vs VOO
SCHX (Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index) and VOO (S&P 500) give you different exposure, so pick by what you want to own, not by which is "better". They overlap heavily, so owning both mostly doubles a fee. Walnut can show the overlap against your real portfolio before you decide.
Both funds lean heavily on NVDA, so understanding that single company explains a lot of what drives either ETF.
Build a portfolio around SCHX with Walnut
Walnut connects your real brokerage so you can see how SCHX and VOO overlap with what you already own, analyze either by chatting through Claude or ChatGPT, and place any trade yourself.
FAQ
What is the difference between SCHX and VOO?
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SCHX tracks Dow Jones US Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index (0.03% expense ratio); VOO tracks S&P 500 (0.03%). They track different indexes, so they give you different exposure.
Is SCHX or VOO cheaper?
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SCHX charges 0.03% and VOO charges 0.03% as of mid-2026. Over decades the cheaper fund keeps more of your return, but verify current figures with each issuer.
Do SCHX and VOO hold the same stocks?
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They overlap meaningfully: shared top holdings include NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL, AVGO. Owning both can mean less diversification than it looks.
Which has a higher dividend yield, SCHX or VOO?
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SCHX yields about ~1.00% and VOO about ~1.0% (mid-2026, approximate). If income matters, that gap is one input, but total return and cost matter more for most long-term investors.
Should you own both SCHX and VOO?
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Often not, because they overlap heavily (NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN and more), so holding both adds cost without much extra diversification. Walnut can show the overlap against your real portfolio.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. ETF figures are approximations stamped to mid-2026; verify current data with each issuer before deciding. Nothing here is a recommendation.