Now that the Federal Reserve has been lowering interest rates, the yield you can earn with the best savings account has drifted down. But while you can no longer earn the 5%-plus rates we enjoyed in 2024, you can still earn as much as 4.75% with one of today's top-paying accounts.

A return in the high–4% range is still historically high for idle cash in the bank. But what's even more important is that it lets you handily out-earn what you're losing to inflation. As you can see below, the inflation rate has been running between 2.4% and 2.9% since July. That means today's top savings accounts pay 1.85 percentage points more than the December inflation rate.

This situation of the top-paying savings account out-paying inflation isn't always the case. The Federal Reserve's target inflation rate is 2%, but in many different periods, the top savings account rate has been less than 2%. In fact, Investopedia's daily rate tracking shows that back in January 2022, the top rate you could earn on a nationwide savings account was a meager 0.70% APY.

But right now, saving account rates are in a golden period. And even better, that's likely to last a while longer. While we don't know what inflation will do in the coming months, savings rates are expected to stay close to where they are now for the near-term.

That's because another Fed rate cut isn't expected for several months. According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, interest rate traders aren't placing a greater than 50% probability on another rate cut until the June 18 Fed meeting.

That means mid- to high-4% savings account rates could be with us until summer, making it an excellent time to put your cash to work earning one of today's top returns.

How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that's below $5,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.