CD Rates Hold Steady;
12-Month at 2.838%

CD APYs held essentially steady across the curve this week, in the quietest week of this tracking series. All eight terms moved less than 0.020 points, with two terms unchanged. The benchmark 12-month edged up 0.005 points to 2.838%; the 6-month posted the week’s largest move at +0.012 points to 2.689%.

📊 Full 8-term CD data — 15,108 institution-term combinations tracked, up from 14,540 last week.

NATIONAL — National certificate of deposit APYs held essentially steady across the curve for the week ending May 19, 2026, in the quietest week of this tracking series. All eight tracked terms moved less than 0.020 points, with two terms — the 24-month and 36-month — literally unchanged from last week. The largest mover was the 6-month CD at +0.012 points to 2.689%. The benchmark 12-month CD edged up 0.005 points to 2.838%. Four terms gained, two declined fractionally, and two held flat.

Short-term CDs were nearly flat. 3-month CD rates edged up 0.007 points to 1.925% — essentially unchanged after several weeks of small movements. The 6-month posted the week’s largest move at +0.012 points to 2.689%, the second consecutive weekly gain for the term. The spread between 3-month and 6-month CDs widened slightly to 0.764 percentage points from last week’s 0.759, as the 6-month outpaced the short end by a small margin.

Mid-term CDs showed the week’s most pronounced inaction. The benchmark 12-month edged up just 0.005 points to 2.838% — functionally flat after last week’s small decline. The 18-month slipped 0.005 points to 2.656%, giving back a fraction of last week’s 0.036-point gain. The 24-month held exactly steady at 2.689%, neither up nor down for the first time in this tracking period. At 2.838%, the 12-month continues to lead the curve, with the 60-month at 2.725% the only other term above 2.70%.

Long-term CDs were equally quiet. 36-month rates held unchanged at 2.632%, 48-month rates eased a single basis point to 2.627%, and the 60-month CD edged up 0.003 points to 2.725%. After two weeks of meaningful long-end strength, the long end took a breath this week. The 12-month-to-60-month spread held at 0.113 points, virtually identical to last week’s 0.111 — meaning the term-structure inversion that has defined this market over the past month neither widened nor compressed further this week.

After two consecutive weeks of meaningful long-end strength, the CD market took a clear pause this week. The 12-month-to-60-month spread — the most-watched indicator of term-structure inversion in CD pricing — held essentially unchanged at 0.113 points, neither extending the recent compression nor reversing it. This kind of consolidation week often comes between bigger directional moves; institutions hold pricing in place while waiting for clearer signals from Treasury yields or competitive deposit flows. Whether the long end resumes its catch-up next week or the curve reverts to wider inversion depends on factors outside the CD market itself.

For savers, this week’s reading is unambiguous: nothing meaningful changed. The 12-month at 2.838% remains the curve’s highest yield. The 60-month at 2.725% is now the closest long-term competitor. The most meaningful data point in this release isn’t a rate at all — it’s coverage. MonitorBankRates.com tracked 15,108 institution-term combinations this week, up 568 from last week, reflecting an expansion in the underlying data pool. The 12-month and 24-month terms led that growth, each adding more than 100 institutions to the reporting set. Track how the curve evolves on the CD rate trends page.