Inflation-Adjusted Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO)

The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) offers investors diversified exposure to mid-sized companies in the US stock market.

Nominal returns are an incomplete measure of performance because they don't reflect the real growth of an investment's purchasing power. To provide a more accurate analysis, this page adjusts the historical price of VO 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 February 2026 as the baseline (latest available CPI).

The current value of the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF is 289 (as of the close of Mar 13, 2026), 5.88% lower than the all-time high of 307.06 (Feb 26, 2026).

Since January 30, 2004, the inflation-adjusted total return for the ETF has been 354.68%, which is equivalent to an annual growth rate of 7.09%.

In nominal values, the total return since this date has been 702.29%, or an annualized rate of 9.87%.

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
Mar 2026	289	289
Feb 2026	306.2	306.2
Jan 2026	297.49	296.09
Dec 2025	292.67	290.22
Nov 2025	293.4	291.01
Oct 2025	289.77	289.77
Sep 2025	294.38	292.59
Aug 2025	290.28	287.78
Jul 2025	287.15	283.87
Jun 2025	281.39	277.76
May 2025	271.55	267.13
Apr 2025	257.95	253.22
Mar 2025	261.31	255.72
Feb 2025	272.72	266.3
Jan 2025	279.1	271.32
Dec 2024	269.23	260.01
Nov 2024	289.03	279.04
Oct 2024	266.62	257.55
Sep 2024	268.07	258.65
Aug 2024	261.82	252.22
Jul 2024	255.62	246.04
Jun 2024	245.98	236.49
May 2024	247.66	238.02
Apr 2024	241.43	231.65
Mar 2024	254.39	243.14
Feb 2024	245.53	233.17
Jan 2024	235.37	222.14
Dec 2023	240.22	225.49
Nov 2023	223.99	210.46
Oct 2023	203.21	191.32
Sep 2023	213.19	200.8
Aug 2023	224.66	211.07
Jul 2023	234.09	218.98
Jun 2023	226.55	211.53
May 2023	209.58	195.05
Apr 2023	215.79	200.32
Mar 2023	218.57	201.88
Feb 2023	221.74	204.14
Jan 2023	229.17	209.8
Dec 2022	213.98	194.35
Nov 2022	225.42	205.36
Oct 2022	212.15	193.47
Sep 2022	196.29	178.28
Aug 2022	218.28	197.83
Jul 2022	224.81	203.82
Jun 2022	205.18	186.05
May 2022	229.48	205.26
Apr 2022	232.85	206.01
Mar 2022	254.57	223.97
Feb 2022	251.29	218.17
Jan 2022	256.07	220.31
Dec 2021	280.32	239.16
Nov 2021	270.59	230.15
Oct 2021	278.88	236.04
Sep 2021	263.81	221.45
Aug 2021	276.1	231.14
Jul 2021	268.55	224.35
Jun 2021	266.34	221.44
May 2021	264.13	217.58
Apr 2021	264.12	215.84
Mar 2021	254.02	205.9
Feb 2021	249.83	201.07
Jan 2021	238.46	190.88
Dec 2020	240.61	191.79
Nov 2020	231.54	184.38
Oct 2020	204.12	162.64
Sep 2020	204.34	162.76
Aug 2020	207.97	165.42
Jul 2020	202.19	160.31
Jun 2020	191.11	150.76
May 2020	188.35	147.78
Apr 2020	175.59	137.76
Mar 2020	152.68	120.6
Feb 2020	186.71	147.8
Jan 2020	205.22	162.01
Dec 2019	206.53	162.41
Nov 2019	201.45	158.56
Oct 2019	195.05	153.61
Sep 2019	193.35	151.92
Aug 2019	189.53	148.8
Jul 2019	194.9	153.02
Jun 2019	192.7	151.04
May 2019	179.96	141.03
Apr 2019	191.97	150.12
Mar 2019	186.08	144.75
Feb 2019	184.63	142.82
Jan 2019	177.84	136.99
Dec 2018	161.29	124
Nov 2018	178.25	137.48
Oct 2018	173.6	134.34
Sep 2018	189.76	146.59
Aug 2018	190.79	147.22
Jul 2018	186.27	143.64
Jun 2018	181.68	140.1
May 2018	180.27	138.79
Apr 2018	177.78	136.31
Mar 2018	178.84	136.57
Feb 2018	179.45	136.73
Jan 2018	187.8	142.45
Dec 2017	181.12	136.63
Nov 2017	179.15	135.23
Oct 2017	173.68	131.1
Sep 2017	171.09	129.22
Aug 2017	168.15	126.33
Jul 2017	169.68	127.1
Jun 2017	166.56	124.85
