Updated October 3, 2026. Quick answer: TreasuryDirect has not yet announced the I bond rate for November 2026. It announces a new fixed rate and inflation rate every May 1 and November 1, so the November 1, 2026 announcement is still to come. Today’s rate is 4.26% combined, including a fixed rate of 0.90%, for I bonds issued May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026. As of October 3, 2026 no November rate exists, and this page does not estimate one.
Price a bond by its issue month: I bond calculator.
The announcement after this one, due May 1, 2027: the May 2027 I bond rate, due May 1, 2027.
The I bond rate right now
| Item | Current announcement |
|---|---|
| Combined (composite) rate | 4.26% |
| Fixed rate, set for the life of the bond | 0.90% |
| Semiannual inflation rate | 1.67% |
| Applies to bonds issued | May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026 |
| Combined rate announced November 1, 2025 | 4.03% (fixed 0.90%, inflation 1.56%) |
TreasuryDirect shows “For I bonds issued May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026.” It says “This includes a fixed rate of 0.90%”. The page that lists every announcement and its fixed-rate history is I bond rates.
When the November 2026 rate arrives
TreasuryDirect says “We announce the fixed rate every May 1 and November 1.” It adds “That fixed rate then applies, for the life of the bond, to all I bonds that we issue during the next 6 months.” The inflation part is also set on those two dates: “We base the inflation rate on changes in the non-seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U)”. The combined rate “changes every 6 months. It can go up or down.” Until the announcement the November figure is unknown, so this page prints none.
How the new combined rate will be built
TreasuryDirect gives the formula as “Composite rate formula: [Fixed rate + (2 x semiannual inflation rate) + (fixed rate x semiannual inflation rate)]”. Its own worked example uses the current rate, “0.0426”, which is 4.26%. The regulation, 31 CFR 359.14, writes the same calculation as “Composite rate = {(Fixed rate ÷ 2) + Semiannual inflation rate + [Semiannual inflation rate × (Fixed rate ÷ 2)]} × 2.” The two inputs for November are the new fixed rate and the new semiannual inflation rate, both announced November 1; neither is known today.
Which bonds the November 1 announcement touches
A bond keeps the fixed rate it was issued with. The inflation part is reset on a schedule that follows each bond’s own issue month. TreasuryDirect says “the date when the rate changes for your bond is every 6 months from the issue date of your bond”. Its table:
| If we issued your bond in | Your interest rate changes every |
|---|---|
| January | July 1 and January 1 |
| February | August 1 and February 1 |
| March | September 1 and March 1 |
| April | October 1 and April 1 |
| May | November 1 and May 1 |
| June | December 1 and June 1 |
| July | January 1 and July 1 |
| August | February 1 and August 1 |
| September | March 1 and September 1 |
| October | April 1 and October 1 |
| November | May 1 and November 1 |
| December | June 1 and December 1 |
By that table, bonds issued in May or November are the ones whose next rate applies from November 1. Bonds issued in other months move to their next six-month rate on their own dates; the fixed-rate announcement is the one that applies to bonds issued from November 1, 2026 on.
The last eight announcements
Each announcement since November 2022, with the combined rate recomputed from the formula; every row equals the figure in TreasuryDirect’s earnings chart.
| Announced | Fixed rate | Semiannual inflation rate | Combined rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2026 | 0.90% | 1.67% | 4.26% |
| November 1, 2025 | 0.90% | 1.56% | 4.03% |
| May 1, 2025 | 1.10% | 1.43% | 3.98% |
| November 1, 2024 | 1.20% | 0.95% | 3.11% |
| May 1, 2024 | 1.30% | 1.48% | 4.28% |
| November 1, 2023 | 1.30% | 1.97% | 5.27% |
| May 1, 2023 | 0.90% | 1.69% | 4.30% |
| November 1, 2022 | 0.40% | 3.24% | 6.89% |
Common mistakes
- Treating the 4.26% as the November rate. It applies to bonds issued through October 31, 2026 and is not the November announcement.
- Assuming a new rate applies to your bond on the announcement date. It applies from your own issue-month schedule.
- Confusing the fixed rate, which stays for life, with the combined rate, which resets every six months.
- Counting on a particular November rate before TreasuryDirect posts it.
Related: I bond rates and fixed-rate history, when to cash out an I bond, I bond purchase limits and gifting, and buying Treasuries directly or through funds.
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Answer againSources
- TreasuryDirect, I bonds interest rates: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/i-bonds/i-bonds-interest-rates/
- TreasuryDirect, Series I savings bond earnings rates chart: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/files/savings-bonds/i-bond-rate-chart.pdf
- 31 CFR Part 359, Series I savings bonds (eCFR): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-359
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 3, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.