I bond rates November 2026: what new and older bonds earn

An I bond bought between November 1, 2026 and April 30, 2027 pays 5.51% a year for its first six months. That rate has two parts. The fixed rate is 1.40% and stays with the bond for its full 30 years. The inflation rate is 2.04% for six months, or 4.08% annualized, and it changes every six months (TreasuryDirect, November 1, 2026). Treasury announced both on October 30, 2026 (TIPSWatch, October 30, 2026).

The 1.40% fixed rate is the highest Treasury has set since November 2006 (Wolf Street, October 30, 2026). If you already own I bonds, your rate from the bond's next six-month anniversary is its own fixed rate plus 4.08%. The table below gives the figure for every issue period since May 2020.

This page is kept current. It changes when Treasury resets the rates each May 1 and November 1.

What a new I bond pays, November 2026 to April 2027

On $10,000, 5.51% works out to about $275 of interest over the first six months, by our math. After that, the bond keeps its 1.40% and picks up whatever inflation rate Treasury sets next.

The formula is Treasury's own: the fixed rate, plus twice the six-month inflation rate, plus the fixed rate times the six-month inflation rate. If inflation turns so negative that the result would fall below zero, Treasury holds the rate at zero (TreasuryDirect).

The 2.04% comes from the consumer price index. Non-seasonally adjusted CPI-U rose 2.04% between March and September 2026 (TIPSWatch, October 30, 2026). Treasury publishes no formula for the fixed rate. It sets that number itself.

What older I bonds earn from their next reset

Every I bond gets the new 4.08% inflation rate at its own six-month mark, counted from its issue month. A bond bought in January gets it in January 2027. A bond bought in August gets it in February 2027 (TreasuryDirect). What changes from bond to bond is the fixed rate.

Fixed rates by issue date come from TreasuryDirect and, for 2020 and 2021, from TIPSWatch (May 2, 2022). The composite column is our calculation with Treasury's formula and the 2.04% six-month inflation rate. TIPSWatch confirms the bottom row of the scale: bonds with a 0.0% fixed rate earn 4.08% for their next six months (TIPSWatch, October 30, 2026).

Those 0.00% bonds are the ones to look at hard. They pay inflation and nothing on top, for as long as you hold them.

The fixed rate against a 5-year TIPS

The fixed rate is the I bond's real return, what it pays above inflation. A Treasury Inflation-Protected Security has one too: its real yield. On October 22, 2026, Treasury sold $26 billion of 5-year TIPS at a real yield of 2.367% (TIPSWatch, October 22, 2026). In the market on October 29, the 5-year TIPS yielded 2.31% and the 10-year 2.63% (Federal Reserve H.15, October 29, 2026).

So the record fixed rate still sits about 0.9 points under a 5-year TIPS. Over five years on $10,000, at the auction's 2.367%, that gap is worth about $520 of real return before tax, by our math.

The I bond earns its place on other terms. Its value never falls: Treasury doesn't let the rate go below zero, and there's no market price. A TIPS sold before maturity fetches whatever buyers pay that day. I bond interest is federal-taxable only when you cash the bond, and it's free of state and local income tax (TreasuryDirect). Interest may be tax-free when the money goes to qualified higher education.

Our read: for cash you may need inside five years and want to keep out of the market, the I bond still fits. For money you'll hold to a fixed date, the TIPS pays more. We set the same comparison against bills and bank deposits in our guide to what cash earns after tax.

The rules that cap and lock an I bond

The $10,000 cap is per person, so a couple can buy $20,000 a year. The limit resets on January 1, which gives anyone buying in November or December a second $10,000 window two months later.

On timing inside a month, David Enna of TIPSWatch suggests buying near the end of it, because a bond earns interest for the whole month it's issued in. He names November 25 as a target date for this month (TIPSWatch, October 30, 2026).

When the I bond rate changes next

Treasury sets new rates on May 1, 2027. The inflation half is arithmetic: it's the change in CPI-U from September 2026 to March 2027. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes March 2027 CPI on April 13, 2027 (BLS). From that morning, the May inflation rate is known to the hundredth.

The fixed rate is the unknown. Enna's advice is to wait until mid-April to see where both rates are heading before you buy (TIPSWatch, October 30, 2026). The trade-off is plain. A bond bought by April 30, 2027 keeps the 1.40% fixed rate for life. A bond bought in May takes whatever Treasury sets, which could be higher or lower.

The CPI reports to watch on the way, all at 8:30 a.m. Eastern (BLS):

• November 10, 2026: October CPI
• December 10, 2026: November CPI
• January 13, 2027: December CPI
• February 11, 2027: January CPI
• March 10, 2027: February CPI
• April 13, 2027: March CPI, which sets the May inflation rate

We worked through the run-up to this reset, and the September inflation reading behind it, in our November I bond and TIPS comparison. The same surge in real yields is in our piece on the 10-year at 5.29%.

What changed

• November 1, 2026: page created with the rates for November 2026 to April 2027: 1.40% fixed, 2.04% six-month inflation, 5.51% composite.

Sources

• TreasuryDirect: I bond interest rates
• TreasuryDirect: I bonds
• TIPSWatch: Treasury sets I Bond's fixed rate at 1.40%; composite rate rises to 5.51%, October 30, 2026
• Wolf Street: Treasury I Bond fixed rate raised to 1.40%, highest since 2006, October 30, 2026
• TIPSWatch: 5-year TIPS auction gets real yield of 2.367%, October 22, 2026
• TIPSWatch: Treasury holds I Bond's fixed rate at 0.0%, May 2, 2022
• Federal Reserve H.15: Selected Interest Rates, October 29, 2026
• BLS: Consumer Price Index release schedule

This is not financial advice.