May 2017	165.73	124.12
Apr 2017	164.38	123
Mar 2017	162.96	121.58
Feb 2017	163.03	121.53
Jan 2017	158.71	117.94
Dec 2016	155.05	114.55
Nov 2016	154.04	113.77
Oct 2016	146.9	108.67
Sep 2016	151.74	112.11
Aug 2016	151.48	111.64
Jul 2016	151.45	111.52
Jun 2016	144.6	106.65
May 2016	145.07	106.65
Apr 2016	143.03	104.72
Mar 2016	142.97	104.18
Feb 2016	132.91	96.44
Jan 2016	131.23	95.14
Dec 2015	142.27	102.97
Nov 2015	145.65	105.78
Oct 2015	144.91	105.46
Sep 2015	136.68	99.52
Aug 2015	141.69	103.33
Jul 2015	149.18	108.94
Jun 2015	147.46	107.69
May 2015	150.53	109.54
Apr 2015	149.62	108.33
Mar 2015	155.2	112.14
Feb 2015	151.01	108.47
Jan 2015	143.04	102.3
Dec 2014	145.28	104.39
Nov 2014	144.03	104.09
Oct 2014	139.3	101.22
Sep 2014	134.38	97.89
Aug 2014	138.91	101.11
Jul 2014	132.45	96.57
Jun 2014	135.76	99.02
May 2014	132.07	96.15
Apr 2014	129.52	93.96
Mar 2014	131.07	94.77
Feb 2014	132.26	95.02
Jan 2014	125.16	89.59
Dec 2013	128.7	91.78
Nov 2013	124.98	89.14
Oct 2013	122.21	87.34
Sep 2013	117.95	84.51
Aug 2013	112.88	80.79
Jul 2013	116.04	82.95
Jun 2013	109.8	78.46
May 2013	111.35	79.38
Apr 2013	109.52	77.93
Mar 2013	107.54	76.61
Feb 2013	103.21	73.32
Jan 2013	102.8	72.44
Dec 2012	96.74	67.97
Nov 2012	94.11	66.3
Oct 2012	92.18	65.25
Sep 2012	93.21	66.01
Aug 2012	91.82	64.73
Jul 2012	89.59	62.81
Jun 2012	89.41	62.79
May 2012	87.09	61.25
Apr 2012	93.64	65.93
Mar 2012	94.52	66.35
Feb 2012	93.45	65.11
Jan 2012	89.97	62.41
Dec 2011	84.71	58.5
Nov 2011	84.83	58.73
Oct 2011	85.28	59.09
Sep 2011	75.25	52.25
Aug 2011	83.64	57.99
Jul 2011	90.16	62.33
Jun 2011	93.44	64.54
May 2011	95.62	66.12
Apr 2011	96.48	66.4
Mar 2011	94.54	64.65
Feb 2011	93.86	63.56
Jan 2011	90.58	61.05
Dec 2010	89.09	59.75
Nov 2010	83.53	55.93
Oct 2010	81.81	54.75
Sep 2010	78.69	52.6
Aug 2010	71.13	47.52
Jul 2010	74.6	49.77
Jun 2010	69.79	46.55
May 2010	74.33	49.63
Apr 2010	80.24	53.53
Mar 2010	77.57	51.66
Feb 2010	72.78	48.27
Jan 2010	69.15	45.85
Dec 2009	71.95	47.55
Nov 2009	67.69	44.81
Oct 2009	64.47	42.65
Sep 2009	67.52	44.62
Aug 2009	63.56	41.98
Jul 2009	60.69	40
Jun 2009	55.62	36.71
May 2009	56.38	36.9
Apr 2009	54.17	35.35
Mar 2009	47.53	30.94
Feb 2009	43.92	28.52
Jan 2009	48.8	31.53
Dec 2008	52.63	33.86
Nov 2008	49.64	32.27
Oct 2008	53.58	35.51
Sep 2008	67.98	45.52
Aug 2008	78.01	52.3
Jul 2008	76.46	51.47
Jun 2008	80.01	53.57
May 2008	87.59	58.07
Apr 2008	84.51	55.55
Mar 2008	79.6	52.01
Feb 2008	82.25	53.28
Jan 2008	83.75	54.1
Dec 2007	90.18	57.96
Nov 2007	90.52	58.22
Oct 2007	95.91	61.32
Sep 2007	94.43	60.25
Aug 2007	92.02	58.55
Jul 2007	91.17	58.11
Jun 2007	95.57	60.94
May 2007	97.49	62.04
Apr 2007	94.02	59.47
Mar 2007	91.36	57.41
Feb 2007	91.36	56.89
Jan 2007	91.66	56.78
Dec 2006	88.95	54.93
Nov 2006	89.31	55.07
Oct 2006	85.75	52.95
Sep 2006	82.27	51.08
Aug 2006	80.54	50.25
Jul 2006	79.12	49.27
Jun 2006	81.08	50.34
May 2006	81.67	50.61
Apr 2006	85.1	52.48
Mar 2006	85.07	52.01
Feb 2006	82.95	50.44
Jan 2006	83.78	50.84
Dec 2005	80.08	48.23
Nov 2005	78.74	47.61
Oct 2005	74.28	45.28
Sep 2005	77.1	46.9
Aug 2005	76.86	46.19
Jul 2005	77.54	46.36
Jun 2005	74.07	44.08
May 2005	71.95	42.8
Apr 2005	68.19	40.61
Mar 2005	71.27	42.16
Feb 2005	72.66	42.64
Jan 2005	70.46	41.12
Dec 2004	72.69	42.33
Nov 2004	69.51	40.63
Oct 2004	64.82	37.87
Sep 2004	63.31	36.79
Aug 2004	60.87	35.3
Jul 2004	61.29	35.53
Jun 2004	63.66	36.96
May 2004	62.62	36.23
Apr 2004	61.4	35.32
Mar 2004	64.33	36.89
Feb 2004	64.91	36.99
Jan 2004	63.56	36.02

