Top CD Rates Today, March 21

See how today's top nationwide rate is trending for every CD term

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Sabrina Karl
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Sabrina Karl is one of the country's top experts on how to earn as much as possible on the money you hold in the bank. She also covers a spectrum of additional personal finance topics for Investopedia, and previously wrote for Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, DepositAccounts.com, and RateSeeker.
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Updated March 28, 2023
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A new rate leader popped up today among nationally available certificates of deposit (CDs). You can now earn 5.25% APY on a 7-month CD from Fortera Credit Union with a minimum deposit of $1,000, marking a notable improvement in the 6-month tier over yesterday's 5.01% APY top rate. The easy-to-join credit union indicates its special CD is available through April 30.

Across all nationally available CDs ranging from 3-month to 10-year terms, the overall top rate remains 5.50% APY. Available from Credit Human on terms of 24-35 months (you pick), the nationwide credit union has been the CD rate leader since March 3.

For those preferring a bank CD, the most you can earn on a nationally available bank certificate continues to be Sun Canyon Bank's 1-year CD paying 5.35% APY.

Rates among nationwide jumbo CDs held steady today. With a $50,000 minimum deposit, you can earn 5.25% with a 12-17 month certificate from Finworth. You can also earn that same rate on a 9-month term from KS State Bank or on 36 months from Quorum Federal Credit Union, both of which require a $100,000 deposit.

The Federal Reserve kicked off its latest rate-setting meeting today, a two-day affair culminating with a rate decision announcement at 2 p.m. EST tomorrow. Though the general consensus just 10 days ago was that the Fed would bump rates 0.50 percentage points higher to continue its fight against persistent inflation, the recent high-profile bank failures have clouded the Fed's decision. As of this afternoon, 86% of market watchers predict a lesser Fed hike of 25 basis points, and 14% predict they'll make no move at all.

CD Term  Yesterday's Top National Rate Today's Top National Rate  Day's Change (percentage points)
3 months 5.01% APY 5.01% APY No change
6 months  5.01% APY 5.25% APY + 0.24
1 year  5.35% APY  5.35% APY  No change
18 months 5.25% APY 5.25% APY No change
2 years  5.50% APY 5.50% APY No change
3 years  5.50% APY 5.50% APY  No change
4 years 5.00% APY 5.00% APY No change
5 years  5.00% APY  5.00% APY  No change
10 years 4.30% APY 4.30% APY No change
To view the top 15-20 nationwide rates in any term, click on the desired term length in the table above.
 CD Term Today's Top National Bank Rate  Today's Top National Credit Union Rate Today's Top National Jumbo Rate
3 months  5.01% APY 5.00% APY  3.91% APY 
6 months  5.01% APY 5.25% APY  5.25% APY 
1 year  5.35% APY  5.05% APY 5.25% APY 
18 months  5.25% APY  5.25% APY  5.25% APY 
2 years  4.75% APY  5.50% APY  4.70% APY 
3 years  4.60% APY  5.50% APY  5.25% APY 
4 years  4.65% APY  5.00% APY  4.85% APY 
5 years  4.70% APY  5.00% APY  5.05% APY 
10 years 4.10% APY 4.30% APY None
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 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 5, 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.

Correction - March 28, 2023: This article has been corrected to state the highest APY available for a jumbo 3-month CD was 3.91% at the time of publication.