The Treasury sold $25 billion of new 30-year bonds on Thursday at a high yield of 5.216 percent, the costliest long-dated borrowing the federal government has done since 2001. The auction, held August 13 and settling August 17, carried a 5.125 percent coupon and priced at 98.627017 per $100 of face value. It capped the $125 billion quarterly refunding Treasury announced on August 5, following a 3-year note at 4.291 percent on Tuesday and a 10-year note at 4.683 percent on Wednesday. Bidders covered the offering 2.39 times, down from 2.44 at the July 9 reopening of the same maturity. The number matters well beyond the auction room. Treasury is locking in a rate for three decades at a moment when the average rate across all its outstanding interest-bearing debt is just 3.447 percent, so every long bond sold at 5.216 percent widens the gap between what the government used to pay and what it now owes. The same long-end pressure sets the floor under fixed mortgage quotes, and it arrives with the prime rate parked at 6.75 percent and total federal debt at $39.91 trillion.
- Treasury sold $25 billion of 30-year bonds at 5.216 percent on August 13, the highest since 2001.
- The bid-to-cover ratio slipped to 2.39 from 2.44 at the July 9 reopening of the same maturity.
- Indirect bidders, a proxy for foreign demand, took 66.8 percent of competitive awards.
- Treasury’s outstanding bonds average 3.442 percent, so new long money costs about 177 basis points more.
- Interest on the debt has already reached $1.17 trillion 10 months into fiscal 2026.
What the Auction Results Showed
Treasury’s competitive results, published under CUSIP 912810UW6, show $66.1 billion of total bids against a $25 billion offering. Competitive bidders tendered $59.7 billion and were awarded $24.9 billion, with another $95.4 million going to noncompetitive buyers and a $6.3 billion add-on to the Federal Reserve’s System Open Market Account. The stop-out yield of 5.216 percent sat above the 5.150 percent median and well above the 4.880 percent low, and 12.10 percent of bids at the high yield were filled. The bond matures August 15, 2056.
The composition of demand was the more informative line. Indirect bidders, the category that captures foreign central banks and other buyers working through the New York Fed, were awarded $16.6 billion, or 66.8 percent of competitive awards. Direct bidders took $5.4 billion, or 21.6 percent. That left primary dealers, the firms obligated to backstop every auction, holding $2.9 billion, or 11.5 percent. A low dealer take is generally read as a sign that real money showed up rather than that the underwriters were left carrying the paper. Demand was present at 5.216 percent. It simply was not present at 5.058 percent, where the same maturity cleared five weeks earlier.
Why 2001 Is the Comparison
The 2001 reference point is partly an artifact of Treasury’s own issuance history. Facing projections of federal surpluses, Treasury stopped selling the 30-year bond in late 2001 and did not bring it back until February 2006. The gap in the auction record means the last time the government paid more than 5.216 percent for 30-year money, the security was about to be retired from the calendar entirely. Across every 30-year auction in Treasury’s published results database, which begins in May 2012, Thursday’s stop is the highest on file. The prior high in that window was 5.046 percent, set at the May 13 sale this year.
The secondary market had been signaling the level for weeks. The 30-year constant maturity yield closed at 5.24 percent on August 12 and touched 5.27 percent on July 31, according to Federal Reserve data compiled by FRED. Before 2026, the last time that series closed at or above 5.24 percent was July 9, 2007. The long end has moved without much help from the front end, which is the shape that unsettles debt managers. The 10-year finished August 12 at 4.68 percent and the 2-year at 4.20 percent, so the curve has steepened from the long side rather than flattened from the short side. Investors are asking for term premium, not pricing a Fed that is about to tighten. You can follow the whole curve on our Treasury yield curve tracker.
What It Costs the Treasury
Treasury reported an average interest rate of 3.442 percent across its outstanding bonds as of July 31, and 3.447 percent across all interest-bearing debt. Thursday’s sale prices new 30-year money roughly 177 basis points above that bond average. On $25 billion, the coupon alone commits about $1.28 billion a year for three decades. The arithmetic is not dramatic on a single auction. It becomes heavy through repetition, because the low-coupon paper issued between 2015 and 2021 keeps maturing and keeps getting refinanced at current levels rather than at the levels it was written on.
The running total is already visible in the fiscal accounts. Interest expense on the public debt reached $1.170 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal 2026, with $117.6 billion accrued in July alone. Total federal debt stood at $39.913 trillion on August 12, split between $32.180 trillion held by the public and $7.733 trillion in intragovernmental accounts. The publicly held share is the portion that gets refinanced at auction, and it is the portion Thursday’s result reprices. Our interest on the national debt page tracks the monthly accrual, and the current national debt page carries the daily balance.
