What is the expense ratio of IJR vs SPY?

IJR has an expense ratio of 0.06%, while SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09%.

IJR vs SPY

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF vs State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Last updated: 2026-04-10

IJR iShares

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) is an exchange-traded fund issued by iShares that provides exposure to small-cap U.S. equities with higher growth potential and volatility. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.06%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.23%. Launched in 2000, the fund has a 26-year track record.

AUM: $96.3B ER: 0.06% Yield: 1.23% Since: May 22, 2000

SPY SPDR

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by SPDR that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. equities across growth and value styles. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.09%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.09%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $678.3B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.09% Since: Jan 22, 1993

Quick Verdict

IJR has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.06% vs 0.09%), saving about $60 per $10,000 over 10 years. Over the past year, IJR has significantly outperformed with a 38.1% return vs 29.6%.

Key Metrics

Metric	IJR	SPY
Expense Ratio	0.06%	0.09%
Dividend Yield	1.2%	1.1%
Fund Family	iShares	SPDR
Category	US Small Cap	US Large Cap Blend

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

IJR +18.7%

SPY +65.2%

Performance Comparison

Period	IJR	SPY	Difference
1 Month	+4.49%	+0.54%	+3.95%
3 Months	+2.82%	-2.19%	+5.01%
6 Months	+11.61%	+2.55%	+9.06%
YTD	+7.20%	-0.47%	+7.67%
1 Year	+38.09%	+29.62%	+8.47%
3 Years	+35.49%	+65.95%	-30.46%
5 Years	+18.67%	+65.18%	-46.51%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment	Period	IJR Fees	SPY Fees	You Save
$10,000	10 years	$120	$179	$60
$10,000	20 years	$515	$771	$256
$10,000	30 years	$1,664	$2,486	$822
$50,000	10 years	$598	$896	$298
$50,000	30 years	$8,318	$12,428	$4,109
$100,000	30 years	$16,637	$24,855	$8,218

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric	IJR	SPY
Annualized Volatility	21.6%	17.1%
Max Drawdown	-28.9%	-25.4%
Sharpe Ratio	0.06	0.41

Dividend Comparison

Metric	IJR	SPY
Annual Dividend (per share)	$1.60	$7.38
Dividend Yield	1.23%	1.09%
Distribution Frequency	Quarterly	Quarterly

Top Holdings

0 of top 9 holdings overlap (0% overlap in top holdings)

IJR Top Holdings

Name	Weight
BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCYXTSLA	1.29%
Viavi Solutions Inc.VIAV	0.60%
FormFactor, Inc.FORM	0.57%
Eastman Chemical CompanyEMN	0.53%
Primoris Services CorporationPRIM	0.53%
Element Solutions IncESI	0.53%
Argan, Inc.AGX	0.51%
Semtech CorporationSMTC	0.50%
ESCO Technologies Inc.ESE	0.50%
Match Group, Inc.MTCH	0.48%

SPY Top Holdings

Name	Weight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	7.61%
Apple Inc.AAPL	6.54%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT	4.78%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN	3.72%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	2.86%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG	2.53%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META	2.31%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA	1.66%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B	1.51%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose IJR if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

Choose IJR if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

Related Comparisons

AGG vs IJR AGG vs SPY ARKK vs SPY BIL vs SPY BND vs IJR BND vs SPY BNDX vs IJR BNDX vs SPY