1 Year CD Calculator

What a 1 year CD pays in November 2026

A 1 year CD locks a deposit for twelve months at a fixed rate. The bank quotes an annual percentage yield, credits interest on the schedule in the account agreement, and returns the balance at maturity. Early access costs a penalty, and that restriction is the price of a rate that cannot fall during the term.

The FDIC national rate for a 12 month CD was 1.76 percent in the update published October 19, 2026, and the same table put the 12 month Treasury yield at 4.54 percent. Bankrate's November 2, 2026 survey reported a 2.11 percent national average and top advertised 1 year rates of 4.65 percent. The gap between the average and the best offer was wider than the gap between many 12 month and 60 month CDs, which is why comparing banks matters more than stretching the term.

Insurance is the other reason a CD behaves differently from a bond. The FDIC covers deposits to 250,000 dollars per depositor, per bank, per ownership category, and credit union CDs carry the same limit through the NCUA. A joint account doubles the coverage because each owner holds a separate share.

Everything the calculator needs is in the account disclosure, which Regulation DD requires the bank to give you before you open the CD: the APY, the nominal interest rate, the compounding method, the penalty formula and the maturity date. Those five items decide the payout, and no national average can substitute for the number printed on your own disclosure.

The formula behind a 12 month CD

For a nominal annual rate r compounded n times a year, the balance after one year is A = P(1 + r/n)^n, and the APY is (1 + r/n)^n minus 1. Because banks advertise the APY, the maturity value is also P(1 + APY), which is the shortest version of the formula. Run it backwards and the nominal rate behind a quoted APY is n times ((1 + APY)^(1/n) minus 1).

The nominal rate behind one quoted APY, and the interest each schedule credits first on a 10,000 dollar deposit:

The APY is the number to compare, since it already folds compounding into a single figure. A 4.50 percent APY pays 450 dollars on 10,000 dollars whether interest is credited daily, monthly or once at maturity. What changes is the nominal rate the bank prints: 4.50 percent with annual compounding, 4.45 percent semiannual, 4.43 percent quarterly, 4.41 percent monthly, and 4.40 percent daily.

Compounding itself is just interest earning interest. Each period the bank adds the interest to the balance, and the next period charges the rate on the larger balance. Over exactly one year that chain of additions lands on the APY. The account agreement's rounding rules can move the final figure by a cent or two, which is why a bank's own maturity notice sometimes differs from a calculator by a few cents.

Two details trip people up. First, APY assumes the CD runs the full term, so it says nothing about what you keep after an early withdrawal. Second, a CD that pays interest out to a checking account instead of compounding it will not reach the stated APY unless you count the interest you received separately.

Worked example: 10,000 dollars at 4.50 percent APY

Start with a 10,000 dollar deposit, a 4.50 percent APY, monthly compounding and a 22 percent federal tax rate. The steps are short enough to check on a phone.

1. Turn the APY into a decimal: 4.50 divided by 100 is 0.045.
2. Multiply the deposit by the APY: 10,000 times 0.045 is 450.00 dollars of gross interest.
3. Find the monthly rate: (1.045)^(1/12) minus 1 is 0.003675, so the first month credits 36.75 dollars.
4. Multiply the monthly rate by 12 to get the nominal APR: 4.41 percent.
5. Apply the tax: 450.00 times 0.22 is 99.00 dollars.
6. Subtract tax from interest: 450.00 minus 99.00 is 351.00 dollars, so the after-tax balance is 10,351.00 dollars.
7. Divide after-tax interest by the deposit: 351.00 divided by 10,000 is a 3.51 percent after-tax yield.

Twelve monthly credits of 36.75 dollars do not add to exactly 450.00 dollars, because each month earns on a slightly larger balance. The exact chain, 10,000 times (1.003675)^12, lands at 10,450.00 dollars before rounding. The average monthly interest is 37.50 dollars, with the first month below that and the last month above it.

Nothing in this example depends on the bank's size. A 4.50 percent APY at a one-branch bank and a 4.50 percent APY at an online bank produce the same 450.00 dollars, so the decision comes down to term, penalty and service rather than the logo.

Worked example: 25,000 dollars at 4.65 percent with daily compounding

Now take the top advertised rate from early November 2026, a 4.65 percent APY, on a 25,000 dollar deposit with daily compounding and a 24 percent federal rate.

1. Convert the APY: 4.65 divided by 100 is 0.0465.
2. Gross interest: 25,000 times 0.0465 is 1,162.50 dollars.
3. Daily rate: (1.0465)^(1/365) minus 1 is 0.00012453, so the first day credits 3.11 dollars.
4. Nominal APR: 365 times 0.00012453 is 0.04545, or 4.55 percent.
5. Tax at 24 percent: 1,162.50 times 0.24 is 279.00 dollars.
6. After-tax interest: 1,162.50 minus 279.00 is 883.50 dollars.
7. After-tax balance: 25,883.50 dollars, which is a 3.53 percent yield on the deposit.

