- CD rates have gone up and down many times from 1965 to 2024.
- The highest CD rate recorded in the United States occurred in 1980.
- CD rates dropped somewhat at the end of 2024, but still have remained competitive.
The best CD rates are paying close to 4% to 5% APY. But when was the last time CD rates were this competitive?
To help you learn more about how CD rates have fluctuated over time, we've gathered data on historical CD rates from 1965 to 2024. We'll also cover general trends that have occurred throughout history as well as what economic factors lead to rate changes so you can get a better understanding of why CD rates change.
Historical CD rates: A journey through time
Interest rates as economic indicators
CD rates are impacted by the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate banks use when lending money to each other.
As the central banking system in the U.S., the Federal Reserve manages the federal funds rate.
Generally, the Federal Reserve raises rates to combat inflation and discourage spending, and lowers rates to encourage spending and spur economic growth. When the Federal Reserve raises rates, CD rates rise. Conversely, if rates drop, CD rates also go down.
In 2022, when the Fed kicked off a series of aggressive rate hikes — 11 in total from March 2022 to July 2023 — it was focused on creating a "soft landing" for the economy.
In 2024, the Fed spent most of the year holding interest rates steady while waiting for inflation stabilization at 2%. The Fed cut its rates in September and has also cut rates further since then when it decided that both inflation and unemployment rates were at good spots.
Historical 90-day CD rates
The following chart shows the interest rates for 3-month or 90-day CDs and is based on data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Decade | Lowest Interest Rate | Highest Interest Rate |
| 1965 to 1969 | 4.13% (January 1965) | 8.77% (December 1969) |
| 1970 to 1979 | 3.61% (February 1972) | 13.90% (December 1979) |
| 1980 to 1989 | 5.69% (October 1986) | 18.65% (December 1980) |
| 1990 to 1999 | 3.09% (April 1993) | 8.42% (April 1990) |
| 2000 to 2009 | 0.21% (November 2009) | 6.73% (June 2000) |
| 2010 to 2019 | 0.11% (May 2014) | 2.69% (December 2018) |
| 2020 to 2023 | 0.09% (June 2021) | 5.49% (September 2023) |
Historical 1-year CD rates
The following chart shows monthly interest rates for a 1-year CD from 2021 to November 2024, the only publicly available data from the Fed.
Year | Lowest Interest Rate | Highest Interest Rate |
| 2021 | 0.14% (May to December) | 0.15% (April) |
| 2022 | 0.13% (January) | 1.07% (December) |
| 2023 | 1.28% (January) | 1.86% (December) |
| 2024 | 1.80% (May to June) | 1.88% (September) |
Major eras of CD rate fluctuations
Some of the highest CD rates in history occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s because the Fed raised rates significantly to combat high inflation.
When the U.S. faced a recession, the Federal Reserve lowered rates to stimulate the economy. As a result, CD rates shifted and dropped during times like the 1981 to 1982 recession, the Gulf War Recession (1990 to 1991), the Great Recession (2007 to 2009), and the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent trends and falling rates
While the St. Louis Federal Reserve doesn't have information on 2024 3-month CD rates yet, it does have information on the 2024 federal funds effective rate, which impacts CD rates. For most of 2024, the federal funds effective rate stayed steady at 5.33%. But on September 2024, it started to fall.
In November 2024, the last month that the St. Louis Federal Reserve has information for, the federal funds effective rate was 4.64%. While certainly lower than last year's comparatively high interest rates, this is still a high rate overall.
Malik S. Lee, CFP® professional, managing principal of Felton & Peel Wealth Management, says that CD rates didn't perform as well as they did in 2023, but still performed better than rates from the last 10 years. "Rates went to zero in 2008, and they slowly worked their way back up, but then they went back down to zero again during COVID," says Lee.
The recent election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president has made things more difficult for the Federal Reserve, leading to less certainty about what rate changes could look like in 2025. Trump's plan to impose tariffs could result in higher inflation rates, which could mean the Fed decides to raise federal funds rates.
But many economists are still predicting that federal funds rates will be cut next year, which might mean that CD rates will go down in 2025.
"I think that they will go down in 2025. I'm not going to say how much, I have no idea, but I do think that they will probably make another cut in 2025," says Lee.
The Federal Reserve's September 2024 Summary of Economic Projections, which it publishes at every other Fed meeting, also indicates that rates will go down in 2025. That being said, this economic projection does not account for economic changes that could result from Trump's election.
Historical CD rate FAQs
Why were CD rates so high in the 1980s?
The U.S. experienced a severe economic recession which caused exceptionally high inflation in the 1980s. To combat inflation, the central bank raised interest rates, thus making it more expensive for consumers to borrow money but more advantageous to save CDs in and other deposit accounts.
How did the Great Recession impact CD rates?
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near-zero, and banks followed suit on deposit accounts.
What's a normal range for CD rates historically?
According to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the average rate for a 3-month CD from 2013 to 2023 was 1.44% and the median was 0.87%.
Can historical CD rates predict future trends?
Not necessarily, but they can indicate how rates might fluctuate during future recessions or periods of high inflation.
Where can I find a chart of historical CD rates?
The Federal Reserve publishes a chart of historical interest rates for 3-month CDs. It currently shows monthly rates from June 1964 through December 2023.