Inflation-Adjusted Total Bond Market ETF (BND)

The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) tracks the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Float Adjusted Index, providing broad exposure to US investment-grade bonds across government, corporate, and securitized debt markets.

Bond returns are particularly susceptible to inflation's erosive effects, making real return analysis essential for fixed-income investors. This page adjusts the historical price of BND for inflation, using the US Consumer Price Index, to reveal its real performance over time.

Nominal prices are adjusted for stock splits and assume reinvestment of any dividends to reflect total return. Inflation-adjusted prices use September 2025 as the baseline (latest available CPI).

The current value of the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF is 74.29 (as of the close of Dec 4, 2025), 2.7% lower than the all-time high of 76.35 (Aug 6, 2020).

While the nominal high reached 76.35, the inflation-adjusted peak value was 95.52 on July 31, 2020.

Since April 10, 2007, the inflation-adjusted total return for the ETF has been -4.48%, which is equivalent to an annual growth rate of -0.25%.

In nominal values, the total return since this date has been 50.1%, or an annualized rate of 2.2%.

Inflation-Adjusted Values by Month

This data presents the ETF's end-of-month closing levels over time. Inflation-adjusted figures show what past levels would be worth using roughly today's purchasing power (based on the latest CPI data). The latest entry in the table will have equal nominal and adjusted values until the next CPI figures are released.

