ETF Income Research

What every page covers

Each analysis follows the same contract, in the same order, so funds can be compared honestly:

• A direct verdict and the current Distribution Safety Score™ with its trend over ~two years of weekly readings
• The factors helping and weighing on the score, from the same engine that scores every fund on the site
• The complete distribution record — payments by year, the last 12, and run-rate changes
• Price trend, total return vs distributions against SPY and QQQ, and drawdown
• Return-of-capital status, disclosed honestly when issuer data does not exist
• Higher-scoring alternatives from a curated same-strategy peer set — never ranked by yield alone

The scoring rules are public: read the Distribution Safety Score methodology. Scores describe current data and are not predictions or investment advice.

Learn the method

The metrics and risks behind this list, explained in the Academy.

From the blog

From the blogHigh Yield, High Risk? 10 Income ETFs Ranked by SafetyTen popular high-yield ETFs ranked by Dividend Vision's Distribution Safety Score, with run-rate payouts, strategies, fees, and the red flags behind each grade.From the blogBitcoin Pays No Dividend — Here's How to Earn Income From Crypto AnywayBitcoin is the debasement trade's newest hard asset — and it famously pays zero income. Here's the full menu for income investors: staking ETFs, crypto-treasury preferreds, Bitcoin and Ether covered-call funds paying 27–95% distribution rates, and stacked funds pairing crypto with gold or stocks (plus the total-return fine print those rates leave out).From the blogThe Distribution Safety Score™ and Safety-Adjusted Yield: How We Grade Income RiskHow the Dividend Vision Distribution Safety Score grades payout risk 0–100, and how Safety-Adjusted Yield turns yield and risk into one comparable number.