Markets
Cash Rates
Cash income is interest paid for lending money for a very short time — to a bank as a deposit, or to the US Treasury as a bill. Not all of it is insured, and the rates below are quoted on three different conventions, so every figure on this page is labelled with what it measures, who publishes it and when it was observed.
What is insured here, and what is not
Cash is a category, not a guarantee. Read this before reading any rate on this page.
Start here rather than with the rates. "Cash" on this page covers three legally different things, and the protection behind them is not the same protection. A deposit at a bank or credit union is insured up to a limit if the institution fails. A Treasury bill has no insurance at all because there is no bank in the middle — it is a direct obligation of the US government instead. A money-market fund is a security you own shares of: not insured, and its value is not guaranteed. The word cash in a product name settles none of this; the row below does.
Three rows, three different legal positions. Deposits at a bank or credit union are insured by the FDIC or the NCUA up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured institution, per ownership category. Treasury bills carry no insurance at all — they are direct obligations of the US government instead, with no dollar ceiling on that backing. Money-market funds are securities: they are not insured, they may hold non-government paper, and in extreme conditions they can break the buck.
The rates published below cover the first two rows only. No money-market fund yield appears on this page, because the FDIC series measures deposit accounts, not funds. A fund's seven-day SEC yield is published by the fund itself and is not in this database.
Data as of Aug 25, 2026.
The tiles above show the latest published reading for four separate series. The savings, money-market deposit and CD figures are FDIC national averages across insured institutions — averages of what banks pay, not offers you can take. The Treasury bill figure is a secondary-market rate quoted on a discount basis and is not insured. Each tile names its basis, its provider and its FRED series id, and says the date the figure was observed.
Four numbers, four different lenders, and not one common convention between them. The savings and money-market figures are what the average insured bank pays a depositor. The CD figure is what the average bank pays to lock money up for a year. The T-bill figure is what the US Treasury pays to borrow for three months — no bank in the middle, no insurance, and quoted on a discount basis rather than as an equivalent yield.
The short-rate benchmarks
Deposit rates do not set themselves. Banks and funds price against the rates below, which is why savings accounts move within weeks of a Fed decision — and why a CD you already own does not move at all. None of these is a rate paid to a saver.
This table lists the wholesale benchmarks that short-term cash is priced against, together with the Treasury bill series. The bill rows are quoted on a discount basis; the constant-maturity equivalents for the same maturities are on the Bonds page and read slightly higher for the same instrument on the same day. SOFR, IORB and the effective federal funds rate are benchmarks paid between banks and by the central bank, so no depositor receives them — they explain the direction of the deposit rates further down the page.
Two warnings before you read a number in this table. First, most of these rows are not rates anybody pays a saver: SOFR, the interest on reserve balances and the federal funds rate are wholesale rates that banks, funds and the central bank deal with each other on, and they appear here because they explain why deposit rates move, not because you can earn them. Second, the Treasury bill rows are quoted on a discount basis — the return measured against the bill's face value on a 360-day year. The Bonds page quotes the very same bills the other way, as a constant-maturity yield on the price actually paid over a 365-day year, which comes out slightly higher. Same bill, same day, two conventions: the difference between the two pages is arithmetic, not a market move and not an error on either page.
| Series | What it measures, and on what basis | Rate (% a year)Read the column to the left before comparing this figure with any other rate on the site. Most rows here are not paid to savers. | Observed / status | Provider and series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-week Treasury bill | Secondary-market DISCOUNT rate. The constant-maturity (investment-basis) equivalent for the same maturity is on the Bonds page and reads slightly higher; the two are not interchangeable. | 3.65% | Aug 21, 2026 | Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED · DTB4WK |
| 3-month Treasury bill | Secondary-market DISCOUNT rate. The constant-maturity (investment-basis) equivalent for the same maturity is on the Bonds page and reads slightly higher; the two are not interchangeable. | 3.72% | Aug 21, 2026 | Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED · DTB3 |
| 6-month Treasury bill | Secondary-market DISCOUNT rate. The constant-maturity (investment-basis) equivalent for the same maturity is on the Bonds page and reads slightly higher; the two are not interchangeable. | 3.79% | Aug 21, 2026 | Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED · DTB6 |
| SOFR (overnight secured financing rate) | Overnight wholesale borrowing benchmark, secured against Treasuries. A rate banks and funds price against — not a rate a saver is paid. | 3.65% | Aug 21, 2026 | New York Fed via FRED · SOFR |
| Interest on reserve balances | What the Federal Reserve pays banks on reserve balances. A policy rate that sets a floor under wholesale cash yields — not a rate a saver is paid. | 3.65% | Aug 25, 2026 | Federal Reserve Board via FRED · IORB |
| Effective federal funds rate | Monthly average of the overnight rate banks lend reserves to each other at. A monthly average of a benchmark — not a rate a saver is paid, and not comparable with the daily series above without allowing for the averaging. | 3.63% | Last published Jul 01, 2026 — 55 days ago, older than this series' usual update cadence. | Federal Reserve Board via FRED · FEDFUNDS |
Provenance: FDIC deposit series are FDIC survey data redistributed through FRED. Bill, SOFR, IORB and federal funds series are Federal Reserve data redistributed through FRED. The series id is printed beside every figure so any number here can be checked at the source. Bill quotes are secondary-market rates, not auction results.
