Statutory interest rates · Prejudgment
2026 prejudgment interest rates by state
The interest that accrues before a judgment is entered — for all 50 states and D.C. Unlike post-judgment interest, the rate is often the second question. The first is whether prejudgment interest applies at all: most states allow it only on liquidated or readily ascertainable amounts and bar it on unliquidated damages (like pain and suffering). Each record below includes a cited statute, agency, court, or identified secondary source.
Fixed by statute (18) — a set statutory rateFormula rate (17) — indexed to a benchmark; resets periodicallySame as post-judgment (3) — same rate as after judgmentClaim-dependent (4) — different statutory branches apply by claim typeDiscretionary (7) — a court may award it; this is the rate it appliesDiscretionary cap (1) — a court may award up to the displayed ceilingCase-specific (1) — the contract or court supplies the percentage
Calculator safety review: state prejudgment calculations are temporarily withheld while eligibility, accrual, compounding, and rate-history rules are structured and validated. The reference pages remain available below.
| State | Rate | Type | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 6% | Fixed by statute | The 6% figure is a legal-rate reference, not a universal award for every claim. |
| Alaska | 6.75% | Formula rate | Alaska prejudgment interest can reach tort and unliquidated damages, but statutory exclusions, contracts, and special statutes can change entitlement or the rate. |
| Arizona | 8.00% | Formula rate | Subsection (D) excludes specified unliquidated, future, punitive, and exemplary damages; subsection (F) then points an allowed award to (A) or (B). |
| Arkansas | 6.00% | Formula rate | An award still depends on claim-specific Arkansas law; the rate statute says prejudgment interest applies only when appropriate under the facts. |
| California | 7% / 10% | Fixed by statute | Prejudgment interest is NOT automatic on all claims. |
| Colorado | 8% / 9% | Branch-specific | Prejudgment interest is NOT limited to liquidated/ascertainable sums. |
| Connecticut | up to 10% | Discretionary, capped | Available only when the court finds a qualifying detention of money after it became payable. |
| D.C. | 6% | Fixed by statute | Two-track system. |
| Delaware | 9.00% | Formula rate | Entitlement depends on the claim; contract and qualifying tort-demand branches are not interchangeable. |
| Florida | 7.87% | Formula rate | Prejudgment interest is available ONLY on LIQUIDATED / readily ascertainable damages representing an actual out-of-pocket pecuniary loss fixed as of a date certain (Argonaut "loss theory"). |
| Georgia | 7% / 9.75% | Fixed by statute | A liquidated sum can use §§7-4-2 and 7-4-15; a qualifying unliquidated tort demand follows the separate §51-12-14 notice formula. |
| Hawaii | 10% | Discretionary | Prejudgment interest is DISCRETIONARY, not automatic. |
| Idaho | 12% | Fixed by statute | The 12% branch covers listed obligations; claim entitlement and the separate settlement-offer branch require additional authority. |
| Illinois | 6% / 5% | Fixed by statute | The 6% and 5% figures come from different statutes with different covered claims. |
| Indiana | 8% | Discretionary | The 8% listed-obligation branch and discretionary 6%–10% tort branch have different prerequisites. |
| Iowa | 6.47% | Formula rate | The general §668.13 path can include interest before judgment, but future damages, contract-rate cases, non-chapter-668 verdict interest, support obligations, and workers’ compensation use important separate rules. |
| Kansas | 10% / 5.75% | Fixed by statute | Kansas prejudgment interest — 10% general, or 5.75% for the current recent-tort branch. |
| Kentucky | up to 8% | Claim-dependent | Liquidated claims and unliquidated claims follow different entitlement rules. |
| Louisiana | 7.5% general / up to 6% government PI-WD | Claim-dependent | The applicable rate and start date depend on the claim and defendant. |
| Maine | 6.51% | Formula rate | The general civil-action path is broad, with separate small-claims and written-contract branches. |
| Maryland | 6% | Discretionary | Eligibility is controlled by Maryland case law and the obligation, not by the constitutional percentage alone. |
| Massachusetts | 12% | Branch-specific | The clerk adds interest to covered awards, but the applicable rate and rule depend on the statute governing the award. |
| Michigan | 4.959% | Formula rate | The general MCL 600.6013 path runs from complaint filing, but complaint vintage, written instruments, future damages, tort settlement offers, and medical-malpractice provisions can change the treatment. |
| Minnesota | 4% / 10% | Formula rate | Minnesota prejudgment interest — 4%, or 10% on awards over $50,000. |
| Mississippi | contract rate / court-set | Case-specific | The governing contract or the judge supplies the percentage; entitlement and timing depend on the claim and order. |
| Missouri | Current withheld — legal branch selection required | Formula rate | Prejudgment interest is NOT freely available; it is claim-type restricted. |
| Montana | 10% / 9.75% | Mixed statutory branches | The 10% due-money branch and the variable certain-damages/tort branches have different statutory predicates. |
