Dividend Yield by Sector
Median and average current yields per sector, across every active payer we cover.
Yield is set at the sector level before the stock level: regulated utilities, energy infrastructure and real estate structurally pay more than technology or health care, because payout policy follows business model. Comparing a stock's yield to its own sector median says far more than comparing it to the market's.
Key Observations
- Real Estate carries the highest median yield (5.08% across 155 payers); Technology the lowest (1.70%).
- The spread between the highest- and lowest-yielding sectors is 3.4 percentage points — sector choice moves headline yield more than most single-stock choices within a sector.
Current dividend yield by sector (active payers)
| Sector | Payers | Median yield | Average yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | 155 | 5.08% | 6.87% |
| Energy | 106 | 3.45% | 4.22% |
| Communication Services | 81 | 3.38% | 4.08% |
| Utilities | 93 | 3.34% | 3.63% |
| Consumer Defensive | 137 | 2.99% | 3.47% |
| Financial Services | 363 | 2.92% | 3.99% |
| Consumer Cyclical | 246 | 2.74% | 3.21% |
| Basic Materials | 147 | 2.26% | 2.71% |
| Healthcare | 107 | 2.17% | 2.41% |
| Industrials | 357 | 1.85% | 2.40% |
| Technology | 151 | 1.70% | 2.49% |
Methodology
Median and mean of current yields for active common stocks with a computed rank, grouped by sector; sectors with fewer than 10 payers omitted. Fund vehicles (ETFs/CEFs) are excluded so corporate sectors are compared like for like.
Caveats
Sector labels come from our classification feed and can lag reorganizations. Yields are point-in-time and move with prices daily.
Sources: Dividendly computed metrics (yields from latest regular payment, annualized, against latest prices). Computed Oct 19, 2026.
Related Pages
Citing this research
These figures are computed from Dividendly's own stored dividend history and are free to read. If you reference them, please cite the page and the date the figures were computed — they are recalculated as new payments are recorded.
Dividendly. “Dividend Yield by Sector.”
Computed Oct 19, 2026. https://dividendly.ai/data/dividend-yield-by-sector/
We have not set reuse terms for this data. For anything beyond quotation with attribution, ask us first — some underlying inputs come from licensed providers.
Data updated Oct 19, 2026. This research page is generated from Dividendly's structured market and dividend dataset using the approach described on our methodology and data sources pages. Data is automatically validated using defined rules and may also be periodically reviewed. Research only, not investment advice. Spotted a data error? Report it.