Guide · US Treasury (Intermediate)
Best US Treasury ETFs
Treasury funds hold only US government debt. Aggregate funds (BND, AGG) put about 30% in corporates and MBS, which is why they sag with stocks in a credit scare. Duration is the real choice here: VGSH is about two years, VGIT is the 3–10 year band most people land on, VGLT and TLT are 16+ years and move like a risk asset when rates jump.
Published May 18, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026 · Fund data as of Oct 24, 2026
Why the ranking looks like this
Duration drives almost everything in this category. Short-term Treasuries sit at the low end of rate risk — bill funds like BIL behave like cash, while 1-3 year funds like VGSH and SHY carry roughly two years of duration and behave like very short bonds. Intermediate Treasuries (VGIT, GOVT, IEI) sit in the 4-6 year duration zone and are the most-recommended duration target on the Bogleheads forum. Long Treasuries (VGLT, TLT) carry 16+ year duration — they swing meaningfully with rates and are typically held as a deliberate risk-parity component rather than a "safe" bond.
See the methodology for the full formula behind each sub-score.
The funds
This order is editorial. The composite on each card is live. The full score-ranked table is on the category page.
-
89
composite / 100
Vanguard's intermediate-Treasury fund. 3 bps. Tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Index — the duration sweet spot most diversifier-seeking investors land on. SPTI and SCHR track the same stretch of the curve at the same fee, and the three sit within a rounding error of each other on the composite.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $47.83B†
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Detail
- VGIT page →
-
89
composite / 100
Vanguard's short-Treasury fund. 3 bps; 1-3 year maturities, roughly two years of duration — small but visible price moves with rates. The standard slot in a portfolio that wants Treasury exposure with limited rate risk; the 0-3 month bill funds are the closer-to-cash option.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $39.49B†
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Detail
- VGSH page →
-
88
composite / 100
Vanguard's long-Treasury fund. 3 bps; 16+ year duration. Held as a deliberate equity-hedge component (e.g. the long-leg of a risk-parity sleeve), not as a "safe" bond — long Treasuries move dramatically when rates change, which is the point.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $14.84B†
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Detail
- VGLT page →
-
88
composite / 100
iShares' all-maturity Treasury fund. 5 bps; spans 1+ year Treasuries weighted by issuance, so it ends up at roughly an intermediate duration. The single-fund alternative to picking a duration target — fine for "I just want Treasuries" exposure.
- Expense
- 0.050%
- AUM
- $41.37B
- Issuer
- iShares
- Detail
- GOVT page →
-
83
composite / 100
iShares' 20+ year Treasury fund. 15 bps — five times VGLT's cost for similar exposure. The first-mover and the most-cited long-Treasury name in financial media; VGLT and SPTL carry comparable exposure at 3 bps.
- Expense
- 0.15%
- AUM
- $46.23B
- Issuer
- iShares
- Detail
- TLT page →
† Whole fund: this ETF is one share class of a fund that also sells mutual-fund shares, and the figure covers all of them. Our sources don't report the ETF class on its own.
Also in the category
Other funds in the same category, ranked by composite score.
Which duration to hold
Duration matching the rest of the portfolio's "spending horizon" is the textbook answer; in practice most diversifier-seeking investors land on intermediate (VGIT / GOVT). Short Treasuries make sense as cash management. Long Treasuries are a specialist tool — they're the equity-tail-risk hedge that drove the All-Weather and Permanent portfolios but they impose meaningful drawdown risk in their own right (see TLT's 2022 drawdown of ~30%).
Treasury interest is state-tax exempt
US Treasury interest is exempt from state and local income tax, which makes Treasury funds modestly more tax-efficient than corporate bond funds at the state level. The methodology table reflects this at a 35 base for Treasuries vs. 25 for aggregate bonds. The effect is meaningful in high-tax-state portfolios (CA, NY, NJ) and immaterial in no-tax states (TX, FL, WA).
Funds are pulled from the live composite for this category. Notes are editorial and refresh with the catalog.
PlainIndex publishes data and editorial commentary — nothing here is personalized investment advice. Read the methodology for how the scores referenced here are computed.