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What is the interest rate today? Every key rate in one place

There isn’t one interest rate, there are dozens. Here are the ones that matter, and how they connect.

LemonTrades·Guides
The title of this post in white over a dim photo of the Federal Reserve building.

Photo: Federal Reserve (public domain)

TL;DR

  • The Fed’s benchmark rate is 3.75% to 4.00%, unchanged at its October 28 meeting. Banks’ prime rate is 7.00%.
  • A 30-year mortgage averaged 7.18% on November 5. Credit cards average about 21%, and new car loans about 7.5%.
  • Savings accounts average just 0.38%, but Treasury bills pay about 4%, and online banks pay much closer to that.
  • LemonTrades warns you before every Fed decision and tells you what it did to your markets within a minute.

Here are today’s key US interest rates.

RateNowWhat it’s for
Fed funds targetset October 283.75–4.00%What banks charge each other overnight; it moves the others
Prime rate7.00%The base for credit cards and home equity lines
10-year Treasurylive–%Drives mortgage rates
30-year mortgageFreddie Mac, November 57.18%A typical new home loan
3-month Treasury billNovember 44.03%What the government pays for short loans
Credit cardsaverage, August21.19%What card balances cost
New car loan, 60 monthsaverage, August7.54%Bank auto loans
Savings accountnational average, October0.38%Most big-bank savings; online banks pay far more
12-month CDnational average, October1.76%Average across banks

The 10-year yield is live; the rest are the latest published figures. Calculate payments with the interest rate calculator.

How the rates connect

  • The Fed sets the overnight rate, and short-term rates follow it closely: Treasury bills, money market funds, savings at online banks.
  • Prime is the Fed rate plus 3 points, and credit cards and home equity lines are priced off prime.
  • Long-term rates follow the bond market. Mortgages track the 10-year Treasury yield, which depends on inflation, growth and government borrowing, not just the Fed.

Why rates are where they are

Inflation is running well above the Fed’s 2% goal: CPI was 3.7% and PCE inflation 3.6% in September. So the Fed has held off cutting, and long-term yields have climbed toward 5%. That’s pushed mortgage rates back above 7%.

What happens next

Rates move with each Fed meeting and each inflation and jobs report. See when the next Fed meeting is, did the Fed cut rates and when interest rates will go down. Saving? See the I bond rate.

Sources

Education, not financial advice. See our disclaimer.

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