CD rates by term
The FDIC national average for certificates of deposit under $100,000, by term.
Each row is the deposit-weighted national average rate paid on an insured CD of that term, alongside the previous reading of the same series and the date it was observed. The shape of the column — whether longer terms pay more or less than shorter ones — is the deposit market's version of the yield curve. These are averages across every insured institution, so they show what the typical bank pays rather than what any particular bank is advertising.
A national average is not an offer. Every figure in this table is the average paid across all insured institutions, weighted by how much money each one holds, so it is dominated by the biggest branch banks — the ones with the most deposits and the least reason to compete for more. Nobody is quoting you this number. It is the benchmark for what the typical bank pays, and an advertised rate you find elsewhere being well above it is the normal state of the market rather than a sign that something is wrong with either figure. Read down the column instead: the shape, whether locking money up for longer pays more or less than keeping it short, is the part of this table that carries information.
| TermHow long the money is locked up for. | National average (% a year)The average across insured banks, weighted by deposits. A benchmark, not an offer any bank is making you. | Prior reading | Observed / status | Provider and series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 0.22% | 0.23% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR1MCD |
| 3 months | 1.14% | 1.15% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR3MCD |
| 6 months | 1.41% | 1.38% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR6MCD |
| 12 months (1 year) | 1.71% | 1.68% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR12MCD |
| 24 months (2 years) | 1.57% | 1.56% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR24MCD |
| 36 months (3 years) | 1.34% | 1.34% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR36MCD |
| 48 months (4 years) | 1.27% | 1.26% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR48MCD |
| 60 months (5 years) | 1.36% | 1.36% | Aug 01, 2026 | FDIC via FRED · NDR60MCD |
Building a cash ladder
A ladder is the standard answer to the trade-off between wanting a longer term and wanting the money back.
A single 12-month CD pays a fixed rate and returns everything on one date. A ladder splits the same money across several terms so that a slice matures on a regular schedule. When a rung matures you either spend it or roll it into a new rung at the long end, which means the whole ladder gradually reprices to whatever rates have become.
The mechanics are the same whether the rungs are bank CDs, brokered CDs or Treasury bills. What differs is how you exit early: a bank CD has a stated penalty, a brokered CD or a bill has to be sold at the market price. See certificates of deposit and Treasury bills for each instrument on its own terms.
The four bars are a schematic of a twelve-month ladder split into three-month steps: one rung comes due every quarter, and the bar lengths show nothing more than the order in which they mature. There are no rates and no amounts in it, because the rate on each rung depends on the term you buy and the day you buy it.
Structure only — the rungs above carry no rates and no amounts. Use the ladder calculator to model a schedule against the current numbers in the table above.
The point of a ladder is not a higher rate. It is a date. Every few months a known amount of money becomes available without a penalty and without having to sell anything.
How the cash vehicles actually differ
Same-sounding products, genuinely different legal structures. This is the comparison that matters more than a few basis points of yield.
This table sets the seven common cash vehicles side by side on the five things that actually separate them: how the interest is set, what stands behind the money, how quickly you can get it, what leaving early costs, and how the income is taxed. The two money-market rows are the ones most often confused — the deposit account is a bank product with FDIC or NCUA insurance, the fund is a security with none.
