We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more.
- PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS
- CD NEWS
SimonKR / Getty Images
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Though BMO Alto continues to lead the 4-year and 5-year CD terms, it reduced its 5-year rate today from 4.80% to 4.75% APY. Grow Financial also pays 4.75% on a 5-year CD.
- Nuvision Credit Union leads the overall CD market, paying 6.00% for 10 months. But its offer is limited to a $5,000 maximum deposit.
- The runner-up rate is 5.60%, offered by T Bank for 9 months, while eight additional CDs guarantee 5.40% or more until 2025.
- To lock your rate into 2026, you can find CDs paying 5.10% on 18 to 24 months—or rates of 4.70% to 5.00% locked until 2027, 2028, or 2029.
- The Fed has been holding interest rates steady for about a year, as it waits for inflation to ease. But with rate cuts likely coming, it's smart to nab one of today's best CDs before APYs drop.
Below you'll find featured rates available from our partners, followed by details from our ranking of the best CDs available nationwide.
Top Rates from 5.50% to 6.00%—With 9 Guaranteed Until 2025 (or Close)
NuVision Credit Union continues to offer the top nationally available CD rate in the country, with its 6.00% offer on a 10-month certificate. Until last month, we hadn't seen a rate that high since November. But while this is easily the best CD return nationwide, NuVision's promotional certificate only accepts a $5,000 maximum deposit.
Retaining its national runner-up status is T Bank. Its entry in the 6-month CD term is a 5.60% offer for 9 months. You might also like one of seven additional certificates paying 5.50% APY or better on terms of at least 5 months—which means they'll stretch at least to December, with most of them extending into 2025. That includes an 11-month CD from Paramount Bank paying 5.55% APY.
Multi-Year CDs Offer Up to 5.10%—Locked Until 2026 and Beyond
Since it's generally expected U.S. interest rates will decline over the next couple of years, it's smart to lock in a high multi-year rate while you can. The top 2-year CD rate is 5.10% APY. This rate is available from Credit Human on a term of your choosing between 18 to 23 months, or from USAlliance Financial for a full 24 months. These CDs would let you stretch this rate into 2026.
If you're looking for an even longer rate guarantee, consider the best 3-year CDs, which are paying 5.00% APY. Vibrant Credit Union promises that APY for 30 months, while DollarSavingsDirect offers it for a full 36 months.
To secure your rate further, the best 4-year CD pays 4.70%, or you can secure 4.75% for 5 years. Both of these term leaders are offered by BMO Alto, with the 5-year rate seeing a reduction today from 4.80% APY. Grow Financial also pays 4.75% on a 5-year CD.
LARGE U.S. BANK LEADS 4- AND 5-YEAR CD TERMS
The top nationwide CD rates are typically offered by smaller banks and credit unions. But right now, the top 5-year return comes from a large U.S. Bank. BMO Alto is the online-only arm of banking giant BMO, which operates about 1,000 physical branches and is the 12th-largest U.S. bank by deposits. Though it only pays the top nationwide rate in the 4-year and 5-year terms, BMO Alto also has reasonably competitive rates on CDs ranging from 6 months to 3 years.
CD Rates Are Near Their Highest Level in 20 Years
CD rates briefly touched a historic peak of 6.50% in October 2023, and they have drifted just slightly lower since then. In February of this year, 30 CDs in our daily ranking guaranteed at least 5.50% APY. Now, however, you'll find just 10.
Despite that, looking back over the past 20 years shows that today's CD rates remain exceptional. APYs above 4% still present a great investment opportunity, and it may be worth locking one in now—before the Fed cuts rates.
Note that you don't have to get the absolute highest APY to feel satisfied with your choice. If you find a certificate account with a term length and features you like, it may be wise to grab it now, rather than perhaps regret it later if rates go down and you miss your opportunity.
Jumbo CDs Sometimes Offer a Premium Rate
If you've got a big enough deposit for a jumbo CD, you can also shop our ranking of the best jumbo CDs. But in every term but one right now, you can earn more from the best standard CD. The one term where you can score a slight rate premium with a jumbo CD is the 5-year term, where Grow Financial Federal Credit Union is paying 4.86% vs. the top standard-CD rate of 4.75% APY.
Where Are CD Rates Headed in 2024?
To combat decades-high inflation, the Federal Reserve aggressively hiked the federal funds rate between March 2022 and July 2023, raising the benchmark rate to its highest level in 22 years. That's important to savers because when the fed funds rate rises, banks and credit unions increase the interest rates they're willing to pay on customer deposits.
As a result, this past fall saw historically favorable conditions for CD shoppers and anyone holding cash in a high-yield savings or money market account. Rates on CDs rose to an October-November peak that was the highest we've seen in two decades.
However, the Fed has been in a holding pattern since its last rate hike in July 2023. As was all but certain, the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee announced on June 12 that it was once again maintaining the federal funds rate at its current level. It was the seventh meeting in a row in which the central bank has held its benchmark rate steady.
That's because inflation has been cooling, allowing the Fed to stop raising interest rates. Yet, further inflation progress has been elusive. That puts the central bank in wait-and-see mode as it looks for evidence that inflation is falling enough to justify starting to lower the federal funds rate.
The Fed's June statement included familiar language about remaining focused on tamping down inflation that is still too high: "Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated. In recent months, there has been modest further progress toward the Committee's 2% inflation objective."
The rate decision was also accompanied by the quarterly "dot plot" release, which reveals where each Fed board member (represented by an unnamed dot on a graph) predicts the federal funds rate will be at the end of the current year and the next two years.
The June dot plot shows a median projection of one rate cut of 0.25 percentage points by the end of 2024. However, a sizable group predicted we'll see two rate decreases. At the other end of the spectrum, a 20% contingent forecasted the federal funds rate will stay where it is for the rest of this year.
During his customary press conference following the statement release, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that the committee is looking for continued evidence of a decline in inflation before implementing a rate cut.
"Goals have moved toward better balance, but the economic outlook is uncertain," Powell said. "We remain highly attentive to inflation risks. We've stated that we do not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%."
As a result, fed funds traders have increased their bets that a first rate cut will come in September. For the next meeting, concluding July 31, less than 6% of traders currently expect a rate cut. But by the Sept. 18 meeting announcement, about three-quarters are predicting the Fed will have implemented a decrease.
In the meantime, Fed officials will continue watching and waiting for additional data before making any decisions. This means CD rates are generally expected to continue their plateau. When at some point the Fed signals it's ready to start cutting rates, which could happen in the not-too-distant future, that will begin driving CD yields down more quickly. So, it's a good time to lock in one of today's stellar CD rates while you can.
DAILY RANKINGS OF THE BEST CDS AND SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
Best 3-Month CD Rates
Best 6-Month CD Rates
Best 1-Year CD Rates
Best 18-Month CD Rates
Best 2-Year CD Rates
Best 3-Year CD Rates
Best 4-year CD Rates
Best 5-Year CD Rates
Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
Best Money Market Accounts
Note that the "top rates" quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Googlawi has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often 5, 10, or even 15 times higher.
How We Find the Best CD Rates
Every business day, Googlawi tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.