I bond rates
Current composite, fixed, and inflation rates plus every semiannual rate since September 1998.
- I bonds issued May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026 earn a composite rate of 4.26% (announced May 1, 2026).
- The current fixed rate is 0.90%; it stays with the bond for its full 30-year life.
- The current semiannual inflation rate is 1.67%; it changes every May 1 and November 1.
- The next rate announcement is .
- Older I bonds keep their own fixed rates, so every issue-month cohort earns a different composite - the highest-fixed-rate cohorts earn the most today.
Every rate since 1998, charted
Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data - I Bonds Interest Rates, retrieved at build time.
How the composite rate is calculated
Treasury combines each bond's lifetime fixed rate with the semiannual inflation rate (TreasuryDirect: I bond interest rates):
composite = fixed + 2 × inflation + fixed × inflation
= 0.90% + 2 × 1.67% + 0.90% × 0.0167
= 4.2550% → rounded to 4.26%
If deflation drives the result below zero, the composite is floored at 0% - an I bond never loses value. This page's build verified that formula against all 9,690 rows of the Treasury dataset (it reproduces every published combined rate exactly, including the 0% floors in 2009 and 2015).
Each bond adopts the new rate on its own schedule: a fresh 6-month rate window starts every sixth month from the bond's issue month, so a bond issued in January picks up each new rate in January and July. Use the checker to see the current rate and next reset for a specific issue date.
How the November 2026 rate will be determined
Treasury announces new rates every May 1 and November 1. Two things are set at each announcement:
- The inflation component is mechanical: it comes from the change in the CPI-U over a fixed six-month window (March→September for a November announcement; September→March for a May announcement). The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the final CPI-U reading about two weeks before the announcement, so the inflation component becomes computable slightly early - this page carries only the official figure once Treasury announces it.
- The fixed rate is set at Treasury's discretion and is not announced in advance. It applies to newly purchased bonds for their entire 30-year life.
The November 2026 inflation component is already set by the published data: CPI-U went from 330.213 in March 2026 to 336.940 in September 2026, a change of 2.04% (BLS CPI-U, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted). That is the semiannual inflation rate Treasury's formula produces, 4.08% annualized before the fixed rate is added. Treasury makes it official on . The same calculation reproduces all 8 past announcements this build checked.
The fixed rate is never forecast here, and official rates appear on this page when Treasury publishes them (TreasuryDirect).
Every semiannual rate since 1998
Rates shown are for new issues in each period: the fixed rate assigned at purchase, the semiannual inflation rate, and the resulting composite. Download: i-bond-rate-history.csv · i-bond-rates-by-issue-month.csv
| Rate period | Fixed (new issues) | Inflation (semiannual) | Composite (new issues) |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | 0.90% | 1.67% | 4.26% |
| – | 0.90% | 1.56% | 4.03% |
| – | 1.10% | 1.43% | 3.98% |
| – | 1.20% | 0.95% | 3.11% |
| – | 1.30% | 1.48% | 4.28% |
| – | 1.30% | 1.97% | 5.27% |
| – | 0.90% | 1.69% | 4.30% |
| – | 0.40% | 3.24% | 6.89% |
| – | 0.00% | 4.81% | 9.62% |
| – | 0.00% | 3.56% | 7.12% |
| – | 0.00% | 1.77% | 3.54% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.84% | 1.68% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.53% | 1.06% |
| – | 0.20% | 1.01% | 2.22% |
| – | 0.50% | 0.70% | 1.90% |
| – | 0.50% | 1.16% | 2.83% |
| – | 0.30% | 1.11% | 2.52% |
| – | 0.10% | 1.24% | 2.58% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.98% | 1.96% |
| – | 0.00% | 1.38% | 2.76% |
| – | 0.10% | 0.08% | 0.26% |
| – | 0.10% | 0.77% | 1.64% |
| – | 0.00% | -0.80% | 0.00% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.74% | 1.48% |
| – | 0.10% | 0.92% | 1.94% |
| – | 0.20% | 0.59% | 1.38% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.59% | 1.18% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.88% | 1.76% |
| – | 0.00% | 1.10% | 2.20% |
| – | 0.00% | 1.53% | 3.06% |
| – | 0.00% | 2.30% | 4.60% |
| – | 0.00% | 0.37% | 0.74% |
| – | 0.20% | 0.77% | 1.74% |
| – | 0.30% | 1.53% | 3.36% |
| – | 0.10% | -2.78% | 0.00% |
| – | 0.70% | 2.46% | 5.64% |
| – | 0.00% | 2.42% | 4.84% |
| – | 1.20% | 1.53% | 4.28% |
| – | 1.30% | 1.21% | 3.74% |
| – | 1.40% | 1.55% | 4.52% |
| – | 1.40% | 0.50% | 2.41% |
| – | 1.00% | 2.85% | 6.73% |
| – | 1.20% | 1.79% | 4.80% |
| – | 1.00% | 1.33% | 3.67% |
| – | 1.00% | 1.19% | 3.39% |
| – | 1.10% | 0.54% | 2.19% |
| – | 1.10% | 1.77% | 4.66% |
| – | 1.60% | 1.23% | 4.08% |
| – | 2.00% | 0.28% | 2.57% |
| – | 2.00% | 1.19% | 4.40% |
| – | 3.00% | 1.44% | 5.92% |
| – | 3.40% | 1.52% | 6.49% |
| – | 3.60% | 1.91% | 7.49% |
| – | 3.40% | 1.76% | 6.98% |
| – | 3.30% | 0.86% | 5.05% |
| – | 3.30% | 0.86% | 5.05% |
| – | 3.40% | 0.62% | 4.66% |
Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data - I Bonds Interest Rates, cross-checked against TreasuryDirect's announced rate. Related: bond value tables · EE bond maturity · matured savings bonds.
Frequently asked questions
What is the current I bond rate?
I bonds issued May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026 earn a composite rate of 4.26%, which includes a 0.90% fixed rate and a 1.67% semiannual inflation rate. Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data and TreasuryDirect.
When do I bond rates change?
Treasury announces a new fixed rate and inflation rate every May 1 and November 1. Each existing bond adopts the new inflation component at its own six-month reset, which falls on its issue-month anniversary.
Can an I bond rate be negative?
No. The composite rate is floored at 0%, so an I bond's value never goes down. The floor applied in May 2009 and May 2015, when the semiannual inflation rate was negative.