Methodology
How RateZip gets its numbers.
RateZip has tracked published bank and lender rates since 2007. This page explains exactly where every figure on this site comes from, how often it refreshes, and how we make money - so you (or anyone citing us) can judge the data on its provenance.
Rate sources
30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage
National averages from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), published weekly. These are representative survey averages, not offers - your rate depends on your credit profile, location and loan.
Daily mortgage rates by loan type (mortgage-rates page)
Daily national averages by product - 30-year fixed conforming, 15-year fixed, jumbo, FHA, VA and USDA - are the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI), retrieved from FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). OBMMI averages the note rate on mortgages actually locked through Optimal Blue's platform, covering roughly a third of US locks, and is published the next business day. Partner lender rates are read daily from each lender's own public rate page and shown only when the lender posts a number - never estimated.
CD and savings APYs
CD and savings APYs are drawn from the published rate tables of banks and credit unions. Figures shown on this site are the highest published APYs in our tracked set at the time of the last refresh.
Auto insurance state averages
State average premiums from Insure.com's rate analysis (data by Quadrant Information Services), refreshed annually; the methodology note on the calculator page identifies the dataset year.
Refresh cadence
The homepage rate ledger is regenerated on every site build from the sources above, and each figure carries the as-of date of its last refresh (currently August 14, 2026). Older editorial articles carry a dated banner when their figures reflect an earlier rate environment - we date content honestly rather than re-stamping it.
Rates in AI assistants (the RateZip Rates Service)
RateZip also serves rates to AI assistants (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity) through the RateZip Rates Service at mcp.ratezip.com, using the open Model Context Protocol. That service is sourced slightly differently from this website, and deliberately so:
- Deposit national averages come from the FDIC's national deposit-rate series via FRED (public data).
- Institution ratesare observed on each bank's or lender's own published rate page by an identified agent that honors robots.txt. Institutions that block that agent or publish rates only client-side are left out rather than estimated.
- No copyrighted benchmark is redistributed through the assistant service - unlike the daily mortgage-rates page above, the assistant feed does not carry the Freddie Mac PMMS or OBMMI indices, so its mortgage view is the set of directly-observed lender rates.
- Every figure carries an observation timestamp, its source, and a freshness status; data past its serve window is withheld, never shown as current.
- Personalization is transparent: a balance resolves the account's own published tier and a loan amount is flagged conforming or jumbo - the service does not generate a credit-adjusted or lender-specific rate quote.
Use of the assistant service is governed by our Rates Service terms.
Reviews and editorial
Lender and insurance reviews reflect our editors' independent assessment. Some products we review are offered by companies that also advertise with us; advertising never determines a rating. When we get something wrong, tell us via the contact page and we will correct the page and note the correction.
How we make money
RateZip is free and advertising supported. Peklava LLC, DBA RateZip (NMLS ID 1592292) is a licensed mortgage broker and marketing lead generator. We do not originate, make or fund loans; when you request quotes we connect you with licensed providers in our network, and we may be paid for that referral. See licenses and disclosures for the state-by-state detail.
Citing RateZip
When citing RateZip figures, include the as-of date shown beside the figure and note that rates are representative national figures - individual rates depend on credit profile, location and product.