Fed Funds Rate by Year: Highs, Lows and How Often It Moved
Most coverage of the federal funds rate reports one number: today's. This table reports the shape of every year since 1954 — the average, the high, the low, and how many months the rate actually moved. The count is the part that is hard to find elsewhere and the part that answers questions like "how many times did the Fed move in 2024".
Across the full record the rate averaged 4.57%, ranged from 0.05% to 19.10%, and moved in 517 of 867 months. 81 consecutive months passed without a single 5 basis point move between 2009-03 and 2015-11 — the longest pause on record.
Fed funds rate by year
| Year | Average | High | Low | Months with a move | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.65% | 3.75% | 3.63% | 2 | +3bp |
| 2025 | 4.21% | 4.33% | 3.72% | 5 | −76bp |
| 2024 | 5.14% | 5.33% | 4.48% | 4 | −85bp |
| 2023 | 5.02% | 5.33% | 4.33% | 6 | +123bp |
| 2022 | 1.68% | 4.10% | 0.08% | 10 | +402bp |
| 2021 | 0.08% | 0.10% | 0.06% | 0 | −1bp |
| 2020 | 0.38% | 1.58% | 0.05% | 2 | −146bp |
| 2019 | 2.16% | 2.42% | 1.55% | 5 | −72bp |
| 2018 | 1.83% | 2.27% | 1.41% | 7 | +97bp |
| 2017 | 1.00% | 1.30% | 0.65% | 6 | +76bp |
| 2016 | 0.40% | 0.54% | 0.34% | 2 | +30bp |
| 2015 | 0.13% | 0.24% | 0.11% | 1 | +12bp |
| 2014 | 0.09% | 0.12% | 0.07% | 0 | +3bp |
| 2013 | 0.11% | 0.15% | 0.08% | 0 | −7bp |
| 2012 | 0.14% | 0.16% | 0.08% | 0 | +9bp |
| 2011 | 0.10% | 0.17% | 0.07% | 0 | −11bp |
| 2010 | 0.17% | 0.20% | 0.11% | 0 | +6bp |
| 2009 | 0.16% | 0.22% | 0.12% | 1 | −4bp |
| 2008 | 1.93% | 3.94% | 0.16% | 9 | −408bp |
| 2007 | 5.02% | 5.26% | 4.24% | 5 | −100bp |
| 2006 | 4.96% | 5.25% | 4.29% | 6 | +108bp |
| 2005 | 3.21% | 4.16% | 2.28% | 11 | +200bp |
| 2004 | 1.35% | 2.16% | 1.00% | 6 | +118bp |
| 2003 | 1.13% | 1.26% | 0.98% | 1 | −26bp |
| 2002 | 1.67% | 1.75% | 1.24% | 3 | −58bp |
| 2001 | 3.89% | 5.98% | 1.82% | 12 | −458bp |
| 2000 | 6.24% | 6.54% | 5.45% | 7 | +110bp |
| 1999 | 4.97% | 5.42% | 4.63% | 7 | +62bp |
| 1998 | 5.35% | 5.56% | 4.68% | 5 | −82bp |
| 1997 | 5.46% | 5.56% | 5.19% | 4 | +21bp |
| 1996 | 5.30% | 5.56% | 5.22% | 8 | −31bp |
| 1995 | 5.84% | 6.05% | 5.53% | 8 | +15bp |
| 1994 | 4.20% | 5.45% | 3.05% | 10 | +249bp |
| 1993 | 3.02% | 3.09% | 2.96% | 5 | +4bp |
| 1992 | 3.52% | 4.06% | 2.92% | 9 | −151bp |
| 1991 | 5.69% | 6.91% | 4.43% | 12 | −288bp |
| 1990 | 8.10% | 8.29% | 7.31% | 8 | −114bp |
| 1989 | 9.22% | 9.85% | 8.45% | 9 | −31bp |
| 1988 | 7.57% | 8.76% | 6.58% | 10 | +199bp |
| 1987 | 6.66% | 7.29% | 6.10% | 11 | −14bp |
| 1986 | 6.81% | 8.14% | 5.85% | 11 | −136bp |
| 1985 | 8.10% | 8.58% | 7.53% | 9 | −11bp |
| 1984 | 10.22% | 11.64% | 8.38% | 10 | −109bp |
| 1983 | 9.09% | 9.56% | 8.51% | 10 | +52bp |
| 1982 | 12.26% | 14.94% | 8.95% | 12 | −342bp |
| 1981 | 16.38% | 19.10% | 12.37% | 12 | −653bp |
| 1980 | 13.36% | 18.90% | 9.03% | 11 | +512bp |
| 1979 | 11.19% | 13.78% | 10.01% | 8 | +375bp |
| 1978 | 7.93% | 10.03% | 6.70% | 11 | +347bp |
| 1977 | 5.54% | 6.56% | 4.61% | 5 | +191bp |
| 1976 | 5.04% | 5.48% | 4.65% | 9 | −55bp |
| 1975 | 5.82% | 7.13% | 5.20% | 9 | −333bp |
| 1974 | 10.50% | 12.92% | 8.53% | 12 | −142bp |
| 1973 | 8.73% | 10.78% | 5.94% | 10 | +462bp |
| 1972 | 4.43% | 5.33% | 3.30% | 11 | +119bp |
