Deposit rates are flat on the year while Treasury yields and mortgage rates climb

The average US savings account paid 0.38% in October, against 0.40% a year earlier, while the yield on a one-year Treasury rose to 4.54% from 3.68% and the average 30-year mortgage rate climbed to 7.32% from 6.19%, according to data from the FDIC and Freddie Mac. Households that earn interest on deposits and households that pay interest on loans have had different years.

What happened

The FDIC publishes monthly "national rates", defined as the average of rates paid by all insured banks and credit unions for which data is available, weighted by each institution's share of domestic deposits. In its table dated October 19, 2026, the national rate was 0.38% on savings accounts, 0.07% on interest checking and 0.63% on money market accounts. The 12-month certificate of deposit paid 1.76% and the 60-month CD 1.41%.

In the table dated October 20, 2025, the same products paid 0.40% on savings, 0.07% on interest checking and 0.59% on money market accounts, with 1.68% on the 12-month CD and 1.34% on the 60-month CD. Savings rates therefore changed by minus 0.02 percentage point over the year and the 12-month CD by plus 0.08 point (both computed). The FDIC's savings and checking rates are based on the $2,500 product tier, and its money market and CD rates average the $10,000 and $100,000 tiers.

The numbers behind it: what Treasuries paid

The same FDIC tables list the yield the Treasury Department published for each maturity, which the FDIC uses to set its rate caps. For the 12-month maturity the yield was 4.54% in October 2026 against 3.68% a year earlier, an increase of 0.86 percentage point (computed). For 24 months it was 4.88% against 3.60%, and for 60 months 5.09% against 3.74%. At the short end the moves were smaller or reversed: the one-month yield was 4.02% against 4.20%, and the six-month yield was 4.33% against 3.83%.

The gap between a Treasury and a bank CD of the same length widened. For 12 months it was 2.78 percentage points in October 2026 (4.54% minus 1.76%) against 2.00 points a year earlier (3.68% minus 1.68%), and for 60 months it was 3.68 points (5.09% minus 1.41%) against 2.40 points (3.74% minus 1.34%), all computed from the FDIC tables. The tables compare an average of bank offers with a government yield; they do not show what any individual bank or credit union paid, and the FDIC does not give reasons for the difference.

The cost of prices

Consumer prices also rose faster than deposit rates. The not-seasonally-adjusted consumer price index was 336.940 in September 2026 against 324.800 in September 2025, which is an increase of 3.74% (computed), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by the St. Louis Fed. A year earlier the index was 315.301 in September 2024, so the increase to September 2025 was 3.01% (computed).

Putting the two together by simple subtraction, the savings rate of 0.38% was 3.36 percentage points below the 3.74% rise in prices, and the 12-month CD rate of 1.76% was 1.98 points below it (both computed). A year earlier the gaps were 2.61 points for savings (0.40% against 3.01%) and 1.33 points for the 12-month CD (1.68% against 3.01%). This is a comparison of two published averages, not the experience of an individual saver.

The borrowing side

Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.32% as of October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% a week earlier and up from 6.19% a year earlier, an increase of 1.13 percentage points (computed). The 15-year rate was 6.68% against 5.44%, an increase of 1.24 points (computed).

The Federal Reserve's policy rate moved the other way over the year. The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12 to 0 on September 16 to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 percentage point to 3-3/4 to 4 percent. Federal Reserve data compiled by the St. Louis Fed show the upper end of the target range at 4.25% in mid-October 2025 and 4.00% in October 2026, so the range's upper end is 0.25 point lower than a year earlier (computed). The Fed said in its statement that inflation "remains elevated" and that the action "will support a timelier return to the Committee's 2 percent goal."

What the data do not show

The sources do not say why average deposit rates stayed flat while Treasury yields and mortgage rates rose. The FDIC publishes the rates and the Treasury yields beside each other, but its tables are a record of levels, not an explanation. Mortgage rates are collected by Freddie Mac from loan applications, and Treasury yields come from the Treasury Department, so the three series are measured in different ways and are not a single pool of money.

The FDIC's figures are averages weighted by deposits and use the account tiers named above, so what an individual bank or credit union offers can differ from them.

What to watch

The FDIC says it publishes the monthly rate information every third Monday of the month, which makes the next update November 16 (computed from the schedule) unless a federal holiday intervenes. Freddie Mac releases its mortgage survey on Thursdays at noon ET. The Federal Reserve's calendar lists policy meetings on October 27-28 and December 8-9, the second with a Summary of Economic Projections.

If Treasury yields stay above deposit rates, the gaps in the FDIC tables would stay wide, and if the national rates rise toward them, the gaps would narrow. Both series change from month to month, and the tables are not a forecast.