Daily crediting does not add money by itself. The APY already accounts for it, and the year-end total is 1,162.50 dollars either way. What daily crediting changes is the timing inside the year: interest starts compounding on day two instead of at the end of the month, which is why the nominal rate can drop to 4.55 percent while the APY stays at 4.65 percent.

The tax timing follows the bank's schedule, not the calculator's. A CD that credits interest monthly produces taxable income each month, while a CD that pays at maturity produces one interest payment in the maturity year. Either way the total is the same, and the bank reports it on Form 1099-INT once the interest for the year reaches 10 dollars.

What federal tax does to the return

CD interest is ordinary income, taxed at your marginal rate in the year the bank credits it. The IRS lists certificates of deposit among the accounts whose interest is taxable, and a payer that credits 10 dollars or more in a year files Form 1099-INT. The table below holds the deposit at 10,000 dollars and the federal rate at 22 percent, then varies the APY.

The bracket matters as much as the rate shopping. On the same 450.00 dollars of interest, a 12 percent bracket pays 54.00 dollars of federal tax, a 24 percent bracket pays 108.00 dollars, and a 32 percent bracket pays 144.00 dollars. State income tax can sit on top; most states tax CD interest, while Treasury interest is exempt from state and local tax.

A CD inside an IRA defers the tax, but the IRA's own withdrawal rules then apply, and a non-deductible contribution complicates the paperwork. For money that will be spent within a year or two, paying the tax on 450 dollars and keeping the flexibility is usually the simpler trade.

Early withdrawal penalties and the break-even day

Most banks charge a set number of days or months of interest when you close a CD before maturity. The common formula is penalty = deposit times rate times penalty days divided by 365. On a 12 month CD the typical penalty is three or six months of interest, which is 91 or 183 days.

On the 10,000 dollar CD at 4.50 percent, six months of interest is 10,000 times 0.045 times 182.5 divided by 365, or 225.00 dollars. Interest accrues at 1.23 dollars a day, so the penalty equals roughly 183 days of earnings: close before day 183 and the penalty eats into principal, close after it and you keep the difference. A three month penalty is 112.50 dollars, and the break-even point falls to about day 91.

Regulation DD, at 12 CFR 1030.4(b)(6)(ii), requires the bank to disclose the penalty formula before you open the account, including how the penalty is calculated and when it can reach principal. Some banks charge the greater of a flat fee or a number of months of interest, and a few allow one penalty-free withdrawal of interest. Read that clause before you fund the CD, because a 12 month term leaves little room to recover a large charge.

If the money might be needed sooner, a high-yield savings account or a Treasury bill avoids the penalty entirely. The CD pays more only if you hold it to maturity.

CD or Treasury bill

The FDIC table for October 19, 2026 put the 12 month Treasury yield at 4.54 percent against a 1.76 percent national CD rate, so a Treasury bill looked better than an average CD that month. The comparison changes with the offer: a 4.65 percent top CD beat that Treasury yield before tax.

Tax treatment separates the two. Interest on Treasury bills is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income tax, as the IRS explains. CD interest is taxed by both. In a state with a 5 percent income tax, the CD's 4.65 percent falls to about 4.42 percent after state tax while the Treasury yield stays at 4.54 percent. In a state with no income tax, the CD wins by 0.11 points.

Liquidity and mechanics differ as well. A Treasury bill is sold at a discount, matures at face value, and can be held in a TreasuryDirect account with a 100 dollar minimum at auction. It can be sold before maturity, but the price then depends on the market. A CD cannot be sold, only closed for a penalty, and its APY is fixed for the term.

Insurance is the last difference. A CD is covered by the FDIC or NCUA up to the limit, while a Treasury bill carries the full faith and credit of the United States. Both are low-risk places for a one year reserve, and the choice comes down to tax, liquidity and the specific rate on offer.

How to use this calculator

Enter four inputs: the deposit, the APY from the account disclosure, the compounding frequency, and your marginal federal tax rate. The calculator returns gross interest, the value before tax, the tax owed, the after-tax value, after-tax interest, the after-tax yield, the nominal APR behind the APY, and the interest credited in the first period.

The compounding menu changes the nominal APR and the size of each credit, not the year-end total, because the APY fixes the total by definition. Use the frequency printed on the disclosure so the nominal rate matches what the bank reports. If the bank compounds daily but credits at maturity, the daily figure still describes how the balance grows.

The tax field expects a marginal rate, not an average rate. A household in the 22 percent bracket adds 22, and a state income tax can be added on top as a separate estimate. The model assumes the CD is held for exactly one year, with no early withdrawal, no penalty, no account fee and no state tax. It also assumes the APY is the one the bank will pay for the full term.

For a term other than 12 months, use the general CD calculator, which accepts any term and shows the penalty separately. This page is deliberately fixed at one year so the comparison across banks stays honest.