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Brian McKay

Co-Founder & Lead Data Architect

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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.

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| August 24, 2026 | 5 min read

High-Yield Savings Rates Hold Above 2% as Standard Rates Keep Sliding

High-yield savings rates held above 2% for a second straight week, inching up to 2.120%, while standard savings rates fell for a third week in a row to 0.784%. The two kinds of savings accounts keep moving in opposite directions, and the space between them is the widest we've measured this summer.

Last week's savings report had one big move in it, high-yield savings rates jumping above 2.00% after months of circling that line. The question was whether the move would stick. It did. The national average for high-yield savings accounts added another 0.005 points this week to 2.120%, while the rest of the savings rates market stayed quiet: jumbo savings eased to 1.287%, business savings held at 0.482%, and credit union savings recovered a little to 0.262%. The one category still clearly moving is standard savings, down a third straight week to 0.784%.

The 2% level held

Savings rates by account category, national average APY since late March

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

A week after their 0.140-point jump, high-yield savings rates didn't give anything back; they added a touch more. That matters because a sharp move in one of these categories sometimes reflects a few aggressive banks repricing at once, and those moves can reverse the following week. This one held. Elsewhere the week was uneventful: jumbo savings slipped 0.008 points, business savings added 0.003, and credit union savings took back 0.016 of its recent decline. The ranking across the five categories didn't move.

Standard savings rates fall for a third straight week

The steadiest trend in this market isn't the high-yield average; it's the slow slide beneath it. Standard savings rates, the broad category most branch accounts fall into, have gone from 0.834% in late July to 0.809% last week to 0.784% now. Put that against a high-yield average that keeps climbing and the difference between the two reached 1.336 points, the widest in our summer reports. On a $25,000 balance, the average standard account earns about $196 a year and the average high-yield account about $530, a gap of roughly $334. Our guide on how to find the best savings rates online covers where the stronger offers actually live.

Weekly change by savings category (percentage points)

This report's averages, August 17 to August 24. Green bars rose; red bars fell.

Savings rates this week: August 17 vs. August 24

Banks are still fighting for deposits

Two rate reports have now come and gone without the Federal Reserve doing anything at all; it last met on July 29, held its benchmark at 3.50% to 3.75% over three dissents, and won't meet again until September. Yet the savings market keeps sorting itself. Online banks and other competitive institutions pushed their average above 2% and are holding it there, while the broad market lets its rates sag a few hundredths at a time. That split is about deposits, not policy: some banks want your cash badly enough to pay up for it, and the rest are betting you won't move yours. So far this summer, both bets have been paying.

The CD advantage keeps shrinking

For savers weighing a lock-up against staying liquid, the scale tipped a little further toward liquid this week. 12-month CD rates fell to 2.831% in this week's CD rate report while high-yield savings rates rose, so the reward for locking money up for a year is down to 0.711 points, from 0.878 a month ago. That's still real money on a large balance, and a CD protects you if savings rates fall later; run your own numbers with the savings calculator before deciding. Savers comparing local offers can line up Illinois savings rates against these national averages, and category history is on our savings rate trends page.

The bottom line

Nothing dramatic happened to savings rates this week, and that's the point: the quiet weeks are when the sorting shows. High-yield savings accounts held above 2%, the average standard account slid for a third straight week to 0.784%, and every week the two drift further apart, the cost of not looking at your own account's rate goes up a little. Twenty minutes and one application currently covers a difference of about $334 a year on a $25,000 balance.