Top CD Rates Today: 6.00% Leader Offers a Take-Your-Pick Term of 12 to 17 Months

The nation-leading CD rate of 6.00% APY held steady today, on offer for almost two weeks now. Banks and credit unions can end CD promotions at any time, as we saw last week when a competing 6.00% certificate evaporated after a mere two days on the market.

Credit Human's still-available 6.00% rate can be locked for any term of your choosing between 12 and 17 months, making it a customer-friendly option. The leading rates on all other CD terms also held their ground today.

Key Takeaways

The top rate in our daily ranking of the best nationwide CDs remains 6.00% APY, available for a take-your-pick term of 12-17 months.
A dozen nationally available CDs are paying 5.75% APY or better, with another 17 options paying at least 5.65% APY.
Some lucky CD shoppers can even earn 6.25% APY with a regional offer available in five states.
The Fed announced on Sept. 20 that it was holding rates steady for the time being, and one more hold on Nov. 1 appears likely, but another hike in December or January is still a possibility.

Below you'll find featured rates available from our partners, followed by details from our complete ranking of the best CDs available nationwide.

Looking to lock in a great rate for a longer term? The top 2-year CD is now paying 5.60% APY, a rate increase that was unveiled yesterday. And if that's still not long enough, you can secure 5.32% APY for 30 months down the road, or 5.25% APY for 36 or 40 months. All three of those can be found in our daily ranking of the best 3-year CDs.

If you have the option to make a jumbo deposit of at least $100,000, you can boost your 2-year rate to 5.63%, or a 30-month rate to 5.47% APY.

Note

When asked where they would put an unexpected $10,000 windfall, almost 1 in 5 recently surveyed Investopedia readers said they would choose a CD. Selected by 18% of readers, CDs were the most popular response, outpacing stocks, money market funds, and index funds.

CD Terms	Yesterday's Top National Rate	Today's Top National Rate	Day's Change (percentage points)	Top Rate Provider
3 months	5.66% APY	5.66% APY	No change	TotalDirectBank
6 months	5.76% APY	5.76% APY	No change	TotalDirectBank
1 year	6.00% APY	6.00% APY	No change	Credit Human
18 months	6.00% APY	6.00% APY	No change	Credit Human
2 years	5.60% APY	5.60% APY	No change	Newtek Bank
3 years	5.32% APY	5.32% APY	No change	Luana Savings Bank
4 years	5.13% APY	5.13% APY	No change	Wellby Financial
5 years	5.00% APY	5.00% APY	No change	Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union

To view the top 15–20 nationwide rates in any term, click on the desired term length in the left column above.

Nationwide CDs aren't your only option. Leading rates are sometimes offered by banks and credit unions that serve select regions. While sometimes these territories are small, the highest CD rate in the country right now—6.25% APY—is available to anyone living in one of five lucky states.

CD Term	Today's Top National Bank Rate	Today's Top National Credit Union Rate	Today's Top National Jumbo Rate
3 months	5.66% APY*	5.65% APY	5.20% APY
6 months	5.76% APY*	5.75% APY	5.67% APY
1 year	5.67% APY	6.00% APY*	5.80% APY
18 months	5.68% APY	6.00% APY*	5.70% APY
2 years	5.60% APY	5.50% APY	5.63% APY*
3 years	5.32% APY	5.25% APY	5.47% APY*
4 years	4.90% APY	5.13% APY*	4.86% APY
5 years	4.85% APY	5.00% APY*	4.92% APY

*Indicates the highest APY offered in each term. To view our lists of the top-paying CDs across terms for bank, credit union, and jumbo certificates, click on the column headers above.

Note that jumbo CDs don't always pay a higher return than standard certificates. Sometimes you can do just as well—or better—with a standard CD. That's currently the case in six of the eight terms above, so it's smart to shop both certificate types before making a final decision.

How High Will CD Rates Go This Year?

The Federal Reserve has been aggressively combating decades-high inflation since March of last year, raising the federal funds rate with fast and furious hikes in 2022 and then more moderate increases in 2023. With its most recent hike on July 26, the Fed has implemented 11 increases in 13 meetings, for a cumulative increase of 5.25%. This has created record rate conditions for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone holding cash in a high-yield savings or money market account.

On Sept. 20, the Fed announced a rate hold, maintaining the central bank's benchmark rate at its highest level since 2001. In his post-announcement press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell made it clear that holding rates is about pausing to see how much impact previous hikes will continue to have and allowing more economic data to come in for the Fed's consideration.

The next two-day meeting will conclude on Nov. 1, and several Fed members have recently signaled that they expect the committee's rate-hike campaign has reached its end. As a result, almost 90% of fed funds futures traders are betting on another rate hold on Nov. 1, per CME's FedWatch Tool.

As we always caution, however, predicting Fed rate moves is an imperfect exercise. The economic landscape can change quickly, potentially altering the Fed's expected course at any time. So while rates seem to be stabilizing right now, only time will tell whether a future Fed rate hike may still be on the horizon for December or January—and whether CD rates have, in turn, peaked or will edge a bit higher still.

Note that the "top rates" quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia 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 five, 10, or even 15 times higher.

Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure

Every business day, Investopedia 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.