Nothing in the table is a rate or a ranking. It describes structure, which changes far more slowly than prices do, and it is the comparison that usually matters more than a few basis points of difference in the tables above.
There is not a single rate in the table below, and that is the point of it. Rates change weekly; these five columns do not. Read a row left to right and you have how the interest is decided, what stands behind the money, how fast you can reach it, what leaving early costs and who taxes the income. The two money-market rows are the ones to compare closely — the deposit account and the fund sound like the same product and sit in different legal worlds.
| Vehicle | How it pays | Insurance / backing | Liquidity | Cost of getting out early | State income tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savings account | Variable interest set by the bank, usually accrued daily and credited monthly. The bank can change the rate at any time, with no notice period tied to a term. | FDIC deposit insurance at an insured bank, NCUA share insurance at a credit union — $250,000 per depositor, per institution, per ownership category. | Same day at the bank; an external transfer typically settles in one to three business days. | None from the product itself. Individual banks may cap the number or size of certain transfers. | Fully taxable as ordinary income, federal and state. |
| Money-market deposit account | Variable interest like a savings account, often tiered by balance, sometimes with limited check-writing or a debit card attached. It is a bank deposit, not a fund. | Same FDIC or NCUA insurance and the same $250,000 limits as any other deposit. | Same day, subject to whatever transaction limits the bank sets. | None; the rate simply moves with the bank's pricing. | Fully taxable as ordinary income, federal and state. |
| Money-market fund | Daily dividends from a portfolio of very short-dated debt — Treasury bills, repurchase agreements, commercial paper or municipal notes, depending on the fund. The yield floats with the market rather than being set by a bank. | Not insured. It is a security, regulated under SEC Rule 2a-7. SIPC covers the failure of the broker holding it, never a fall in the fund's value. | Same or next business day. SEC rules allow liquidity fees on some institutional prime and tax-exempt funds under stressed conditions. | No stated penalty; in extremis a fee or a delay is possible, and the share price is not guaranteed. | Federally taxable as ordinary income. The share of income from Treasury and certain agency obligations may be exempt from state tax where the state allows it; municipal money funds aim at federal exemption instead. |
| Certificate of deposit (bank) | A rate fixed for a fixed term, credited periodically or at maturity. What you are paid on day one is what you are paid on the last day. | FDIC or NCUA insured on the same $250,000 limits, principal and accrued interest combined with your other deposits at that institution. | Locked until maturity. Some banks sell 'no-penalty' CDs that allow one early withdrawal of the full balance. | A bank-set early-withdrawal penalty, normally quoted as a number of months of interest and disclosed in the account agreement before you open it. | Ordinary income, federal and state, generally taxed in the year the interest is credited even if you do not withdraw it. |
| Brokered CD | A bank CD bought through a brokerage account. Interest is paid into the brokerage account. Some are callable, meaning the issuing bank can redeem early. | FDIC insurance still sits at the issuing bank, per depositor per bank — holding two CDs from the same bank does not double the coverage. | No early withdrawal. You sell it on the secondary market at whatever price a dealer will pay that day. | No stated penalty; instead market-price risk plus a dealer spread. Selling before maturity can return less than you put in. | Ordinary income, federal and state. |
| Treasury bill | Sold at a discount to face value and redeemed at face; the difference is the interest. Issued in terms running from four weeks out to 52 weeks. | Direct obligation of the US government, backed by its full faith and credit. There is no insurance because there is no bank in the middle, and no $250,000 ceiling on the protection. | One of the deepest markets in the world; sellable any business day through a broker. Bills held at TreasuryDirect must be transferred to a broker to sell. | None. Before maturity you take the market price, which moves with rates. | Exempt from state and local income tax. Taxable federally. |
| Series I savings bond | A composite rate: a fixed rate that lasts the life of the bond plus an inflation component reset every six months. Interest accrues and compounds semiannually and is paid when you redeem, not along the way. | US Treasury, full faith and credit. Electronic purchases are capped at $10,000 per Social Security number per calendar year through TreasuryDirect. | Cannot be redeemed at all in the first 12 months. There is no secondary market — the Treasury is the only buyer. | Redeem before five years and you forfeit the most recent three months of interest. | Exempt from state and local tax. Federal tax is deferred until redemption, and may be excluded when used for qualified higher-education expenses, subject to income limits. |
Tax treatment described here is federal and state income tax in the United States and is general information, not tax advice. State rules on the Treasury-interest exemption differ, and a few states apply their own thresholds. Confirm with the issuer's documentation and a tax professional who knows your state.