Date	Inflation-Adjusted	Nominal value
Dec 2025	74.29	74.29
Nov 2025	74.54	74.54
Oct 2025	74.1	74.1
Sep 2025	73.66	73.66
Aug 2025	73.04	72.85
Jul 2025	72.41	72.02
Jun 2025	72.72	72.21
May 2025	71.87	71.14
Apr 2025	72.51	71.62
Mar 2025	72.45	71.34
Feb 2025	72.61	71.33
Jan 2025	71.39	69.82
Dec 2024	71.43	69.41
Nov 2024	72.68	70.6
Oct 2024	71.87	69.85
Sep 2024	73.77	71.61
Aug 2024	72.93	70.68
Jul 2024	71.94	69.67
Jun 2024	70.37	68.07
May 2024	69.78	67.48
Apr 2024	68.74	66.36
Mar 2024	70.71	68
Feb 2024	70.57	67.43
Jan 2024	71.99	68.36
Dec 2023	72.5	68.47
Nov 2023	69.94	66.12
Oct 2023	66.77	63.25
Sep 2023	67.78	64.23
Aug 2023	69.67	65.86
Jul 2023	70.44	66.3
Jun 2023	70.66	66.38
May 2023	71.05	66.53
Apr 2023	72.07	67.31
Mar 2023	72.01	66.92
Feb 2023	70.36	65.17
Jan 2023	72.7	66.96
Dec 2022	70.93	64.81
Nov 2022	71.29	65.34
Oct 2022	68.7	63.03
Sep 2022	69.78	63.77
Aug 2022	72.99	66.55
Jul 2022	75.06	68.47
Jun 2022	73.3	66.88
May 2022	75.57	68.01
Apr 2022	75.77	67.45
Mar 2022	79.35	70.24
Feb 2022	82.68	72.22
Jan 2022	84.4	73.06
Dec 2021	86.9	74.6
Nov 2021	87.44	74.83
Oct 2021	87.7	74.68
Sep 2021	88.36	74.63
Aug 2021	89.51	75.39
Jul 2021	89.86	75.53
Jun 2021	89.25	74.66
May 2021	89.28	74
Apr 2021	89.86	73.88
Mar 2021	89.82	73.25
Feb 2021	91.62	74.19
Jan 2021	93.57	75.36
Dec 2020	94.79	76.01
Nov 2020	94.73	75.9
Oct 2020	93.54	74.99
Sep 2020	94.1	75.41
Aug 2020	94.33	75.48
Jul 2020	95.52	76.2
Jun 2020	94.63	75.11
May 2020	94.52	74.61
Apr 2020	93.89	74.11
Mar 2020	90.76	72.12
Feb 2020	91.87	73.17
Jan 2020	90.61	71.97
Dec 2019	89.2	70.57
Nov 2019	89.19	70.63
Oct 2019	89.18	70.66
Sep 2019	89.1	70.44
Aug 2019	89.68	70.84
Jul 2019	87.26	68.93
Jun 2019	87.28	68.83
May 2019	86.22	67.98
Apr 2019	84.85	66.76
Mar 2019	85.33	66.78
Feb 2019	84.18	65.51
Jan 2019	84.61	65.57
Dec 2018	83.84	64.85
Nov 2018	82.03	63.66
Oct 2018	81.24	63.25
Sep 2018	82.09	63.8
Aug 2018	82.64	64.15
Jul 2018	82.14	63.73
Jun 2018	82.17	63.75
May 2018	82.34	63.78
Apr 2018	82.12	63.35
Mar 2018	83.16	63.89
Feb 2018	82.78	63.46
Jan 2018	84.03	64.12
Dec 2017	85.54	64.93
Nov 2017	85.03	64.58
Oct 2017	85.13	64.65
Sep 2017	85.1	64.67
Aug 2017	85.95	64.97
Jul 2017	85.48	64.42
Jun 2017	85.07	64.16
May 2017	85.11	64.13
Apr 2017	84.58	63.68
Mar 2017	84.16	63.17
Feb 2017	84.26	63.2
Jan 2017	84.01	62.81
Dec 2016	84.34	62.69
Nov 2016	84.13	62.52
Oct 2016	86.22	64.17
Sep 2016	87.15	64.78
Aug 2016	87.26	64.7
Jul 2016	87.61	64.91
Jun 2016	86.95	64.52
May 2016	85.51	63.24
Apr 2016	85.86	63.25
Mar 2016	85.92	63
Feb 2016	85.54	62.44
Jan 2016	84.88	61.92
Dec 2015	84.02	61.18
Nov 2015	83.88	61.29
Oct 2015	84.03	61.53
Sep 2015	83.97	61.51
Aug 2015	83.16	61.02
Jul 2015	83.25	61.17
Jun 2015	82.53	60.64
May 2015	83.75	61.32
Apr 2015	84.6	61.63
Mar 2015	85.05	61.83
Feb 2015	85.09	61.49
Jan 2015	86.59	62.31
Dec 2014	84.16	60.84
Nov 2014	83.64	60.81
Oct 2014	82.5	60.31
Sep 2014	81.7	59.88
Aug 2014	82.24	60.22
Jul 2014	81.17	59.54
Jun 2014	81.37	59.71
May 2014	81.45	59.66
Apr 2014	80.88	59.04
Mar 2014	80.51	58.57
Feb 2014	81.16	58.67
Jan 2014	81.08	58.39
Dec 2013	80.14	57.5
Nov 2013	80.65	57.87
Oct 2013	80.72	58.04
Sep 2013	79.83	57.55
Aug 2013	79.04	56.92
Jul 2013	79.82	57.41
Jun 2013	79.55	57.19
May 2013	81.08	58.15
Apr 2013	82.82	59.29
Mar 2013	81.9	58.7
Feb 2013	82.05	58.65
Jan 2013	82.28	58.34
Dec 2012	83.1	58.74
Nov 2012	83.03	58.85
Oct 2012	82.41	58.69
Sep 2012	82.46	58.75
Aug 2012	82.68	58.65
Jul 2012	83.01	58.55
Jun 2012	81.87	57.84
May 2012	81.69	57.8
Apr 2012	80.84	57.27
Mar 2012	80.2	56.64
Feb 2012	81.22	56.93
Jan 2012	81.55	56.91
Dec 2011	81.39	56.55
Nov 2011	80.45	56.03
Oct 2011	80.43	56.07
Sep 2011	80.17	56
Aug 2011	79.76	55.64
Jul 2011	78.68	54.73
Jun 2011	77.49	53.85
May 2011	77.91	54.2
Apr 2011	77.58	53.72
Mar 2011	76.95	52.94
Feb 2011	78.02	53.16
Jan 2011	78.4	53.16
Dec 2010	78.7	53.11
Nov 2010	80.45	54.2
Oct 2010	81.26	54.72
Sep 2010	81.32	54.69
Aug 2010	81.6	54.84
Jul 2010	80.68	54.16
Jun 2010	80.24	53.84
May 2010	79.25	53.24
Apr 2010	78.66	52.8
Mar 2010	78.21	52.4
Feb 2010	78.93	52.67
Jan 2010	78.94	52.67
Dec 2009	78.21	52
Nov 2009	79.72	53.1
Oct 2009	79	52.58
Sep 2009	79.11	52.6
Aug 2009	78.63	52.25
Jul 2009	78.28	51.9
Jun 2009	77.4	51.4
May 2009	77.86	51.26
Apr 2009	77.83	51.1
Mar 2009	77.95	51.05
Feb 2009	77.57	50.68
Jan 2009	78.71	51.16
Dec 2008	80.73	52.25
Nov 2008	76.57	50.08
Oct 2008	72.57	48.39
Sep 2008	74.28	50.03
Aug 2008	74.81	50.46
Jul 2008	74.16	50.23
Jun 2008	74.8	50.39
May 2008	75.8	50.56
Apr 2008	77.48	51.24
Mar 2008	78.49	51.6
Feb 2008	79.12	51.57
Jan 2008	79.55	51.7
Dec 2007	78.96	51.06
Nov 2007	78.77	50.97
Oct 2007	77.98	50.16
Sep 2007	77.69	49.87
Aug 2007	77.71	49.75
Jul 2007	76.72	49.2
Jun 2007	76.21	48.89
May 2007	76.84	49.19
Apr 2007	78.04	49.66

