vs Last Week
−0.04 pts
Slowly drifting lower in line with Fed cuts.
Today's HYSA / Money Market Rate
U.S. National Average
4.30
%
-0.04 pts
vs. last week (4.34%)
Past 12 months
Range 4.25 – 4.95
vs Last Year-0.55
5-Yr Avg2.20%
Big-Bank Avg0.45%
HYSA yields have fallen 55 bps from a year ago as the Fed cuts. But the gap vs traditional banks is still enormous: $10K in a top HYSA earns $430/yr vs $45/yr at the big-bank average.
Historical trend
Weekly money market fund yield.
Source: FRED · MMMFFAQ027S
The long view: since 1985
Forty years of cash yields — from 8% in the 80s to 0.07% in 2021.
Cycle Peak 5.30% · Sept 2023
Trough 0.07% · May 2021
Today 4.30%
How today stacks up
Today's 4.30% in plain context.
vs Last Year
−0.55 pts
Down from 4.85%. ~$55/yr less per $10K balance.
5-Year Average
2.20%
Today is 210 bps above the 5-yr mean — still elevated.
All-Time Low
0.07%
May 2021. Today is 61× higher.
Use this yield
Tools that put 4.30% to work.
About the High-Yield Savings Rate
This tracker shows the national average money market fund (MMF) yield, which closely tracks top high-yield savings account (HYSA) rates from online banks. Money market funds (offered by Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc.) and HYSAs from online banks (Marcus, Ally, SoFi, Discover) compete head-to-head for cash that needs to stay liquid but earn meaningful interest. The traditional bank savings rate is dramatically lower — the national average for big-bank savings accounts is about 0.45%.
The HYSA gap is real money
At 4.30%, $10,000 parked in a top HYSA earns $430/year. The same $10,000 at the typical brick-and-mortar bank's 0.45% earns just $45/year — a gap of $385 per year per $10K, for doing absolutely nothing different except logging into a different bank's website. For an emergency fund of $25,000, the gap is over $950 per year. It's the highest-impact 10-minute money move most Americans never make.
Reading this chart
Money market yields fell to 0.07% in May 2021, the lowest point in the 40-year history of the series. They climbed back to a cycle high of 5.30% in September 2023 as the Fed hiked, and have drifted lower as the Fed cuts. The relationship is roughly: HYSA yield ≈ fed funds rate minus 0.25–0.50%. As the Fed continues cutting, expect savings yields to drop in lockstep. Locking in a CD or I Bond while rates are still elevated is a way to extend today's yield into 2027.
Related trackers
Other live numbers that move with — or against — this one.
Frequently asked
What this number means, and what it doesn't.
Effectively yes — the top HYSAs from Marcus, Ally, SoFi, Discover and similar online banks track this money market fund yield within 0.10–0.25%. The big-bank savings account average is dramatically lower (around 0.45%) because they don't need to compete on rate.
An HYSA is a deposit account at an FDIC-insured bank (up to $250K per depositor per bank). A money market fund is a mutual fund holding short-term Treasuries and commercial paper, with SEC oversight but no FDIC insurance. Both are extremely safe in practice; HYSAs are simpler for emergency funds.
Traditional brick-and-mortar banks don't compete aggressively for savings deposits — they earn massive net interest margins by paying near-zero on savings while lending at much higher rates. Online-only banks (no branches) can offer much higher rates. Moving to an online HYSA is one of the highest-ROI financial moves.
If the Fed continues cutting (the current expectation), HYSA yields will drop with them. A 6-month or 1-year CD locks in roughly today's rate even if savings yields fall. Trade-off: your money is locked up — early withdrawal usually costs 3–6 months' interest.
Yes, fully taxable as ordinary income (federal + state). On $1,000 of interest at a 24% federal bracket, you keep $760. Tax-advantaged alternatives include I Bonds (federal tax only) and Roth IRA contributions (tax-free growth).
Methodology
Source
Pulled from FRED · DGS3MO 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.