Where FDIC insurance stops
Federal deposit insurance covers $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Each of those three qualifiers is doing work. "Per depositor" means it follows the person, not the account number. "Per insured bank" means two accounts at the same bank share one limit, and two brands owned by the same bank charter may also share it. "Per ownership category" means a single account, a joint account, certain retirement accounts and a revocable trust are each insured separately, so a household can be covered well above $250,000 at one bank without doing anything exotic.
The limit covers principal plus accrued interest. Credit unions are covered on the same $250,000 terms by the NCUA rather than the FDIC. Anything above the applicable limit is an uninsured claim on a failed bank's estate, recovered — if at all — through the receivership.
Insurance covers the institution failing. It does not cover the rate falling, inflation eroding what the balance buys, or you locking money into a term you later need.
CLOs: the thing on this list that is not cash
Collateralized loan obligations get grouped with cash products because the senior tranches are highly rated and float with short-term rates. Structurally they belong somewhere else entirely.
A CLO is a company created for one purpose. It buys a portfolio of several hundred senior secured loans — floating-rate loans made to companies rated below investment grade — and it funds those purchases by issuing its own debt in rated slices, from AAA at the top down through BB, plus an unrated equity slice at the bottom. A manager runs the portfolio, trading loans in and out during a defined reinvestment period.
The income comes from the borrowers. Each loan pays a floating coupon, typically a benchmark rate plus a credit spread; the benchmark in the US market is SOFR, the overnight secured financing rate, 3.65% as of Aug 21, 2026 (New York Fed via FRED · SOFR). That interest goes into a waterfall: fees first, then the AAA notes, then each junior class in turn, and whatever survives to the bottom goes to the equity. Coverage tests sit inside the structure — when the portfolio deteriorates far enough, cash that would have gone to equity is redirected to pay down the senior notes instead.
So the equity tranche is a leveraged, subordinated claim on the profits of a pool of sub-investment-grade corporate loans. It is a credit investment with a residual profile closer to an operating business than to a deposit. Senior CLO notes are a genuinely different animal from CLO equity, and lumping the two together under one label is the single most common confusion in this corner of the market.
If the term is new to you: a CLO is not a place to keep cash, and it is on this page only because it is so often filed next to cash products. The rows below are one structure sliced into pieces that are paid in order, top to bottom, out of the interest a few hundred below-investment-grade company loans produce. The top slice is paid first and takes losses last; the bottom slice is paid only out of what survives and absorbs the first default. Two pieces of the same deal can behave nothing alike, so the word CLO on its own tells you very little about what a given holding is.
The diagram above reads top to bottom as the order in which cash is paid out and bottom to top as the order in which losses are absorbed. AAA notes are paid first and take losses last; the unrated equity slice is paid only out of what is left and takes the first loss. Rating and position in that queue, not the label "CLO", are what determine how a given piece behaves.
Order of payment only. The relative size of each class varies by deal and is set out in that deal's own documents.
If you are looking at CLO exposure, the honest comparison set is corporate bonds, private credit funds and structured notes — not a savings account. The bonds section carries the current investment-grade and high-yield index yields those instruments are priced against, and private credit covers direct lending in the same terms.
Where cash accounts are opened
The US Treasury's own retail platform for buying Treasury bills, notes, bonds, TIPS and Series I and EE savings bonds.
Direct purchase from the issuer; no broker commission
Visit TreasuryDirect ↗The FDIC's official lookup for checking whether a bank is federally insured and which charter actually holds an account.
Insurance limits apply per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category
Visit FDIC BankFind Suite ↗The federal agency that charters and supervises credit unions and runs the share insurance fund that covers their deposits.
Share insurance is the credit-union counterpart of FDIC coverage
Visit National Credit Union Administration ↗A US brokerage where money market funds, brokered CDs and Treasury purchases sit inside the same account as stocks and ETFs.
Brokered CDs trade on a secondary market rather than paying an early-withdrawal penalty
Visit Charles Schwab ↗Listed because they are the venues these products trade or are held at. Presence here is not an endorsement, and a slot without a 'Sponsored' badge is a plain outbound link that pays us nothing.