What This Means for Your Money
Long Treasury yields set the reference rate for fixed household borrowing, so the auction reaches past Washington quickly. The 30-year fixed mortgage average stood at 6.67 percent on August 13, and it takes its cue from the long end rather than from the federal funds rate. Anyone shopping a fixed-rate mortgage is bidding against the same investors who just demanded 5.216 percent from the Treasury. Savers sit on the other side of that trade. Yields above 5 percent on 30-year government paper support the rates available on longer certificates of deposit and keep pressure on banks to pay competitively on high-yield savings accounts. Variable-rate debt follows a different signal. Credit card APRs and home equity lines move with the prime rate, which has held at 6.75 percent since the Federal Reserve left its target range at 3.50 to 3.75 percent on July 29. A borrower weighing a fixed personal loan against a variable line is really choosing which of those two rate regimes to sit inside for the next several years.
If you are shopping a fixed-rate mortgage or a long CD, watch the 30-year Treasury rather than the Fed. Auction weeks in February, May, August and November are when the long end reprices most visibly, and lender sheets usually follow within a few business days. Lock a mortgage rate before an auction week if you are already satisfied with the quote, and shop CD terms in the days after one, when banks adjust their posted yields to the new benchmark.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current 30-year Treasury bond yield?
The 30-year Treasury constant maturity yield closed at 5.24 percent on August 12, 2026, the most recent Federal Reserve reading available. At auction on August 13, Treasury sold $25 billion of new 30-year bonds at a high yield of 5.216 percent with a 5.125 percent coupon. That auction result is the highest yield the government has paid on 30-year debt since 2001.
What is the yield of a 30 year treasury bond right now?
Two numbers answer this and they differ slightly. The secondary market yield, quoted daily by the Federal Reserve, was 5.24 percent on August 12. The primary market yield, set at auction, was 5.216 percent on August 13. The auction figure is what Treasury actually pays new investors. The secondary figure is what existing bonds trade at, and it moves continuously through each session while the auction price is fixed once per sale.
Is it a good time to buy 30 year Treasury bonds?
That depends on your horizon and your view on inflation, and this is information rather than advice. A 5.216 percent coupon locked for 30 years is the highest on offer in a quarter century, which is attractive if inflation settles near the Fed’s 2 percent target. The risk runs the other way too. Long bonds lose market value when yields rise, so a buyer who may need the principal before 2056 carries real price risk. Consider speaking with a licensed financial advisor about your own situation.
How much is a $100 treasury bond worth after 30 years?
A $100 face-value Treasury bond returns exactly $100 of principal at maturity, plus semiannual interest along the way. At Thursday’s 5.125 percent coupon, that is roughly $2.56 every six months, or about $153 in total interest across 30 years if you hold to maturity and spend each payment. Treasury bonds do not compound internally the way savings bonds do. The principal is repaid at par, and the return comes entirely from the coupon stream.
Does this auction change my credit card APR?
No. Credit card APRs are almost always quoted as prime plus a margin, and the prime rate has held at 6.75 percent since the Fed last moved. A 30-year auction says nothing directly about the federal funds rate, which is the input that drives prime. What the auction does affect is fixed long-term borrowing, chiefly mortgages. Your card rate will change when the Federal Reserve changes its target range, and its next scheduled decision is September 16.
When is the next 30-year bond auction?
Treasury sells a new 30-year bond four times a year, in February, May, August and November, then reopens that same bond in the months between. Thursday’s sale was the August new issue, so the next nominal 30-year offering is a September reopening, which Treasury typically confirms in an announcement about a week beforehand. Two long-dated auctions are already on the calendar first: a new 20-year bond on August 19 and an $8 billion reopening of the 30-year inflation-protected bond on August 20.
Watching the September Reopening and the Fed Vote
Thursday closed the August refunding with the long end at levels not seen in a generation, and the September reopening will test whether 5.216 percent was the clearing price or the starting point. The Fed’s next decision on September 16 speaks to the front end, though the term premium buyers demanded this week is the part Washington cannot vote away. Track the daily balance on our national debt hub, the policy path on our Fed rate forecast for 2026, and the mechanics of each sale in our guide to how Treasury auctions work.
References
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Auction Announcements, Data and Results, 30-Year Bond, CUSIP 912810UW6, auctioned August 13, 2026.
- U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities, July 31, 2026.
- U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny, August 12, 2026.
- U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Interest Expense on the Public Debt Outstanding, fiscal year 2026 through July.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 30-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate, series DGS30.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Bank Prime Loan Rate, series DPRIME.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average, series MORTGAGE30US.
- Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates, August 13, 2026.
- Federal Reserve Board, FOMC Meeting Calendars, 2026 dates.
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Tentative Auction Schedule of U.S. Treasury Securities, August 2026.
- Congressional Research Service, Reintroduction of the 30-Year Treasury Bond, report RL32049.
