What Is a Good Interest Rate on a Savings Account?

Start by knowing average savings rates

Knowing the current average interest rates for savings accounts is a great place to start judging whether a rate is good.

The FDIC posts average national rates on interest-bearing accounts, and the average interest rates right now are⁽¹⁾:

• Savings: 0.39%
• Money market: 0.56%
• 12-month certificate of deposit: 1.61%

Knowing that savings accounts have an average rate of 0.39% right now, we have a clear benchmark to start from. In theory, anything above that rate is technically better than average, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s a good rate.

Next, look at the cost of the account

The monthly fee is a factor you have to consider.

An account could have a 10% APY but then charge $200 per month in monthly fees. Sure, the interest rate is great, but then you’re paying $200 per month to keep it open. That would require a massive balance to cancel out the monthly fee and come out positive. Sure, that example is a little extreme, but it gets the point across.

Always consider the account’s monthly maintenance fees, minimum balance requirements and the interest rate to make sure that you’re getting a good deal.

And then, look at the APY

Your savings account’s interest rate is the percentage at which your balance will grow. APY stands for annual percentage yield, representing how much your balance will grow in a year.

It might not sound like much of a difference, but that one distinction matters.

Why? Because the APY includes how interest is compounded, which is how often the bank adds your earned interest to your balance. A savings account can compound daily, monthly, quarterly or yearly.

As a general rule, you’ll want a savings account that compounds interest daily, meaning the bank adds your interest earned into your savings balance every day, which in turn makes your balance grow faster than monthly or annual compounding.

Let’s put it all together now!

Now that we know to consider the average rate, monthly fees and APY, we can use that in practice.

If you have a savings account with 0.39% APY, and there are no monthly fees and a $1,000 balance, you’d earn about $4.00 in one year. Not bad, but not great, either.

Let’s do the same math with real accounts:

• Chase Savings Account has a 0.01% APY and a $5 monthly fee. With $1,000 in the account for 12 months, you’d only earn $0.10 in interest. On top of that, you lose money since you’re paying $60 per year just to keep the account open (unless you can waive that fee). Objectively, that’s not a good interest rate on a savings account or a way to save fast.
• Discover® Online Savings Account Member FDIC. has a 3.40% APY with no monthly fees. You’ll earn about $35 on a $1,000 balance in 12 months. With no monthly fees and a much higher rate than average, it’s easy to say that’s a good savings rate and account.

How much should I have in a savings account?

It really depends on why you opened the account in the first place.

If you open a savings account to save for an emergency fund, aim to have around three months of expenses to cover financial emergencies. This could be anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 — it depends on your monthly living expenses.

A rainy day fund is typically smaller than an emergency fund, and around $1,000 to $2,000 should suffice. These are often reserved for small but unexpected things, like replacing your car’s tires or anything that pops up that you didn’t allocate funds for.

The amount you should save for retirement is highly variable, but without a doubt, it’ll be much more than just three months of expenses. Our retirement guides can help you determine how much you’ll need to set aside.

Where do I find high-yield savings accounts?

Online banks and fintechs are probably your best bet. Without the cost of maintaining physical branch locations, online banks can offer some of the highest APYs in the market as a way to entice customers to switch.

However, you can still find great rates with local banks and credit unions, too. For example, Alliant Credit Union offers up to 3.1% APY on its basic savings account and also has historically high CD rates.

Compare top savings accounts

Narrow down good savings accounts by monthly fees, APYs and features. For a closer look, tick the Compare box on multiple accounts to see the benefits side by side.

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6 of 18 results

Finder Score	Account type	Annual Percentage Yield (APY)	FDIC or NCUA insured amount	Minimum balance to earn APY	Minimum deposit to open	Rebate
Promoted Finder score 8.6 Great Synchrony High Yield Savings	Finder score 8.6 Great	Traditional savings,Custodial account	3.65%	Up to $250,000	$0	$0		Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading
Promoted Finder score 9.2 Excellent Public High-Yield Cash Account	Finder score 9.2 Excellent	Cash management account	3.30%	Up to $250,000	$0	$0		Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading
Promoted Finder score 9.4 Excellent Wealthfront Cash Account	Finder score 9.4 Excellent	Cash management account	3.25%	Up to $8M FDIC insurance	$1	$1	New clients earn 3.9% APY. Boost your APY from 3.25% to 3.9% APY for 3 months when you open and fund a Cash Account. T&Cs apply.		Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 9.2 Excellent SoFi Checking and Savings	Finder score 9.2 Excellent	Traditional savings,Checking	Up to 3.30%	Up to $250,000	$0	$0	Earn up to 4.00% APY on savings and $50 or $300 with direct deposit. Open a new SoFi Checking and Savings account by 31 January 2026, set up eligible direct deposit within 60 days, and maintain direct deposit for six months. T&Cs apply.		Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 8.6 Great Alliant High-Rate Savings	Finder score 8.6 Great	Savings app	3.10%	Up to $250,000 by the NCUA	$100	$5	$5 opening deposit is paid for you. T&Cs apply.		Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading
Finder score 9.4 Excellent Varo	Finder score 9.4 Excellent	Traditional savings	Up to 5.00%	Up to $250,000	$0	$0		Start with 2.50% APY, then qualify next month for 5.00% APY on up to $5,000 by getting $1,000+ in direct deposits and a positive balance.	Go to site View details Compare product selection Compare	loading

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How we picked these

What is the Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.

Read the full breakdown

Bottom line

The main takeaway is this: A good savings account rate is much higher than average, and one that doesn’t ding you every month with high monthly fees that eat away at your interest earnings.

Ideally, you want a savings account with:

• A high interest rate
• A low (or $0) monthly fee
• Daily compounding interest

With those factors in mind, you’ll have no trouble finding a good, high-yield savings account to grow your cash.

Frequently asked questions

• Does it make sense to have multiple savings accounts?

  Yes, it can make a lot of sense to have multiple savings accounts to organize your savings goals. For example, one for retirement, one for emergencies, one for vacations and so on.
  You can open as many savings accounts as you want, as there are no laws restricting how many deposit accounts you can open. However, keep it simple if you can. Managing multiple accounts can get tricky (and expensive) if you're not diligent. There are also financial aggregator apps to check out if you do need help juggling accounts.

• Are savings accounts insured?

  Yes, savings accounts are federally insured. If it's a bank, the account is insured by the FDIC, and if it's a credit union, it's covered by the NCUA. Both FDIC and NCUA insure funds in deposit accounts up to $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Holly Jennings as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Bethany Hickey

Banking editor

Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto. Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt. Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others. Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine. See full bio

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