vs Last Meeting
−0.25 pts
Down from 4.58%. The third cut of this easing cycle.
Today's Federal Funds Rate
U.S. Effective Rate
4.33
%
-0.25 pts
vs. last FOMC meeting (4.58%)
Past 12 months
Range 4.33 – 5.33
vs Last Year-1.00
5-Yr Avg3.20%
All-Time High19.10%
The Fed cut 25 basis points at the May meeting, the third cut of the easing cycle. Rates are now 100 bps below last year, but still 1.13 pts above the 5-year average. The next meeting is in June.
Historical trend
Effective monthly rate. Hover for exact values.
Source: FRED · FEDFUNDS
The long view: since 1954
Seventy years of Fed monetary policy in one chart.
Peak 19.10% · June 1981
Trough 0.05% · April 2020
Today 4.33% · May 1, 2026
How today stacks up
Today's 4.33% in plain context.
vs One Year Ago
−1.00 pts
Down from 5.33%, the cycle peak.
5-Year Average
3.20%
Today is 1.13 pts above the 5-yr mean.
All-Time High
19.10%
June 1981 — Volcker era. Today is 4.4× lower.
Use this rate
Tools that move when the Fed moves.
About the Federal Funds Rate
The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which U.S. banks lend reserve balances to each other overnight. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) sets a target range for it eight times a year, and the published "effective" rate is the market-clearing rate within that range. It's the most important number in U.S. monetary policy — when journalists say "the Fed raised rates" or "cut rates," this is the rate they mean.
Why it matters to you (even though no consumer borrows at this rate)
You'll never get a loan at the fed funds rate — it's a wholesale rate between banks. But it's the gravitational center of every other consumer rate. Credit card APRs are typically set at Prime + a margin, and Prime tracks fed funds at +3%. Auto loans, HELOCs, and savings yields all move with it, usually within a few months. Mortgages move with the 10-year Treasury rather than fed funds directly, but the bond market reacts to where it expects fed funds to go over time.
Reading this chart
The all-time high of 19.10% (June 1981) was the Volcker Fed's price-paid for breaking 1970s inflation. The 2008–2015 and 2020–2022 floors at near-zero reflect emergency responses to the financial crisis and pandemic. Today's 4.33% represents the start of an easing cycle after the 2022–24 tightening that took the rate from 0.05% to 5.33% in 18 months — one of the steepest hike sequences in Fed history. The pace of cuts from here depends on inflation and labor data between meetings.
Related trackers
Other live numbers that move with — or against — this one.
Frequently asked
What this number means, and what it doesn't.
The FOMC has eight scheduled meetings per year — roughly every 6 weeks — at which it can change the target range. Between meetings the rate is set. Emergency unscheduled changes are rare but happened in March 2020 and September 2007.
No, but they move in lockstep. The Prime Rate (the rate banks charge their best customers) is set by individual banks at fed funds upper bound + 3.00%. Today's Prime Rate is 7.50%. Most credit card APRs are quoted as "Prime + X."
30-year mortgages are priced off the 10-year Treasury yield, which reflects the market's expectation of fed funds over the next decade, not just today's level. By the time the Fed officially cuts, bond markets have usually already priced it in.
Federal Open Market Committee — the 12-member committee that sets U.S. monetary policy. It includes 7 Federal Reserve Board governors plus 5 of the 12 regional Fed bank presidents on a rotating basis.
The 2026 schedule has meetings in January, March, May, June, July, September, October/November, and December. Statements are released at 2:00 PM ET on the second day, followed by a press conference at 2:30 PM.
Methodology
Source
Pulled from FRED · FEDFUNDS and cached on the EvvyTools server.
Update schedule
Refreshed automatically by our cron whenever the upstream source publishes a new value. Historical values are not revised after publication.
How we compute
Display value is the raw published number, unrounded. Comparison stats use the closest available reference date. We never edit the underlying data.