Compare 30-year mortgage rates today

We’ll showcase the latest rates for a variety of 30-year mortgage types, plus help you evaluate if a 30-year mortgage is right for you. While this repayment period is typical, some homebuyers may prefer a 15-year mortgage, for instance. And even if you take out a 30-year mortgage, you might not keep it all three decades, for example if you refinance or sell your home.

Current 30-year mortgage rates

Here’s a table breaking down today’s average mortgage rates. 

Keep in mind that the numbers you see here won’t be your specific mortgage rate—they’re just one factor driving it. Determining your specific mortgage rate will come from a conversation with a lender. 

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“The question should be, ‘What do my rates look like today—based on A) my borrower profile and B) the types of properties I’m looking for?’” says William Sartain, a mortgage loan officer with BankSouth Mortgage, a Georgia-based lender. 

Even still, today’s mortgage rates are far from meaningless numbers since they’ll heavily influence your eventual monthly payment on a home. So let’s talk about where the rates are today—and where they’re likely headed.

Learn more: How much house can you afford?

Recent trends for 30-year mortgage rates

Homebuyers today are unlikely to see rates as low as their pandemic-era trough of 2.65% in January 2021. 

That’s not much of a surprise, since those historically low mortgage rates were a direct result of the Federal Reserve slashing rates and investing in mortgage-backed securities to avoid a complete economic meltdown. And now that we’ve returned to some degree of normalcy, it’s very unlikely that we’ll see the mortgage rates fall to those levels again anytime soon. 

“For the remainder of my lifetime I don’t see 3% [happening again],” said Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS, at an event in early 2024. “6.5% could be the new normal … definitely not great, but better than 8%.”

Learn more: The big winners of the pandemic—2% mortgage rate holders.

“I agree with Dr. Yun’s statement,” says BankSouth’s Sartain, “And I’d add that it should never happen again—6% to 7% is a great mortgage rate. The 3% era created this mindset that that’s what it’s supposed to be, when in reality, it created an unhealthy real estate market.”

Sartain went on to explain that historically low rates combined with anemic inventory in 2021 led to skyrocketing home values. But now that mortgage rates have returned to normal (~6.5%) and home values remain high, it puts homeownership further out of reach for many hardworking Americans still financially recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“When you have a low-inventory environment—and money is extremely cheap—it creates unhealthy appreciation in the home market, resulting in the affordability issues we still have today,” says Sartain. 

Here’s how mortgage rates have trended recently:

The good news is that mortgage rates aren’t expected to continue climbing.

A panel of experts with Fannie Mae predicted that rates would close at 6.6% by the end of 2024, which is well below the peak of 7.22% in May, as shown by data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). As for 2025, the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that rates could continue trickling downward all year, bottoming out around 5.9% by Q4.

To put those numbers into context, a 7.22% mortgage rate on a $420,000 home with a 20% down payment (i.e. a principal of $336,000) would have a monthly mortgage payment of roughly $2,285 before taxes and fees. If you keep everything the same and lower the mortgage rate to 5.9% the monthly payment falls to around $1,993. 

What this example shows is that on a median-priced U.S. home, an interest rate that’s ~1.3% lower could potentially reduce your monthly mortgage payment (before taxes and fees) by over 12.5%. 

That’s why mortgage rates are a big deal. 

What is a 30-year mortgage?

The term “30-year mortgage” most commonly refers to a 30-year conventional conforming fixed-rate loan. 

That’s quite a mouthful, so let’s it down piece by piece: 

• 30-year is the repayment period, meaning you’ll make 30 x 12 = 360 equal monthly payments to fully pay off the loan. 
• Conventional means the mortgage is backed by a private institution. It is not a federally-backed mortgage like a USDA home loan, a VA loan, or a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan. 
• Conforming means it meets Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) standards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (two large federally-backed mortgage companies) to purchase your mortgage from your private lender, massively reducing risk for your lender and resulting in better terms for you. Non-conforming loan types include loans that are federally backed (e.g. USDA and FHA loans) and loans that are too big for the government to purchase—aka jumbo loans, which typically means $766,550+ in 2024. 
• Fixed-rate means your interest rate will never change throughout the life of the loan, though your monthly mortgage payment can still change due to a variety of factors. The opposite of a fixed-rate loan is an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), which has a fixed rate for an initial period—often the first seven to 10 years—but may fluctuate afterwards based on extraneous market factors. It’s clear that 30-year, fixed-rate loans are by far the most popular mortgages on the market, with roughly 90% of homebuyers choosing them according to Freddie Mac. 

But, this doesn’t mean that all 30-year loans are conventional or fixed rate. So before we assume that every 30-year mortgage is the same, let’s explore what’s out there on the market. 

What are the types of 30-year mortgages?

