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1-Year CD vs 5-Year CD (Yield Curve for CDs)

Written by Jere Salmisto, Founder & Quantitative Systems Builder, CalcFi·Reviewed by CalcFi Editorial·Last reviewed 2026-06-02
TL;DR

1-Year CD National Average Rate is 1.55% and 5-Year CD National Average Rate is 1.34% as of 2026-06-02. Compare 1-year vs 5-year CD national averages. When the short rate exceeds the long rate, think twice about locking in.

Source: FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps · FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps

1-Year CD National Average Rate
1.55%
Live· 37m ago
5-Year CD National Average Rate
1.34%
Live· 37m ago

The CD yield curve — short-term vs long-term CD rates — mirrors the Treasury yield curve. In a normal environment, 5-year CDs pay more than 1-year CDs because investors demand extra yield for locking up money longer.

When the curve inverts (short rates exceed long rates), it signals markets expect future rate cuts. In this environment, locking into a longer CD at a lower rate protects against the coming cuts but gives up current yield. Shorter CDs let you re-ladder into new products but expose you to the predicted rate drops.

Strategy: if you believe the curve's signal, lock long-term NOW before rates fall. If you disagree, stay short and re-invest at (hopefully) higher rates later. Neither is historically reliable right — but inversion has predicted rate cuts within 12-18 months most of the time.

Related comparisons

  • 30-Year Mortgage Rate vs 10-Year Treasury Yield→
  • 30-Year Mortgage Rate vs Federal Funds Rate→
  • CPI Inflation vs Federal Funds Rate→
  • Unemployment Rate vs CPI (Phillips Curve)→
  • 10-Year vs 2-Year Treasury Yield (Yield Curve)→

Sources & Citations

  1. 1-Year CD National Average Rate — FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps — www.fdic.gov/resources/bankers/national-rates
  2. 5-Year CD National Average Rate — FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps — www.fdic.gov/resources/bankers/national-rates
  3. FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) — time-series archive for US macro indicators — fred.stlouisfed.org
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis — GDP, personal income, regional data — bea.gov
Methodology & Assumptions

Values for 1-Year CD National Average Rate come from FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps[1]; values for 5-Year CD National Average Rate come from FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps[2]. Both series are fetched at build time and refreshed every 24 hours via ISR.

The weekly cadence for 1-Year CD National Average Rate and weekly cadence for 5-Year CD National Average Rate mean the live value you see reflects the most recent public release, not a real-time quote.

Historical charts show the last 10 years (~260 trading days for daily series). Sparklines are visually uniform; small moves may be compressed.

Correlation and spread analyses (where present in the narrative) use Pearson correlation over the overlapping window.

CalcFi republishes publicly available government economic data[3][4] and does not provide financial advice.

Last reviewed reflects the most recent data point across both series; on ISR revalidation the visible date updates when new data arrives.

Data sourced from [1] FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps and [2] FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps. Published by CalcFi Editorial. Last reviewed 2026-06-02. CalcFi publishes publicly available government economic data and does not provide financial advice.