The Share of U.S. Families Holding CDs Climbed From 6.5% to 10.7% From 2022 to 2025. What It Reveals About Where Households Keep Cash

American households piled into certificates of deposit during a stretch that may not last long, and the Federal Reserve’s latest survey helps explain who gained from the higher-rate environment and what could happen when those CDs renew.

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For years, bank CDs offered such low returns that many savers ignored them. A CD is a savings account with a fixed term: a depositor leaves money with a bank for a set period, such as 12 months, and earns a fixed rate in return.

Withdrawing funds early usually triggers a penalty. Here’s how that once-overlooked product made a comeback in American homes and what national data shows about where families keep their money.

CD Ownership Increased by Nearly Two-Thirds in Three Years

The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances found that the share of families holding CDs rose from 6.5% in 2022 to 10.7% in 2025, a gain of about 65% on a relative basis. The survey is conducted every three years and asks families in detail about what they own and owe. The Fed said the increase “likely reflects the increased returns to holding such an asset in 2025, compared with 2022.”

CD balances also moved higher, though unevenly. Among households that held CDs, the median balance rose 23%, while the mean balance increased 4%. The median represents the household in the exact middle when all holders are ranked by balance. The mean is the total divided by the number of holders, so a few very large accounts can lift it. When the median rises much faster than the mean, it suggests gains were spread among ordinary holders rather than concentrated among the biggest accounts.

Why CDs Became More Attractive Again

CD rates generally track the Federal Reserve’s benchmark rate, which banks use to charge one another for overnight loans. When the Fed raises that rate, banks often pay more on deposits to attract cash. When the Fed cuts it, deposit rates usually drift lower.

The upper bound of the Fed’s target range was 4.00% after a year of increases. It later reached 5.5% and remained there for more than a year, giving banks a strong incentive to compete for deposits by offering better yields.

Rate cuts then followed, and the upper bound later fell to 4.5%, then to 3.75%. At a later point, it stood at 4%.

What CDs and Treasury Bills Are Paying Now

The FDIC’s national average rate for a 12-month CD was 1.76% in October 2026, up from a one-year low of 1.52% in March. That average includes many large banks that pay very little. Online banks often offer more than the national average, and recent rate roundups from outlets such as Fortune and Kiplinger showed top offers well above it in late October and early November 2026.

Treasury bills, which are short-term loans to the federal government, are another option for parking cash. On a recent date, the 4-week bill yielded 3.96%, the 13-week bill 4.13%, and the 52-week bill 4.39%.

Inflation is part of the equation as well. Consumer prices rose 3.7% through September 2026. A CD paying the national average is earning less than that, meaning purchasing power is still eroding even as the account balance grows.

Lower Rates Make Renewal Riskier

When a CD matures, many banks automatically roll it into a new term at the rate available that day. If rates have fallen since the original purchase, the new CD pays less, and many people do not notice until the next statement arrives. That is the opposite of the trend captured in the Fed survey. Households that locked in during the higher-rate period may now be renewing at lower yields.

A common way to reduce that risk is a CD ladder. A saver divides money among several CDs that mature at different times, such as six months, one year, and two years, so only part of the cash renews at any single rate. 24/7 Wall St. has also examined what happens when a CD quietly auto-renews at a low rate, as well as how CDs compare with Treasury bills for savers in high-tax states, where Treasury interest is exempt from state income tax.

What the 2025 Survey Still Does Not Show

The survey shows that when CDs paid more, more families used them and typical balances increased. But because the data only runs through 2025, it does not reveal how many of those households have kept their CDs as rates changed in 2026. The figures do show that CD ownership rose during a period of higher deposit rates. Rates on checking accounts, savings accounts, and maturing CDs vary from bank to bank.