The Best Jumbo CD Rates of July 2024

If you’re ready to put a large amount of money to work safely, a jumbo CD might help you squeeze some extra yield out of your savings.

That can be especially valuable in today’s low-interest-rate environment.

But the nature of jumbo CD products has been changing in recent years – and the minimum $100,000 deposit may not be required by a bank or credit union now.

As a result, shopping for the highest jumbo CD rates isn’t necessarily any easier. So this page is designed to provide some of today’s best jumbo CD rates plus information to help you decide:

• When a jumbo CD might be right for you.
• How to find the best CD rates for your savings, no matter how much money you have.

Where to Find the Best Jumbo CD Rates

What Is a Jumbo CD?

A regular CD is a financial product that is designed to pay a fixed interest rate for a specific period of time. A jumbo CD is merely a regular CD with a minimum deposit requirement.

However, as banking practices change, a strict definition doesn’t necessarily apply.

What’s behind the change in jumbo CDs?

Like most businesses, banks are interested to attract large customers. To do this, they sometimes offer special deals for people who are willing to make big deposits.

Jumbo CD rates – the traditional incentive some banks offer to attract large deposits – are meant to be higher than the typical certificate of deposit rates. In theory, jumbo CD rates were extra-high rates you could get if you deposited a certain amount of money.

The term “jumbo CD” used to apply to CDs of $100,000 or greater. Now, many banks offer higher rates at a variety of tiers. The arbitrary threshold of $100,000 doesn’t apply universally to the best CD rates anymore.

In recent years, low interest rates have tended to shrink the difference between rates on jumbo CDs and those on regular CDs. Many banks don’t even offer jumbo CDs. Sometimes products labeled “jumbo CDs” offer rates that are no better than those on ordinary CDs.

Despite all this, it is important to keep jumbo CDs in mind when shopping for the best CD rates. Use whatever buying power a large deposit might entitle you to; but, first and foremost, shop for the highest-yielding CD rates available to you.

Why You Might Need a Jumbo CD

It may be difficult to earn a decent interest rate these days on the money you keep in the bank – but the prospect of losing your money by trying to earn a high interest rate in a risky investment isn’t something you can accept.

People that need to preserve capital may find that a jumbo CD helps them earn interest on money they don’t need to access in the short term.

The value of a jumbo CD for people who can’t lose any money in the stock market, for example, comes down to safety. But there are other financial goals a jumbo CD (or even a regular CD) could help them reach too.

Safety

Jumbo CDs that are issued by FDIC-member banks are fully guaranteed up to $250,000, based on your total deposits at any one institution. So, a certificate of deposit can be a good place to keep money perfectly safe if you don’t need it for a while.

While a high-yield savings account or a money market account also provides similar levels of safety, a CD generally earns more interest if you are willing to commit to a longer term.

Cash-flow management

Since CDs are available for a variety of terms, ranging from one month to several years, they can also be used to help manage your cash flow.

By depositing money in CDs that come due just before your future cash needs, you can get some extra yield while having money become available according to your schedule.

A CD ladder is another way you can use jumbo CDs. CD ladders consist of a series of CDs that come due at different times.

With a CD ladder, you get the yield advantage of longer-term CDs while still having money available for use at regular intervals.

How to Earn the Best Jumbo CD Rates

Earning jumbo CD rates in a low-interest-rate environment may seem like an impossible task, but most consumers can still earn good jumbo CD rates just by knowing where to look.

Here’s this week’s national averages on CD rates, for example:

By contrast, the latest America’s Best Rates Survey of CD rates confirmed again that a certain group of banks offer the best CD rates consistently.

The top banks listed in the survey offered the highest jumbo CD rates and regular CD rates on average over an entire calendar quarter. Even as interest rates suffered major declines overall, these banks manage to offer significantly higher CD interest rates all the time.

All of the banks listed in the America’s Best Rates Survey deserve your attention for the simple reason that they compete for your business.

Best Jumbo CD Rate Accounts: Editorial Reviews

Because there is generally little difference between jumbo CD rates and regular CD rates right now, the best place to look for the highest jumbo CD rates is among accounts with the highest overall CD rates. Below are some examples from the latest America’s Best Rates Survey:

Marcus by Goldman Sachs: 1-Year CD

Marcus by Goldman Sachs offered the best regular and Jumbo CD rates on average for 1-year CDs over the entire quarter, and has been among the Top-10 banks consistently for more than a year.

Type of account: Online

Other CD accounts: In addition, Marcus by Goldman Sachs offers no-penalty CDs with terms of seven months, 11 months and 13 months.

Read Marcus No-Penalty CD Review

Marcus by Goldman Sachs: 5-Year CD

For its 5-year CD, Marcus by Goldman Sachs also offered one of the best regular and jumbo CD rates on average over the quarter, demonstrating its commitment to consistency in more than one product category.

