Written by

Brian McKay

Brian McKay

Co-Founder & Lead Data Architect

Expertise

• Automated Online Rate Data Aggregation
• Location-Based Rate Tables
• Bank & Credit Union Health Safety Ratings
• Bank & Credit Union Star Ratings
• Finance Calculators

Brian is the Co-Founder of MonitorBankRates.com. For over 18 years, he has utilized his background in enterprise infrastructure to engineer proprietary systems that track rates from over 8,000 financial institutions.

Read Full Bio

| August 19, 2026 | 5 min read

Personal Loan Rates Settle Down as July's Big Swings Reverse

The main personal loan average barely moved since our July 27 report, easing to 10.710% APR. The two categories that swung hard in late July both reversed: signature loan rates gave back most of their climb, and debt consolidation loan rates bounced back from their drop.

Our July 27 report described a market where the two smaller categories were swinging on shifting lender pools while the main average barely moved. Since then, the swings reversed and the main average kept barely moving. Average personal loan rates eased 0.014 points to 10.710% APR, staying inside the narrow range they've held all summer. Signature loan rates fell 0.217 points to 11.096%, giving back most of their late-July climb, and debt consolidation loan rates rebounded 0.271 points to 10.748%, reversing their late-July drop and moving back above the main category.

What happened to personal loan rates since July 27

Personal loan rates by category, national average APR since late March

Average APRs from MonitorBankRates.com's nightly collection, the same series this report's figures come from, updated daily.

The number worth trusting most is the quiet one. The main personal loan category draws on the deepest lender pool we track in this market, more than 1,300 institutions, and its average has printed 10.682, 10.708, 10.693, 10.724, and now 10.710 across five reports: a total range of about four hundredths of a point since early July. Unsecured borrowing has been remarkably stable this summer, and this stretch didn't change that.

The two smaller categories told the opposite story, for the second time. In late July, signature loan rates surged and debt consolidation rates plunged, and our July 27 report cautioned that both moves came from reporting pools that were shifting or simply small, not from lenders repricing across the market. The reversal since then makes the case: signature gave back 0.217 points of its climb, and debt consolidation took back 0.271 points of its drop, putting the three categories back in the order they held for most of the summer. When a category's average is built from 92 institutions, as debt consolidation's is, a few lenders joining or leaving moves the number more than any market trend does.

Change since July 27, by loan category (percentage points)

This report's averages, July 27 to August 19. Red bars rose; green bars fell.

Compare personal loan rates: July 27 vs. August 19

Your credit score matters more than the Fed here

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% on July 29 for a fifth straight meeting, with three committee members voting for a quarter-point increase, and personal loan rates noticed less than any other product we cover. Unsecured lending isn't priced off an index the way a HELOC or an adjustable mortgage is; each lender sets rates from the borrower's credit profile, the loan term, and its own appetite for risk. That's why the dashboard behind this report shows offers from roughly 2% APR for the strongest credit profiles to near 30% for the weakest, a spread of nearly thirty points inside a market whose category averages sit within half a point of each other. The elevated-rate era keeps the whole market firm, but the rate you personally pay was mostly decided before you ever applied, by your credit history.

What this means if you're borrowing

At the main category's 10.710% average, borrowing $10,000 over 36 months runs about $326 a month, with roughly $1,737 in total interest over the life of the loan. Two things move that number more than anything in this report: your credit score, and how many lenders you ask. If the goal is folding several high-rate balances into one fixed payment, run the numbers with our debt consolidation calculator before applying, since the consolidation only helps if the new rate beats the blended rate you're already paying. Borrowers comparing local lenders can line up Georgia personal loan rates against these national averages, and category history is on our personal loan rate history page.

The bottom line

Strip away the small-pool categories bouncing back and forth, and the personal loan market has spent the whole summer within a few hundredths of 10.7%. Steady is the story, and for borrowers, steady means there's no reason to wait for a better market before applying and no penalty for taking the time to compare offers. A quote from one more credit union or bank routinely matters more than months of movement in these averages.