Rates updated · Based on 75 tracked CDs
How much are you losing in a typical CD instead of the best one?
A saver in a typical CD gives up about $122 a year versus a top-available one — a gap of 0.49 percentage points (3.65% cohort median vs 4.14% best available) on a $25,000 balance.
Gap Spread
0.49%
percentage points
Best Available
4.14%
APY
Cohort Median
3.65%
APY
What the gap costs you per year
| Balance | Annual interest lost | 5-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $49 | $245 |
| $25,000 | $122 | $610 |
| $50,000 | $243 | $1,215 |
| $100,000 | $487 | $2,435 |
| $250,000 | $1,217 | $6,085 |
How the 12-Month CD Spread Index has moved
Each month's value is recorded as a dated snapshot. The full machine-readable series is published as a public dataset.
| Month | Index value | Gap | Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | $122/yr | 0.49% | 75 |
Methodology
12-Month CD Spread Index = representativeBalance × (bestAvailableAPY − cohortMedianAPY)
representativeBalance is $25,000 — held fixed so the Index moves only when rates move. bestAvailableAPY is the average of the top-3 rates across the 75 actively tracked CDs (12-month term) in the SwitchWize rate database. cohortMedianAPY is the median rate across the same tracked set — the "typical" CD a saver would otherwise pick.
The dated monthly series is published as a public dataset at /data/indices/cd-spread.