SGOV vs BIL vs VBIL: Which Should You Pick?
VBIL 0.06%, SGOV 0.09%, BIL 0.1353%; only VBIL was 100% Treasury income for 2025. For a modeled California holder, BIL trailed VBIL by about $25 a year on $50k.
Three ETFs that hold nothing but short Treasury bills. BIL is the oldest, launched in 2007 on the Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index. SGOV followed in 2020 and VBIL in 2025, both holding bills from zero to three months. They differ on fee, on the sliver of income that states can tax, and on one detail of maturity window. The order they finish in after tax is the same in every state.
Quick answer
VBIL, then SGOV, then BIL. VBIL charges 0.06% and was 100% Treasury income for 2025; SGOV charges 0.09% at 95.14%; BIL charges 0.1353% at 97.26%. Published SEC yields on September 3, 2026 ran 3.65%, 3.63% and 3.59% in that order, and those figures already include each fund’s fee. For one modeled California holder at a 32% federal and 9.3% state rate, BIL trailed VBIL by about $25 a year on $50,000 and SGOV by about $10. The gaps are small enough that an existing position in any of the three is not worth selling for the others, and a bill fund carries almost no gain to realize anyway.
| SGOV | BIL | VBIL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bills held | 0 to 3 months | 1 to 3 months | 0 to 3 months |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.1353% | 0.06% |
| 30-day SEC yield, Sep 3 2026 | 3.63% | 3.59% | 3.65% |
| 2025 income from US gov't obligations | 95.14% | 97.26% | 100.00% |
| CA / CT / NY quarterly test | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| Net assets | $107.5b (Sep 4) | $46.5b (Sep 3) | $11.4b (Aug 31) |
| Inception | May 2020 | May 2007 | Feb 2025 |
| Sponsor | iShares | State Street | Vanguard |
Issuer pages read September 7, 2026; government-obligation percentages from each sponsor’s 2025 tax document (iShares, State Street, Vanguard). Yields move daily; current estimated forward yields for all three are on the cash yields page, refreshed each trading day.
The one real difference
Fee, mostly. All three sit on the same slice of the yield curve, and the yield gaps between them are close to the fee gaps, which is what you would expect when the underlying bills are the same. BIL also skips bills under one month, so its average maturity runs a little longer than the other two, a distinction with no practical effect at a duration this short. On tax, all three pass the quarterly test the three strictest states apply, so the only difference is the share of income that qualifies, and VBIL’s 100% is why it edges SGOV even before its lower fee.
Compare the two that matter, in your bracket
BIL trails both, so the live decision is between SGOV and VBIL. The calculator seeds both from the daily feed once each row is fresh, splits the gap into yield and state-tax treatment, and prices what it costs to move an existing position.
Who should pick which
SGOV
You want the largest and most traded of the three, or you already hold it. Ten times VBIL’s assets and five years of history.
BIL
You already own it and the position is small. There is no reason to start a new one at more than twice VBIL’s fee.
VBIL
You are placing new money and want the lowest fee and the cleanest state-tax treatment. About $25 a year ahead of BIL on $50,000 for the modeled California holder.
The full reasoning
The SGOV and VBIL comparison in depth, including why the fee gap is already inside the yield and what a switch costs, is in SGOV vs. VBIL. Bills against floating rate notes is SGOV vs. USFR, and any of these against a bank is SGOV vs. HYSA.
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