While conventional fixed-rate mortgages are by far the most common home loans on the market, they’re not the only ones with 30-year repayment periods. So let’s cover the gamut: 

• 30-year conventional, fixed-rate loans are backed by private lending institutions and have fixed mortgage rates. 
• 30-year adjustable rate (ARM) are also privately backed but have interest rates that can change after the fixed introductory period. 
• 30-year jumbo loans are loans that are too big for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to insure for the lender, meaning the lender takes on more risk and generally imposes stricter requirements on the borrower (e.g. 760+ credit, high income, etc.). In 2024, loans in excess of $766,550 were considered jumbo loans in most counties. Jumbo loans can also have fixed or adjustable interest rates. 
• 30-year government-backed loans, specifically FHA and VA (Veterans Affairs) loans, can have repayment periods of 30 years. USDA guaranteed loans are available as 30-year fixed-rate loans, but USDA direct loans only come with either 33- or 38-year terms.

What’s the typical length of a mortgage?

The typical length of a mortgage is 30 years, with over 70% of homebuyers choosing a 30-year repayment period over any other term option. 

The next most common is the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, which helps you build equity much faster and save on interest, but requires far higher monthly payments. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of 30- versus 15-year mortgages later in this piece. 

In the meantime, you might also see mortgages with 40-year terms, 10 years or something in between. As hinted above, USDA and VA loans can have somewhat unusual terms as well, with the former being 33 to  38 years. 

Learn more: The 40-year mortgage needs to become the new American standard, former Obama advisor says.

Can I pay my mortgage off early?

Yes. 

Most home loan agreements have clauses that allow you to make more than the minimum monthly payments each month, also known as “prepayment.” You can prepay just $100 extra each month, for example, to reduce your overall loan term and interest paid—or alternatively, make a big lump sum payment and wipe out the rest of your loan entirely. 

But whether or not you should pay off your mortgage early is a controversial topic. 

Advocates will say that prepaying your mortgage can massively reduce your total interest paid and result in you truly owning your home much sooner, which are both objectively true. 

Others will say that prepaying your mortgage just locks up cash in your home—cash that could potentially be invested elsewhere for a better return rate, such as your 401(k) or a popular ETF. Plus, home equity isn’t very accessible during an emergency (unless you take out a home equity line of credit, aka a HELOC). 

Your funds could be more available and you might see similar ~4% returns annually in a high-yield savings account instead. 

But, like most mortgage-related financial decisions, it all comes down to your personal situation. And, your personal calculus may change depending on where you’re at in life. For example, see our piece analyzing whether you should have a mortgage during retirement for more on the pros and cons of carrying mortgage debt long term. 

30-year vs. 15-year mortgages: Which is better?

As mentioned above, the 15-year mortgage is the second most popular fixed-rate mortgage behind the 30-year. 

So, which is better? 

Well, let’s start by the pros and cons of a 15-year mortgage compared to the incumbent: 

Pros

• Build equity faster. Thanks to larger monthly payments, you’ll be chiseling away at your principal and owning a greater percentage of your home much faster. 
• Pay less interest. Since your loan term is cut in half, you won’t have to pay nearly as much total interest. And, 15-year mortgages often have lower interest rates. As a net result, 15-year borrowers typically pay less than half the total interest by the time their home is fully paid off.
• Own your home sooner. Naturally, with half the loan term, you’ll own your home twice as fast as with a 30-year mortgage. 

Despite these clear advantages, 15-year mortgages remain far less popular than 30-year mortgages for several reasons: 

Cons 

• Higher monthly payment. Before taxes and fees, the monthly payment on a 30-year, $400,000 mortgage at 7% would be about $2,661. Reduce the term to 15 years, and the monthly payment rises to approximately $3,595. 
• More difficult to qualify for. Since 15-year mortgages have higher monthly payments, lenders may require a higher FICO Score, bigger down payment, lower debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and more. 
• May limit your buying power. The higher closing costs and monthly payments associated with a 15-year mortgage may reduce your total budget for a house. In other words, by switching to a 30-year term, you might be able to afford a house that’s in the ballpark of $300,000 more. 

In the end, your mortgage lender/loan officer can help you decide whether a 15- or 30-year mortgage works best for you. 

“15-year mortgages are about your tolerance threshold,” says Sartain. “If you’re ready to make higher payments to limit your total debt and optimize your amortization schedule, I’d say go for it and start the conversation with your lender.” 

How much interest will I pay on a 30-year mortgage?

It heavily depends on your down payment, mortgage rate, loan amount and more. But in virtually all cases, the total amount of interest you pay on a 30-year mortgage is often an eye-popping surprise. 

To give an example, let’s say you:

• Buy a house that’s around the median price ($412,300 as of this writing).
• Make the average down payment (13.6%).
• Score a 7.435% interest rate, which would be fairly typical at the time of writing for someone with 700+ credit applying for a 30-year mortgage.