Returns from Investing in the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

How much did an investment in the BND ETF really grow each year after accounting for inflation? The following chart contains the inflation-adjusted real annual percentage returns.

Detailed Annual Returns (Adjusted vs. Nominal)

The table below shows the returns for the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF by year, both inflation-adjusted and nominal. You can sort any column by clicking on the header.

Observe how inflation erodes nominal gains, sometimes resulting in a negative real return even when the ETF nominally increased, as in 2024.

Year	Inflation-Adjusted Return	Nominal Return
2024	-1.48%	1.37%
2023	2.22%	5.64%
2022	-18.38%	-13.12%
2021	-8.32%	-1.86%
2020	6.26%	7.71%
2019	6.4%	8.83%
2018	-1.99%	-0.12%
2017	1.42%	3.56%
2016	0.39%	2.47%
2015	-0.17%	0.55%
2014	5.02%	5.81%
2013	-3.56%	-2.11%
2012	2.1%	3.88%
2011	3.42%	6.48%
2010	0.63%	2.14%
2009	-3.12%	-0.48%
2008	2.24%	2.33%

Vanguard Total Bond Market Etf: Average Annualized Returns

Annualized returns show the average rate of growth per year, making it easier to compare performance across different time periods. While nominal returns indicate the headline growth, adjusting for inflation reveals the actual change in purchasing power.

This table presents both nominal and inflation-adjusted average annual returns for the Vanguard Total Bond Market over various trailing periods ending September 30, 2025, offering a clearer view of long-term, real investment performance.

Period	Avg. Annual Return (Inflation-Adjusted)	Avg. Annual Return (Nominal)
Last 1 year	-0.15%	2.86%
Last 3 years	1.82%	4.92%
Last 5 years	-4.78%	-0.47%
Last 10 years	-1.3%	1.82%

Real Returns of Investing in the Vanguard Total Bond Market

The chart and table below show the nominal and inflation-adjusted value of a hypothetical $100 investment over various long-term historical periods, ending in September 2025.

The inflation-adjusted line, in green, represents the real increase in purchasing power for the initial investment. Observe the gap between both lines, which illustrates the cumulative effect of inflation over time.

Even over just five years, inflation takes a noticeable bite out of investments. Investing $100 in the Vanguard Total Bond Market five years ago yielded an 0.67% nominal gain, but the real return (the actual increase in buying power) was -19.83%.

As investment periods get longer, the difference between reported nominal returns and the inflation-adjusted gains usually becomes much greater due to the compounding effect of inflation over time.

Investment Period	What $100 Grew To (Nominal)	Total Nominal Return (%)	Total Inflation-Adjusted Return (%)
Last 5 years Feb 2020 - Sep 2025	$100.67	0.67%	-19.83%
Last 10 years Feb 2015 - Sep 2025	$119.78	19.78%	-13.44%

About the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) is an exchange-traded fund that seeks to track the performance of the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Float Adjusted Index. Launched in April 2007, BND provides investors with broad exposure to the US investment-grade bond market, including government bonds, corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed securities.

The fund covers bonds with maturities of more than one year and offers a comprehensive way to invest in the US fixed-income market. With its low expense ratio and broad diversification across bond sectors, BND has become a popular choice for investors seeking core bond exposure in their portfolios.

Last Close Dec 4, 2025	74.29
Highest Aug 6, 2020	76.35
Highest, Inflation-Adjusted Jul 31, 2020	95.52
Annualized return Since Apr 10, 2007	2.2%
Annualized return, Inflation-Adjusted Since Apr 10, 2007	-0.25%