| Nebraska | 12% / 5.970% | Two statutory tracks | Nebraska uses separate liquidated-claim, listed contract-obligation, and strictly conditioned unliquidated-claim paths; Chapter 42 and specified government claims are excluded. |
| Nevada | Current unavailable — last recorded 8.75% | Formula rate | Prejudgment interest in Nevada is generally limited to LIQUIDATED / readily ASCERTAINABLE sums. |
| New Hampshire | Current unavailable — last recorded 5.7% | Formula rate | The statutes cover broad pecuniary-damages categories, but the current annual percentage is not independently verified. |
| New Jersey | 4.5% / 6.5% | Same rate as post-judgment | Rule 4:42-11(b) generally directs simple prejudgment interest in tort actions, but future economic losses, exceptional-case suspension, contract claims, equitable claims, and specialized law require separate treatment. |
| New Mexico | 10% / 15% | Discretionary | Neither the up-to-10% nor up-to-15% branch is an automatic statewide percentage. |
| New York | 9% | Fixed by statute | CPLR 5001 covers specified contract and property-interference damages; equitable actions remain discretionary. |
| North Carolina | 8% | Fixed by statute | Contract, consumer-contract, penal-bond, and noncontract compensatory awards follow different branches. |
| North Dakota | 6% | Fixed by statute | The damages must satisfy §32-03-04; the rate then depends on §47-14-05 and any controlling written agreement. |
| Ohio | 7% | Same rate as post-judgment | Two distinct tracks. |
| Oklahoma | 4.13% / 6% | Formula rate | Sharply restricted and split across two statutes. |
| Oregon | 9% | Fixed by statute | Prejudgment interest is NOT automatically available on all claims. |
| Pennsylvania | 6% | Fixed by statute | The 6% legal-rate and 7.75% Rule 238 branches cover different claims and cannot be merged. |
| Rhode Island | 12% | Fixed by statute | The general pecuniary-damages rule is broad, but contract exclusions and the malpractice branch must be checked. |
| South Carolina | 8.75% | Fixed by statute | LIQUIDATED / ASCERTAINABLE claims only. |
| South Dakota | 10% | Formula rate | Broad availability but with sharp claim-type carve-outs. |
| Tennessee | up to 10% | Discretionary | The award and rate are discretionary; 10% is only the statutory ceiling. |
| Texas | 6.75% | Same rate as post-judgment | STATUTORY prejudgment interest (Tex. Fin. Code Subch. B) applies ONLY to wrongful death, personal injury, and property damage cases (Sec. 304.102). |
| Utah | 10% / 8.75% | Mixed statutory branches | The 10% contract branch and annually reset personal-injury special-damages branch have different requirements. |
| Vermont | 12% | Discretionary | Entitlement depends on the claim; the 12% statute is a rate reference, not a universal award. |
| Virginia | 6% | Discretionary | Both the award and start period are discretionary under §8.01-382. |
| Washington | 12% | Fixed by statute | The claim generally must be liquidated or readily determinable, and medical debt has a separate cap. |
| West Virginia | 6.25% | Formula rate | Prejudgment interest is available ONLY on special damages and liquidated damages — NOT on general/unliquidated damages. |
| Wisconsin | 5% | Fixed by statute | Prejudgment interest is NOT available on all claims. |
| Wyoming | 7% | Fixed by statute | The 7% figure is only a default legal-rate reference; entitlement and accrual require separate support. |
Prejudgment vs. post-judgment interest
Post-judgment interest is the (usually automatic) interest on a money judgment from the day it is entered until it is paid. Prejudgment interest reaches backwards — it compensates for the time between the loss or breach and the judgment. Because it covers a period when the amount owed was still being litigated, states hedge it with rules that post-judgment interest doesn't have:
- Liquidated vs. unliquidated. Most states allow prejudgment interest only where the amount was fixed or readily calculable (a contract sum, an invoice) — and deny it on unliquidated damages a jury has to set (pain and suffering, most general tort damages).
- Contract vs. tort. Several states grant it as of right on contract/liquidated claims but withhold it (or leave it to the jury) on tort claims.
- Discretionary in some states. A number of states leave both whether to award prejudgment interest and when it starts to the factfinder's discretion.
- Future damages & punitives. Even where allowed, many states bar prejudgment interest on future damages and on punitive damages.
See each state's page for its exact statute, accrual date, and carve-outs, and the methodology for how each rate is sourced. Reference data only — not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is prejudgment interest?
Prejudgment interest compensates a plaintiff for the loss of use of money between the date of loss or breach and the date judgment is entered. It is separate from post-judgment interest (which runs after judgment) and, in most states, is available only on liquidated or readily ascertainable amounts — not on unliquidated damages such as pain and suffering.
Is prejudgment interest the same rate as post-judgment interest?
Sometimes, but not always. A handful of states apply the same statutory rate to both; many set a different prejudgment rate; and several make prejudgment interest discretionary. Each state page here cites the controlling statute and states the rate and restrictions.