Federal post-judgment interest calculator
Calculate interest on a supported U.S. federal court money judgment using the exact weekly-average 1-year Treasury yield for the calendar week before judgment, with daily accrual and annual compounding.
Estimate for reference only — courts, agencies and creditors may apply different rounding or conventions. Not legal, tax, or financial advice.
Your amount and dates stay in your browser. This estimate counts elapsed days from the judgment date up to, but not including, the calculate-through date. Confirm your court’s payoff date and rounding convention.
How the §1961 rate is selected
The phrase “calendar week preceding the date of the judgment” is the key. First locate the Monday-to-Sunday calendar week containing the judgment date. Then move back one full calendar week. The weekly-average 1-year Treasury constant maturity yield for that earlier week becomes the judgment’s annual rate. A Monday judgment and a Sunday judgment in the same calendar week therefore use the same source week.
The rate is fixed when the judgment is entered. A Treasury yield published later does not re-price that judgment. Section 1961(b) instead changes the interest-bearing balance: interest is computed daily and, on each judgment anniversary, accrued interest is added for the next annual period.
- Find the prior calendar week. For a judgment entered Wednesday, January 8, 2025, the judgment week began January 6. The required source week began December 30, 2024.
- Apply that one annual rate. The calculator divides the annual percentage by 365 for daily accrual on the current interest-bearing balance.
- Compound on the anniversary. If the judgment remains unpaid for a full year, accrued interest becomes part of the balance used in the next annual period.
- Stop at the payment boundary. The entered calculate-through date is not itself counted as another accrual day in this estimate.
Worked federal example
For a $100,000.00 judgment entered on January 8, 2025, the calculator selects the 4.17% weekly average for the week beginning December 30, 2024. Calculated to January 8, 2026, the 365-day estimate is $4,170.00 of interest and $104,170.00 total.
That example spans one anniversary. A longer calculation compounds at each later anniversary using the same selected annual rate. The displayed result is generated by the same tested engine as the form, so the worked numbers update only if the underlying official history changes.
Full modern history and a durable data source
The current Treasury formula took effect on December 21, 2000. Before that date, federal post-judgment rates used a different 52-week Treasury-bill auction method, so this calculator rejects earlier judgments rather than applying the modern formula backward.
The dataset contains 1,341 exact weekly observations, beginning December 11, 2000. Daily 1-year Treasury values come from the Federal Reserve’s FRED DGS1 series. The pipeline derives the calendar-week averages and independently compares them with the official WGS1YR weekly series. A missing or mismatched week blocks unsafe output.
This migration also protects the site’s automation from a known platform change. In its July 16, 2026 DDP announcement, the Federal Reserve Board scheduled the “Build Your Package” option for removal during the week of November 9, 2026 and directed users to FRED or the full XML release. StatuteRates uses the recommended durable source independently of whether that retirement date is past or future.
What this calculator includes—and what it does not
This page models the general civil-money-judgment path in §1961(a) and (b): rate selection, daily computation, and annual compounding. It does not decide whether §1961 governs your judgment, alter the judgment principal, allocate payments, add costs or attorney fees, or reproduce a district court’s case ledger.
The U.S. Courts identifies separate statutes for criminal judgments or sentences and deficiency judgments in condemnation proceedings. Section 1961 itself contains special treatment for internal-revenue tax cases and certain judgments involving the United States, the Court of Federal Claims, or the Judgment Fund. A contract, appellate mandate, corrected judgment, partial satisfaction, or local court order can also require case-specific review.
Official sources
- 28 U.S.C. §1961 — the controlling rate-selection, daily-computation, annual-compounding, and exception language.
- U.S. Courts post-judgment interest guidance — the current formula, December 21, 2000 transition, and related federal judgment statutes.
- FRED DGS1 and FRED WGS1YR — the official daily input and independent weekly comparison used by the automated pipeline.
- Federal Reserve DDP announcement — the official July 16, 2026 notice directing “Build Your Package” users to FRED or full-release XML.
Frequently asked questions
How is federal post-judgment interest calculated?
For a supported civil money judgment, 28 U.S.C. §1961 selects the weekly-average 1-year Treasury constant maturity yield for the calendar week preceding the judgment date. Interest is computed daily from judgment to payment and compounded annually.
What is the current federal post-judgment interest rate?
The most recent recorded weekly value is 4% for the week beginning August 17, 2026. A specific judgment does not automatically use that latest number; it uses the exact preceding calendar week.
Does the federal judgment interest rate change after judgment?
The selected annual rate stays fixed for that judgment. The balance changes because accrued interest is compounded annually, but later Treasury-rate movements do not replace the rate selected at entry.
How far back does this calculator work?
It supports the current 1-year Treasury formula for judgments entered on or after December 21, 2000. The versioned weekly history begins December 11, 2000 and is updated automatically from official Federal Reserve data.
Does 28 U.S.C. §1961 cover every federal judgment?
No. The statute and U.S. Courts identify different treatment or exceptions for internal-revenue tax cases, certain Court of Federal Claims judgments, Judgment Fund payments, criminal judgments, and some condemnation matters. Confirm the governing statute and court table.
Cite this page
StatuteRates. “Federal Post-Judgment Interest Calculator.” StatuteRates.com. Accessed today. https://statuterates.com/calculators/post-judgment-interest/ 28 U.S.C. §1961 weekly history from December 11, 2000 through August 17, 2026.