The 14 Top Vanguard Bond ETFs to Buy in 2025
These Vanguard fixed-income ETFs earn high ratings from Morningstar.
Vanguard‘s fixed-income exchange-traded funds are popular with investors, for a few reasons.
- Vanguard’s bond ETFs are well diversified and low cost—and when it comes to fixed-income investing, low fees are a must, given the narrower range of returns they generate compared with stocks.
- Vanguard offers a wide variety of fixed-income ETFs that can fill many different roles in an investment portfolio.
- While it may be best known for its bond index ETFs, Vanguard runs attractive actively managed bond ETFs, too. In fact, Vanguard has launched several new active bond ETFs recently, and Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji says he expects to grow this area of the business.
How to Choose the Right Vanguard Bond ETFs to Buy
A good place to start your search for the best Vanguard fixed-income ETFs to buy is with the Morningstar Medalist Rating. ETFs that earn ratings of Gold, Silver, or Bronze are those that we think are likely to outperform over a full market cycle.
The list of the top Vanguard bond ETFs features a range of investment styles. It includes ETFs focusing on fixed-income securities with different maturities and credit qualities, and features both taxable-bond ETFs and municipal-bond ETFs. It encompasses index funds and the best actively managed fixed income ETFs that Vanguard offers, too.
Morningstar portfolio strategist Amy Arnott suggests in her Role in Portfolio framework that investors stick with short- and intermediate-term bond funds as core holdings in their portfolios. Bond ETFs that focus exclusively on certain other types of securities—such as corporate bonds, international bonds, long-term bonds, high-yield bonds, and so on—should play more limited, building-block roles in a portfolio.
The Top Vanguard Bond ETFs to Buy in 2025
These Vanguard bond ETFs earn Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Bronze or higher that are 100% analyst driven as of July 2025.
- Vanguard Core Bond ETF VCRB
- Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF VPLS
- Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF VCIT
- Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF VGIT
- Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF BLV
- Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF VCLT
- Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF BSV
- Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF VCSH
- Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF VTIP
- Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF VGSH
- Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF VTEB
- Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND
- Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF VTC
- Vanguard Total International Bond ETF BNDX
Here’s a little bit about each of the top Vanguard bond ETFs to buy, including whom each is best for based on Morningstar’s Role in Portfolio Framework.
Vanguard Core Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Intermediate Core Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Bronze
- Index or Active? Active
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
The first of two actively managed fixed-income strategies on our list of top Vanguard bond ETFs to buy is relatively new, having launched in late 2023 as part of Vanguard’s push into active fixed income. Vanguard Core Bond ETF attempts to deliver strong total returns over a market cycle by shifting portfolio exposures across Treasuries, securitized, corporate, and emerging-market debt.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Core Bond ETF.
Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Intermediate Core-Plus Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Bronze
- Index or Active? Active
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
The second actively managed fixed-income strategy also came to market in late 2023. Like its actively fixed-income sibling, Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF can invest in Treasuries, securitized, corporate, and emerging-market debt, but it can also hold up to 35% of assets in below-investment-grade bonds.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF.
3 Great New Vanguard ETFs
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Corporate Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 6-10 years can use this is as a building-block holding.
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg US 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index, which features investment-grade corporate bonds with five to 10 years remaining to maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF
- Morningstar Category: Intermediate Government
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Index, a market-value-weighted portfolio of US Treasury bonds with three to 10 years remaining to maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF.
Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Long-Term Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 6-10 years can use this is as a building-block holding.
The first long-term bond fund on our list of top Vanguard fixed-income ETFs, Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg Barclays Long Government/Credit Index, which includes Treasuries, government-related bonds, and investment-grade corporate debt with at least 10 years until maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF.
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Long-Term Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 6-10 years can use this is as a building-block holding.
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF focuses on US investment-grade corporate bonds with at least 10 years remaining to maturity and tracks the market-value-weighted Bloomberg US 10+ Year Corporate index.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Short-Term Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
The first short-term fund on our list of the top Vanguard fixed-income ETFs, Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Government/Credit Index, which features Treasuries, government-related bonds, and investment-grade corporate debt with between one and five years until maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF.
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Short-Term Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg US 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index, which holds investment-grade corporate bonds with between 1 and 5 years remaining to maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF
- Morningstar Category: Short-Term Inflation Protected Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 6-10 years can use this is as a building-block holding.
A particularly attractive option for retirees looking to add inflation protection to their portfolios, Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 0-5 Year Index, which includes TIPS with less than five years until maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF.
Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF
- Morningstar Category: Short Government
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF mimics the Bloomberg 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index, which includes Treasury bonds with between one and three years remaining to maturity.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF.
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Muni National Intermediate
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
An excellent choice for investors in high tax brackets, Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF tracks the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, which captures a broad slice of the tax-exempt, investment-grade municipal-bond market.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF.
Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF
- Morningstar Category: Intermediate Core Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Gold
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a core holding.
Vanguard’s most popular and largest fixed-income ETF, Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Float Adjusted Index, which captures investment-grade, fixed-rate, taxable bonds denominated in US dollars.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF.
Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Corporate Bond
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 6-10 years can use this is as a building-block holding.
Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg US Corporate Bond Index, which captures US-dollar-denominated corporate bonds with an investment-grade credit rating.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF.
Vanguard Total International Bond ETF
- Morningstar Category: Global Bond-USD Hedged
- Morningstar Rating: Silver
- Index or Active? Index
- Best for: An investor with a minimum time horizon of 2-6 years can use this is a building-block holding.
Rounding out our list of top Vanguard fixed-income ETFs, Vanguard Total International Bond ETF tracks the Bloomberg Global Aggregate ex USD Float-Adjusted RIC Capped Index, which captures investment-grade bonds not denominated in US dollars.
Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Total International Bond ETF.
How to Find More Top Bond ETFs to Buy
While Vanguard’s bond ETFs are certainly popular choices with fixed-income investors, there are other asset managers offering compelling, low-cost bond ETFs, too. Those investors who’d like to widen their search for top fixed-income ETFs beyond Vanguard can:
- Read The Best Bond ETFs, which puts the spotlight on fixed-income ETFs from a other asset managers—including BlackRock, Fidelity, Pimco, and others—that earn Morningstar’s top rating of Gold.
- Review Morningstar’s complete list of highly rated bond ETFs.
- Extend their search beyond bond ETFs to include mutual funds, too, and take a look at The Best Bond Funds, which covers top rated mutual funds and ETFs that invest in fixed-income securities.
The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.
United States