Type of account: Online

Ally Bank: 1-Year CD

Ally Bank makes its great 1-year CD rates available to everyone. And so, while this is not a jumbo CD by definition, the unlimited maximum and competitive APY would benefit investors with large amounts to deposit.

Type of account: Online

First Internet Bank: 1-Year CD

Another strong performer, First Internet Bank’s 1-year CD rate ranked high in the survey and is suitable as a jumbo CD with an unlimited maximum deposit.

Type of account: Online

First Internet Bank: 5-Year CD

First Internet Bank’s 5-year CD rate was highest over the entire quarter, making it the best place to park money over the long term if you don’t expect interest rates to improve much.

Type of account: Online

TIAA Bank: 5-Year CD

TIAA Bank offers a 5-year CD rate that also was high over the entire quarter giving consumers another option to keep money invested safely at a bank that consistently has higher rates.

Type of account: Online

How We Picked the Best Jumbo CDs

Every calendar quarter, MoneyRates surveys 1-year and 5-year CD rates offered by banks in the MoneyRates Index. That index is a representative sample of the banking industry, comprising the 50 largest U.S. retail deposit institutions plus 25 medium-sized banks and 25 small banks.

To highlight examples of the best jumbo CD rates, MoneyRates focused on the top 1-year and 5-year CDs from its most recent rate survey. The products and rates were verified to ensure they would apply to jumbo accounts—those in excess of $100,000.

Note that the top jumbo CD rates found were not necessarily in products that are exclusively for jumbo accounts. Instead, they are products that have competitive rates for both smaller and jumbo account sizes. This is because most banks these days do not make a significant distinction between jumbo and ordinary products.

How to Find the Best Jumbo CD Rates

If you’re looking to put a large amount of money into a CD, here are some tips for how to get a little extra out of your CD rate:

1. Decide on your time frame

Most CDs require you to commit your money for a set period of time. In general, the longer you commit, the higher the rate you’ll earn.

Think about what you are saving for and figure out the longest period you can commit your money to earn the highest rate.

One option is to invest in a series of different CDs which come due at different times. In any case, settling on the time frame for each CD allows you to make a valid comparison between CDs with the same term.

2. Don’t limit yourself only to products labeled as jumbo CDs

The term “jumbo CD” is largely outdated. Many banks offer rates for smaller customers that are just as competitive as those for large customers.

Simply shop for the best rate available for your deposit size.

For example, suppose Bank A does not offer a jumbo CD, but their ordinary CD rate is 1%. Bank B offers a jumbo CD product with a rate of 0.75%. Obviously, you would be better off with Bank A, even though theirs is not specifically a jumbo CD.

3. Use your buying power

Even though true jumbo CDs are somewhat of a thing of the past, if you have a large deposit to make, see if the size of your deposit qualifies you for a jumbo CD rate.

You may not even have to meet the traditional jumbo CD threshold of $100,000. Some banks have special rate tiers that apply at other levels. When comparing CDs, be sure to use the rates that apply to the size of your planned deposit.

4. A modest effort upfront can pay off for years

MoneyRates always advises that you shop around for deposit products because interest rates vary greatly from bank to bank. Being selective is especially important when it comes to finding the best jumbo CD rates.

Because CD rates are locked in for months or years, choosing a better rate today will pay you more well into the future.

5. Let online tools save you time

There are many banks from which to choose, and finding jumbo CD rates can be especially time-consuming because there are so many variables of size and CD terms to sift through. However, MoneyRates has a tool that makes it easy for you to compare CD rates specific to the size and term you have in mind.

What to Consider Before Choosing a Jumbo CD

Rate shopping is the highlight of CD shopping because it determines how much money you’ll make over the term of the CD. However, there are a couple of other important ways to “kick the tires” before you commit to a CD:

Is my money FDIC insured?

To be sure that the money you put into a CD is completely safe, you should check that it is issued by an FDIC-member bank. Also, make sure your total deposits with that bank do not exceed $250,000. This limit applies across all accounts.

For example, if you have a CD ladder, you may want to have some components of that ladder at different banks so that the total at any one bank does not exceed $250,000.

Will I pay a penalty for early withdrawal?

CDs generally charge a penalty if you withdraw money before the term is up. You should choose CD terms that expire before you will need the money, but just in case, it is worth knowing what the penalty is before you choose a CD.

The interest rate should still be your primary consideration, but the size of the penalty can be a good tie-breaker between two CDs with similar rates. A few CDs even have no early withdrawal penalties. This is an excellent feature for flexibility, as long as the interest rate on the CD is competitive.

Reasons to Shop for the Best Jumbo CD Rates Now

Why does all of this matter so much?

For one thing, with rates low, it’s especially important to squeeze as much as possible out of your bank deposits. Committing to a CD can help you earn more than you would with a high-yield savings account or money market account.

As with all bank products, there is a huge range of jumbo CD rates offered by different CD products. Shopping for the best CD rates can make a real difference.

This is especially true with jumbo CD rates since every rate difference is magnified by the size of the CD.