Today's Financial Rates
Every rate that touches an American household — mortgages, savings, Treasuries, inflation and fuel — pulled straight from government and Federal Reserve data, updated each morning.
📅 Updated September 20, 2026
What today's numbers mean
The most important news today: 30-year mortgage rates hit 6.95%, up from 6.76% last week. On a typical $400,000 home loan, that jump adds about $60 to your monthly payment—or roughly $720 a year. Anyone planning to buy or refinance a home should take note of these higher borrowing costs.
Inflation is still running at 3.35% per year. That means your cash in savings is slowly losing value. Even with today's interest rates on savings accounts, you're barely breaking even against inflation. The real gain to your savings is tiny.
On the wider economic front: jobless rate is holding at 4.1%, gas stays elevated at $4.32 per gallon, and long-term bond yields dropped to 4.94%. For your household, the message is clear. Borrowing is getting more expensive. Inflation is eating your savings. You need your paycheck to grow just to stand still.
🏠 Mortgage & Home Loans
National averages from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, published weekly on Thursday.
30-Year Fixed
6.95%
▲ 0.19 pt
Week of Sep 17, 2026
A year ago: 6.26%
15-Year Fixed
6.26%
▲ 0.17 pt
Week of Sep 17, 2026
A year ago: 5.41%
Bank Prime Rate
7.00%
▲ 0.25 pt
As of Sep 17, 2026
Most HELOCs and credit cards are priced off this rate.
Median Home Price
$410,700
Quarter ending Apr 1, 2026
A year ago: $416,100
🏦 The Fed, Savings & Borrowing
The short-term rates that set what your savings account pays and what your debt costs.
Fed Funds Effective
3.88%
▲ 0.25 pt
Sep 17, 2026
A year ago: 4.33%
SOFR
3.85%
▲ 0.23 pt
Sep 17, 2026
The benchmark that replaced LIBOR on floating-rate loans.
3-Month Treasury
4.14%
Sep 18, 2026
A rough ceiling on what money-market funds can pay.
2-Year Treasury
4.67%
▼ 0.07 pt
Sep 17, 2026
Tracks where markets think short rates are heading.
📈 Treasury Yield Curve
What the US government pays to borrow across every maturity. Mortgage rates track the 10-year closely.
US Treasury constant-maturity yields, Sep 18, 2026. Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury.
10-Year Treasury
4.94%
▼ 0.07 pt
Sep 17, 2026
A year ago: 4.06%
30-Year Treasury
5.29%
▼ 0.06 pt
Sep 17, 2026
10Y − 2Y Spread
0.25 pt
▼ 0.02 pt
Sep 18, 2026
Below zero is an inverted curve — historically a recession warning.
🛒 Cost of Living
Inflation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and pump prices from the Energy Information Administration.
CPI Inflation (YoY)
3.4%
Data through Aug 1, 2026
How much more the same basket of goods costs than a year ago.
Core CPI (YoY)
2.5%
Data through Aug 1, 2026
Strips out food and energy — the number the Fed watches.
Regular Gasoline
$4.319
▲ 0.162
Week of Sep 14, 2026
A year ago: $3.168
Unemployment Rate
4.1%
unchanged
Aug 1, 2026
A year ago: 4.3%
📊 Markets & Commodities
Where retirement accounts and fuel budgets get moved around.
S&P 500
7,637.76
▲ 85.95
Sep 17, 2026
A year ago: 6,600.35
Nasdaq Composite
26,522.55
▲ 104.25
Sep 18, 2026
VIX Volatility
15.44
▼ 2.27
Sep 17, 2026
Under 20 is calm; over 30 signals market stress.
WTI Crude Oil
$107.02
▲ 4.60
Sep 15, 2026
Feeds into gas prices with a two-to-three week lag.
Bitcoin
$81,246
24-hour price
Ethereum
$2,632.21
24-hour price
💱 US Dollar Exchange Rates
European Central Bank reference rates for Sep 18, 2026.
| Currency | 1 USD buys |
|---|
| Canadian Dollar (CAD) | 1.4010 |
| Euro (EUR) | 0.8726 |
| British Pound (GBP) | 0.7494 |
| Japanese Yen (JPY) | 157.8900 |
| Mexican Peso (MXN) | 17.1776 |
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is pulled automatically from a primary public source. Nothing is estimated or modeled by us.
- Mortgage rates — Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)
- Fed funds, prime, SOFR, CPI, unemployment, oil, stock indexes — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)
- Treasury yield curve — U.S. Department of the Treasury daily par yield curve
- Gasoline prices — U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly retail survey, via FRED
- Exchange rates — European Central Bank reference rates
- Cryptocurrency — CoinGecko
Page generated 2026-09-20T07:00:02 US Eastern. Browse past days →