With more than $14 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. Passive strategies make up about two-thirds of those assets. In particular, the firm’s well-known iShares exchange-traded funds are low-cost solutions for both advisors and individual investors building well-diversified portfolios. Morningstar’s list of the best iShares ETFs to buy and hold for US equity exposure features top-rated passive funds that we expect to outperform their competitors over a full market cycle. Investors can confidently buy and hold these funds in a long-term portfolio.The 21 Best iShares ETFs to Buy that Invest in US StocksTo find the best iShares ETFs to buy that focus on US stocks, we screened for those earning a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver or Gold with 100% analyst coverage. All the ETFs on the list fall into Morningstar’s US equity category group and practice passive strategies. All data is as of March 13, 2026.iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVViShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF IJHiShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF IJRiShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF ITOTiShares Core S&P US Growth ETF IUSGiShares Core S&P US Value ETF IUSViShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF ESGUiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF ESMLiShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF SUSLiShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF USMViShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF MTUMiShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF QUALiShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF VLUEiShares Russell 1000 ETF IWBiShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF IWFiShares Russell 1000 Value ETF IWDiShares Russell 3000 ETF IWViShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF IWRiShares S&P 500 Growth ETF IVWiShares S&P 500 Value ETF IVEiShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF IJKMorningstar expects the highly rated US equity iShares ETFs on this list to outperform their peers over a full market cycle. But even though all the funds on our list invest in US stocks, they practice different strategies and therefore behave differently from each other. Investors need to do some homework to understand exactly what a particular ETF invests in before buying.Here’s a quick look at the two Gold-rated picks from the list of the best iShares US equity ETFs. Be sure to review a fund’s complete report for more details.iShares Core S&P 500 ETFMorningstar Category: US Fund Large BlendMorningstar Medalist Rating: GoldIShares Core S&P 500 ETF provides exposure to US large-cap stocks at a low cost. The ETF replicates the S&P 500, which is a market-cap-weighted index of 500 of the largest US stocks that are chosen by an index committee based on liquidity and profitability standards. Management has done a good job of tracking its index, using derivatives to manage its cash, and employing securities lending to generate additional income to help keep the ETF’s expense ratio low.IShares S&P 500 accurately represents the large-cap US stock market, allowing its low fee and efficient portfolio to carve out a long-term edge.The fund tracks the S&P 500. A committee selects 500 of the largest US stocks, or roughly 80% of the US stock market, and weights them by the market cap. The index committee has discretion over selecting companies that meet its liquidity and profitability standards. While a committee-based approach may lack clarity, it adds flexibility to reduce unnecessary changes during reconstitution, taming transaction costs compared with more rigid rules-based indexes.Assigning position sizes based on a stock’s market cap is a simple and efficient method to weight the portfolio. Since US stocks are highly traded, they quickly reflect new information, and carving an edge is difficult. Market-cap weighting naturally adjusts to price changes without frequent rebalancing, generating lower trading costs. That, and lower fees, give large-blend index funds a long-term performance advantage over most actively managed peers.The fund holds a broad, well-diversified portfolio. It typically includes around 500 stocks, and the top 10 represented around 40% of the portfolio at year-end 2025. Still, market-cap weighting can contribute to portfolio concentration when a few stocks dominate the market. This has been the case lately with a handful of mega-cap technology stocks growing to prominence and commanding a greater share of the portfolio.When a few richly valued companies or sectors power most of the market gains, market-cap weighting may overexpose the strategy to the fluctuations of one stock or sector. But this is not a fault in design, as it simply reflects the market’s composition. Its low turnover, low fee, and broad diversification across the US market more than offset these risks.The US exchange-traded fund returned 14.8% annualized over the past 10 years through year-end 2025. It holds little cash, which should help it outperform cash-saddled active peers during market rallies. Likewise, low cash drag could hurt this fund when the stock market declines, but long-term positive returns give this efficient approach a clear edge. Performance across share classes will vary on account of differences in fees and currency exchange rates for non-US investors.Brendan McCann, associate analystRead Morningstar’s full report on the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETFMorningstar Category: US Fund Large BlendMorningstar Medalist Rating: GoldThis iShares ETF to buy and hold in 2026 offers exposure to the entire investable US stock market. It tracks the S&P Total Market Index, which includes all US-domiciled stocks that trade on a major US exchange and pass S&P’s minimum liquidity threshold. Although iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF lands in the large-blend Morningstar Category, it provides exposure to small and mid-size companies. That being said, the largest stocks in the US make up the bulk of this ETF’s portfolio due to the index’s market-cap weighting.IShares Core S&P Total Market accurately represents the US stock market, allowing its low fee and efficient portfolio to carve out a long-term edge.The fund tracks the S&P Total Market Index, which selects all investable US stocks and weights them by market cap. As a result, the index experiences little turnover because of the minuscule average size of additions or deletions to the existing portfolio. The fund holds a representative basket of stocks within the index, which further reduces unnecessary trading costs.Assigning position sizes based on a stock’s market cap is a simple and efficient method to weight the portfolio. Since US stocks are highly traded, they quickly reflect new information, and carving an edge is difficult. Market-cap weighting naturally adjusts to price changes without frequent rebalancing, lowering trading costs. That, and lower fees, give large-blend index funds a long-term performance advantage over most actively managed peers.The portfolio is broad and well-diversified. It typically holds around 2,500 stocks, and the top 10 represented 34% of the portfolio as of January 2026. Still, market-cap weighting can contribute to portfolio concentration when a few stocks dominate the market. This has been the case lately with a handful of mega-cap technology stocks growing to prominence and commanding a greater share of the portfolio.When a few richly valued companies or sectors power most of the market’s gains, market-cap weighting may overexpose the strategy to the fluctuations of one stock or sector. But this is not a fault in design, as it simply reflects the market’s composition. Its low turnover, low fee, and broad diversification across the US market more than offset these risks.The US exchange-traded fund share class returned 15.1% annualized over the past 10 years through January 2026. It holds little cash, which should help it outperform cash-saddled active peers during market rallies. Likewise, low cash drag could hurt this fund when the stock market declines, but long-term positive results for the US market have given this efficient approach an edge. Performance across share classes will vary owing to differences in fees and currency exchange rates for non-US investors.Brendan McCann, associate analystRead Morningstar’s full report on the iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF.What Are US Equity Funds?US equity funds exclusively invest in US stocks. These portfolios do not focus on a particular equity sector. Instead, they may target a particular market cap or equity style, such as value or growth. This group contains the following categories:Large blendLarge growthLarge valueLeveraged net longMid-cap blendMid-cap growthMid-cap valueSmall blendSmall growthSmall valueHow to Find More of the Best ETFs to Buy for the Long TermGiven their high Morningstar Medalist Ratings, we expect the top-rated funds on our list to outperform over a full market cycle. That being said, investors may want to expand their search beyond this list, using parameters that matter to them. Here are more ways to find more ETFs and mutual funds:Use the Morningstar Investor screener to create your own list of funds to investigate further.Explore Morningstar Medalist funds on our Best Investments page.Read our latest ETF insights and analysis on Morningstar.com.