With these numbers in place, your total monthly mortgage payment (before taxes and fees, and not factoring in any private mortgage insurance you might be required to pay) would be about $2,474.95. After 30 years of payments, you’d have paid, approximately: $890,988.43 total and $534,761.43 in interest alone on a $412,300 house. 

Learn more: This is how much you need to earn to afford a $400,000 home. 

So even though your interest rate is in the single digits (~7.5%) in this example, you’ll end up paying roughly 130% of the home’s value in interest alone over 30 years. 

In short, even though your monthly payments are within budget—and you may not stay in the house for 30 years, anyhow—the overall high cost of a mortgage can be troubling to stomach. 

That’s why homeowners with rising incomes may end up revisiting the 15- versus 30-year debate. 

If you want to plug in numbers specific to your situation and generate some estimates, the U.S. Department of Defense provides a financial readiness website with a variety of mortgage calculators. And, Fannie Mae provides a mortgage calculator that prospective homebuyers may find useful as well. 

Can I refinance from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage?

Yes, it’s possible to refinance from a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage. Compared to making prepayments on a 30-year mortgage, refinancing to a shorter term can result in a lower interest rate than you’re already paying and can help you build equity and pay off your loan even faster.

But the advantage of making prepayments on a 30-year mortgage instead of refinancing to a 15-year is flexibility. In case you or your spouse loses your job, for example, prepayments allow you to return to your normal minimum payment schedule. Plus, prepaying your existing mortgage doesn’t require you to reapply for a mortgage and pay closing costs on the new loan. 

Per usual, it’s best to have a conversation with your lender to find out if a “refi” is right for you.

Learn more: What is mortgage refinancing? How it works and when you should consider it.

Pros and cons of a 30-year mortgage

Since we covered the pros and cons of a 15-year mortgage, it’s only fair that we put the 30-year mortgage under a microscope, too. What are the advantages (and drawbacks) of going with the grain? 

Pros

• Easier to qualify. Since 30-year fixed-rate conventional loans are the most popular mortgages by far, most borrowers will likely have an easier time applying for one than a 15-year, an ARM, or some other alternative home loan type. 
• Low monthly payments. 30-year mortgages are also popular because they allow you to afford more house than you could with a 15-year mortgage, thanks to lower monthly payments. But be aware your payment amount can still increase over time based on factors such as property taxes, homeowners association dues, and homeowners insurance premiums. 
• Flexibility. Thanks to prepayment clauses, you can always make larger monthly payments—or even pay off your mortgage entirely—at any point over the next 30 years, and default back to the minimum monthly payment when necessary. 

But despite their popularity, 30-year mortgages still come with some meaningful drawbacks to consider: 

Cons

• Higher interest rates. Since banks won’t get their money back for a full 30 years, they’re generally going to charge higher interest rates to 30-year borrowers than 15-year borrowers. 
• Slow equity growth. While amortization schedules enable banks to charge lower interest rates—by billing you for more interest upfront—they also mean that very little of your monthly payments will go towards building actual equity in your home for the first 10 to 15 years of your loan. 
• Bigger house = bigger overhead. While 30-year mortgages empower you to buy a pricier home, some borrowers forget that larger homes often have much higher upkeep (e.g. HOA dues, landscaping, maintenance, etc.). 

Learn more: What your salary needs to be to afford a $1 million home.

History of 30-year mortgage rates

In the section above we looked at mortgage rates over the past five-ish years, and how compared to the COVID-era low of 2.65%, the ~6.5% rates of mid-2024 may seem exorbitant. 

But if we zoom out and look at historical mortgage rates from the past few decades, we’ll see that 6.5% is pretty much a return to normal. In fact, it’s still a relative “bargain” compared to rates in the 1990s (~9%) and especially the early 1980s (~18%). 

Granted, normal rates are best complimented by normal prices, which isn’t currently the case. In fact, between 2014 and early 2024, the median home sale price in the U.S. rose from $275,200 to $426,800 according to FRED data. That’s an increase of approximately 55.1%, far outpacing the regular rate of regular inflation during the same period, which was already sky-high by itself (approaching 33%). 

So although mortgage rates have returned to “normal,” buyers are left hoping actual home prices will cool off and follow suit. 

Here’s a look at mortgage rates over the years, as published by FRED.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates chart

30-year jumbo mortgage rates chart

30-year FHA loan rates chart

30-year VA loan rates chart

30-year USDA loan rates chart

The takeaway

While home prices may remain high as inventory remains low, at least rates are predicted to drop again between this writing and the end of 2025. If the data presented in this article has reaffirmed an intent to wait before buying, consider spending the interim period maximizing your savings for a down payment. For tips on how, check out our guide on how to save money for a house. 

But if you think you’re ready for the next step—and you’d like to “ace” every step in the homebuying process—check out our complete feature on how to buy a house, step by step. Last, but not least, those who are new to the process can also benefit from examining our guide to first-time homebuyers programs and loans. 

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