| 1971 | 4.66% | 5.57% | 3.71% | 10 | −76bp |
| 1970 | 7.18% | 8.98% | 4.90% | 10 | −407bp |
| 1969 | 8.20% | 9.19% | 6.30% | 11 | +295bp |
| 1968 | 5.66% | 6.12% | 4.61% | 9 | +151bp |
| 1967 | 4.22% | 5.00% | 3.79% | 11 | −89bp |
| 1966 | 5.11% | 5.76% | 4.42% | 11 | +108bp |
| 1965 | 4.07% | 4.32% | 3.90% | 5 | +47bp |
| 1964 | 3.50% | 3.85% | 3.36% | 6 | +47bp |
| 1963 | 3.18% | 3.50% | 2.90% | 5 | +45bp |
| 1962 | 2.71% | 2.94% | 2.15% | 7 | +60bp |
| 1961 | 1.96% | 2.61% | 1.17% | 12 | +35bp |
| 1960 | 3.22% | 3.99% | 1.98% | 9 | −201bp |
| 1959 | 3.31% | 4.00% | 2.43% | 8 | +157bp |
| 1958 | 1.57% | 2.72% | 0.63% | 11 | −56bp |
| 1957 | 3.10% | 3.50% | 2.84% | 6 | +4bp |
| 1956 | 2.73% | 2.96% | 2.45% | 5 | +46bp |
| 1955 | 1.78% | 2.48% | 1.29% | 10 | +120bp |
| 1954 | 1.01% | 1.28% | 0.80% | 4 | +48bp |
How to read the move count
A month counts when the monthly average of the effective rate changes by 5 basis points or more. The threshold matters: the effective rate drifts by a basis point or two in quiet months because it is an average of daily trades, so a zero threshold would count almost every month as active and tell you nothing. Five basis points filters that noise while still catching a quarter-point move that landed mid-month.
The count is not the same as the number of FOMC decisions. The committee sets a target range at eight scheduled meetings a year, and the effective rate can move in months with no meeting at all — or stay put after one. This table measures what the market actually paid, not what the committee announced.
Net change compares the last monthly average of the year with the December average of the year before, so it tracks the direction of policy across the year rather than the sum of individual moves.
Frequently asked questions
How many times does the Federal Reserve change interest rates in a year?
It ranges from none to twelve. In 1961 the monthly average moved in 12 separate months, the most in the record; in 6 years the rate did not move by 5 basis points in any month (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, among others). Across 867 months since 1954, 517 saw a move of that size — about 60% of all months.
When did the Fed last change interest rates?
The latest monthly average in this table is 3.75% for 2026-09. The rate peaked at 19.10% in 1981-06 and bottomed at 0.05%.
What is the longest the Fed has gone without moving rates?
81 months, from 2009-03 to 2015-11, with no month moving by 5 basis points or more.
Source and method
Figures are computed at build time from the Effective Federal Funds Rate series (FRED identifier FEDFUNDS), published by the Federal Reserve Board and distributed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Monthly values are averages of daily figures. Data retrieved 2026-10-31.
Raw series: FRED — Federal Funds Effective Rate. Table and code licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse freely with attribution to CapitalWire.
Cite this dataset
APA
CapitalWire. (2026). Fed Funds Rate by Year: Highs, Lows and How Often It Moved. Retrieved 2026-10-31, from https://infornkn.com/data/fed-funds-moves-by-year/HTML link
<a href="https://infornkn.com/data/fed-funds-moves-by-year/">Fed funds rate by year (CapitalWire)</a>