Best 24-Month CD Rates Edge Lower

The banks are pretty much the same. But the returns are worse.

That’s the sorry story of our latest rankings of the best, nationally available 24-month CD rates.

In November our top-paying banks were offering 2-year certificates of deposit for 2.60% to 2.55% APY and you only needed a $1,000 minimum deposit to qualify for the top rate.

This month you’ll earn 2.50% to 2.30% APY and need a whopping $50,000 to qualify for the top rate.

Although that’s still twice as much as you can make with the typical 2-year CD, it’s not saying much. The average rate on these CDs plunged to a record low of 1.26% APY last week.

The best, nationally available deals on 24-month CDs are:

2.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $50,000 for “Silver CDs” from Frontier Bank, which has 50 branches in Washington and Oregon. You can also earn 2.45% with a $25,000 minimum deposit and 2.40% with a $500 minimum deposit.

2.40 APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 from The Jacksonville Bank, with five locations in that Florida city.

2.40 APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 from Atlantic Coast Bank, with 12 full-service branches in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida.

2.30 APY with a $5,000 minimum from Hudson City Bank with dozens of branches in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. If you live near a Hudson City branch the minimum deposit is only $500.

Click here to compare these offers with the best CD rates from dozens of other banks in our database.