What is the current prime rate?
Your HELOC statement says "prime + 1.25%". You want to know what the bill becomes if the Fed moves next month. This page shows the live US bank prime loan rate, the full history since 1955, and exactly which loans it touches.
By Andrew Swinney · Personal Finance Editor
Today's US bank prime rate
Prime rate history, 1955 to today
US bank prime loan rate
Daily observations from the Federal Reserve H.15 release. Dots mark every change of at least 0.25 points in the visible window.
Why the prime rate matters for your loans
Most variable-rate consumer and business loans are priced as "prime + margin". When prime moves, your rate moves with it on the next billing cycle. Here's what 6.75% prime looks like across the products that actually peg to it.
HELOCs and home equity lines
Almost every HELOC in the US is quoted as prime plus a margin set by your credit profile. A typical range is prime + 0.5 to prime + 2.5 points after the intro period.
Variable-rate credit cards
Card APRs are disclosed as prime plus a fixed margin, usually between 11 and 22 points. When prime moves, the rate on any balance you carry moves on the next statement.
Small business and auto loans
SBA-style variable business loans and many bank auto loans price at prime plus a 1 to 6 point margin depending on collateral and term.
Adjustable-rate mortgages
Common myth: ARMs follow prime. They don't. ARM resets are tied to SOFR or a Treasury index. Fixed 30-year mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury yield. Prime is a useful sentiment signal here, not a direct input.
How the prime rate is set
Prime is not set by the government. It's the rate large commercial banks publish for their most creditworthy business customers, and the industry has converged on a simple formula: the upper bound of the FOMC's federal funds target range plus 3.00 percentage points. With the target upper bound currently at 3.75%, prime sits at 6.75%.
When the FOMC moves the target range, the largest banks typically update their posted prime rate within 24 hours, and the Wall Street Journal publishes the new number once at least seven of the ten largest banks agree. Every move you see on the chart above lines up with a Fed decision.
Recent prime rate changes
| Effective date | New rate | Change | Days at prior rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 11, 2025 | 6.75% | −0.25 pts | 42 |
| October 30, 2025 | 7.00% | −0.25 pts | 43 |
| September 17, 2025 | 7.25% | −0.25 pts | 272 |
| December 19, 2024 | 7.50% | −0.25 pts | 41 |
| November 8, 2024 | 7.75% | −0.25 pts | 50 |
| September 19, 2024 | 8.00% | −0.50 pts | 420 |
| July 27, 2023 | 8.50% | +0.25 pts | 84 |
| May 4, 2023 | 8.25% | +0.25 pts | 42 |
| March 23, 2023 | 8.00% | +0.25 pts | 49 |
| February 2, 2023 | 7.75% | +0.25 pts | 49 |
Prime rate FAQ
Every HELOC we track, priced as prime plus a lender margin.
The math behind prime + 18 and what it does to a $5,000 balance.