VB calculator
Historical growth of Vanguard Small-Cap ETF using CRSP US Small Cap (S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) return series. Dividends reinvested at year-end; expense ratio drag negligible at 0.05%.
$10,000 invested in VB at inception (2004) with dividends reinvested through end of 2024 would be worth approximately $77,869 nominal ($45,670 in 2004 dollars). Annualized nominal: 10.27%; real: 7.50%.
Uses annual S&P 500 total return (with dividends reinvested) and CPI-U inflation, 1928–2024. Source: Damodaran (NYU Stern) + Shiller CAPE + BLS. Excludes fees, taxes, and bid/ask. Real return = nominal ÷ cumulative CPI.
VB at a glance
| Full name | Vanguard Small-Cap ETF |
| Provider | Vanguard |
| Expense ratio | 0.05% |
| Inception | 2004 |
| Assets under management | $60B |
| Dividend yield | 1.40% |
| Return series used | CRSP US Small Cap (S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) |
How small-caps differ from the headline index
Small-cap indexes like the Russell 2000 hold companies a fraction of the size of S&P 500 members, with higher volatility, more leverage sensitivity, and long stretches of divergence from large caps — which makes the S&P proxy series here an imperfect stand-in, as flagged in the methodology note. Academic research (Fama-French) found a long-run small-cap return premium, but it has been weak since the 1980s. Size the position accordingly.
What 0.05% costs over 30 years
Expense ratios compound against you exactly the way returns compound for you. On a $10,000 position growing at a 10% gross return for 30 years, VB's 0.05% fee quietly consumes about $2,364 of the final balance. That is the lowest fee in its category on this site — fee drag is one variable you fully control.
VB vs same-category peers
| Fund | ER | Yield | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| VB (this page) | 0.05% | 1.4% | 2004 |
| IWM | 0.19% | 1.4% | 2000 |
How this calculator works
For each start year, we apply the year-by-year total return of the CRSP US Small Cap (S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) to the entered starting amount, compounding annually with dividends reinvested at year-end. This mirrors what an actual buy-and-hold VB holder would have experienced, before fees and taxes. Expense ratio is intentionally excluded from the historical result to keep the underlying series comparable across ETFs; for a full lifetime fee estimate at 0.05%, use the projection tab in our fund fee analyzer.