Returns from Investing in the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF

How much did an investment in the VO 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 Mid-Cap ETF by year, both inflation-adjusted and nominal. You can sort any column by clicking on the header.

Year	Inflation-Adjusted Return	Nominal Return
2024	12.07%	15.31%
2023	12.26%	16.02%
2022	-23.67%	-18.74%
2021	16.5%	24.7%
2020	16.5%	18.09%
2019	28.05%	30.97%
2018	-10.95%	-9.25%
2017	16.81%	19.27%
2016	8.98%	11.25%
2015	-2.07%	-1.36%
2014	12.88%	13.74%
2013	33.03%	35.03%
2012	14.2%	16.19%
2011	-4.91%	-2.09%
2010	23.81%	25.67%
2009	36.72%	40.44%
2008	-41.64%	-41.59%
2007	1.37%	5.51%
2006	11.08%	13.9%
2005	10.18%	13.94%

Vanguard Mid-Cap 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 Mid-Cap over various trailing periods ending February 28, 2026, offering a clearer view of long-term, real investment performance.

Period	Avg. Annual Return (Inflation-Adjusted)	Avg. Annual Return (Nominal)
Last 1 year	12.27%	14.99%
Last 3 years	11.36%	14.47%
Last 5 years	4.15%	8.78%
Last 10 years	8.7%	12.25%
Last 20 years	6.75%	9.44%

Real Returns of Investing in the Vanguard Mid-Cap

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 Mid-Cap five years ago yielded an 45.52% nominal gain, but the real return (the actual increase in buying power) was 17.83%.

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 2021 - Sep 2025	$145.52	45.52%	17.83%
Last 10 years Feb 2016 - Sep 2025	$303.39	203.39%	121.48%

About the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF

The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) is an exchange-traded fund managed by Vanguard that seeks to track the performance of the CRSP US Mid Cap Index. Launched in January 2004, VO provides investors with convenient exposure to the mid-capitalization segment of the US stock market.

The fund includes a diverse mix of stocks from various sectors, representing companies that are larger than small-caps but smaller than large-caps. With its low expense ratio, VO is a common choice for investors seeking to add mid-cap growth potential to their portfolios.

Last Close Mar 13, 2026	289
Highest Feb 26, 2026	307.06
Highest, Inflation-Adjusted Feb 26, 2026	307.06
Annualized return Since Jan 30, 2004	9.87%
Annualized return, Inflation-Adjusted Since Jan 30, 2004	7.09%