Calculate your dividend yield and projected income from any stock. Enter the stock price, annual dividend, and number of shares to see your expected passive income.
What Is Dividend Yield?
Dividend yield measures the annual dividend payment as a percentage of the current stock price. A stock priced at $100 paying $4 in annual dividends has a 4% yield. It tells you how much cash income you receive for each dollar invested, making it the most important metric for income-focused investors.
Yield changes daily as stock prices fluctuate. When a stock price falls and the dividend stays the same, yield rises. When prices climb, yield drops. This inverse relationship means high-yield stocks can indicate either a generous payout or a declining business where the market expects a dividend cut.
How to Use This Calculator
Stock Price – The current market price per share. Use the most recent closing price for accuracy.
Annual Dividend Per Share – Total dividends paid per share in one year. Most companies pay quarterly, so multiply the quarterly dividend by 4. Check the company investor relations page or financial sites for current dividend data.
Number of Shares – How many shares you currently own or plan to purchase.
Annual Dividend Growth Rate – The rate at which the company increases its dividend each year. Dividend Aristocrats (S&P 500 companies that have raised dividends for 25+ consecutive years) average about 5-8% annual growth. Check the company 5-year dividend growth history for a realistic estimate.
What Is a Good Dividend Yield?
The S&P 500 average dividend yield is approximately 1.3% as of 2026. Anything above 3% is generally considered high yield. Utility stocks and REITs commonly yield 3-6%. Some energy MLPs and BDCs yield 7-12%, but higher yields carry higher risk.
Be cautious of extremely high yields above 8-10%. These often indicate the market expects the company to cut its dividend. A 12% yield on a stock that cuts its dividend in half becomes a 6% yield along with a significant share price decline.
Dividend Growth Investing Strategy
Many long-term investors prefer a moderate current yield with strong dividend growth over a high current yield with no growth. A stock yielding 2.5% that grows its dividend by 8% annually will yield 5.4% on your original cost basis after 10 years. That same compounding applied to reinvested dividends creates substantial wealth over multi-decade holding periods.
The projected Year 5 income in this calculator shows how dividend growth transforms your future income stream without requiring any additional investment.
Tax Considerations for Dividend Income
Qualified dividends from U.S. stocks held longer than 60 days are taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate (0%, 15%, or 20%). Non-qualified dividends, including those from REITs and most foreign stocks, are taxed as ordinary income. Holding dividend stocks in tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs eliminates this tax drag entirely.