Bond Yield Calculator
Compute Yield to Maturity (YTM), Yield to Call (YTC), current yield, and duration for any US Treasury, corporate, or municipal bond.
Bond Yield Calculator
Compute the three canonical bond yields — Yield to Maturity (YTM), Current Yield, and Yield to Call (YTC) — plus Macaulay + Modified Duration. Standard US Treasury and corporate bond convention (semi-annual coupons, semi-annual compounding).
How to Use the Bond Yield Calculator
Pull bond details from the quote sheet
Face value (USD 1,000 standard), coupon rate (the stated annual rate on the bond), maturity date, and current market price. US Treasury bonds quote from TreasuryDirect.gov; corporate and municipal bonds from FINRA TRACE or your broker.
Set the coupon frequency
US Treasury and most US corporate bonds pay semi-annually. Some municipal and foreign bonds pay annually. Quarterly is rare but used in some preferred stocks. This affects the YTM calculation — the default is semi-annual.
Add call provisions if callable
Many corporate and municipal bonds are "callable" — the issuer can redeem early, typically at face + 1-3% premium, after a specific call date. If yields fall, callable bonds get called and you lose the higher-yield bond. YTC tells you the worst-case yield assuming early call.
Read the three yields + duration
Use YTM for held-to-maturity analysis. Use Current Yield as a quick income-vs-price comparison. Use YTC as the "yield to worst" if the bond might be called. Use Modified Duration to estimate price sensitivity to rate changes: a duration of 7 means a 1% rate rise drops price by ~7%.
Bond Yields — The Three Numbers Every Fixed-Income Investor Needs
YTM, Current Yield, and YTC — What Each Tells You
Yield to Maturity (YTM) is the total return you earn if you buy the bond at current price and hold it until maturity, receiving all coupon payments and the face value at the end. It's the single best comparison metric across bonds with different prices, coupons, and maturities. YTM is computed by solving the bond pricing equation backward: at what discount rate does the present value of all future cash flows equal today's price? The answer requires iterative solution (bisection or Newton-Raphson) — this tool does it for you. US Treasury convention assumes semi-annual coupons and semi-annual compounding, so the "annual" YTM shown is 2 × the periodic yield.
Current Yield is the simple ratio of annual coupon to current price (coupon ÷ price). It's useful for quick income comparison but ignores capital gain/loss at maturity. A bond bought at USD 950 (discount to USD 1,000 par) with 4.5% coupon has current yield of 4.74% (45 ÷ 950), but YTM is higher because you also gain USD 50 at maturity. Conversely, a premium bond (price above par) has current yield higher than YTM because of the eventual capital loss back to par.
Yield to Call (YTC) applies to callable bonds — those where the issuer can redeem early, typically at par + 1-3% premium. If the bond is called, you receive the call price plus accumulated coupons up to that date, but lose the higher-yield exposure beyond. YTC computes the yield assuming the call happens at the earliest call date. The "yield to worst" (lower of YTM and YTC) is the conservative number used by most institutional bond analysts.
Duration — The Bond Price Sensitivity Number
Macaulay Duration is the weighted-average time to receive a bond's cash flows, where each cash flow's weight is its present value. A 10-year bond with high coupons might have Macaulay duration of 7-8 years; a zero-coupon 10-year bond has duration exactly equal to maturity (10 years), since all cash flow happens at the end. Macaulay duration intuitively captures "when do I get my money back?"
Modified Duration is the more practically useful number: it estimates the percentage price change for a 1 percentage point change in yield. A modified duration of 7 means a 1% rise in yields drops the bond price by ~7%; a 1% drop in yields raises the price by ~7%. This is the interest-rate-risk measure. Longer-maturity bonds have higher duration; lower-coupon bonds have higher duration (because more of the cash flow is concentrated at maturity). 30-year US Treasury bonds typically have modified duration around 18-22 — meaning a 1pp rate move shifts price by 18-22%. That's why long-bond holders lost 30%+ during the 2022 Fed hiking cycle.
"A 10-year US Treasury bought at USD 950 with 4.5% coupon has YTM of ~5.13% and modified duration of ~8. If 10-year yields rise 1pp, the bond loses ~8% of value — meaningful even on a high-quality security."
US Treasury, Corporate, Municipal — The Three Pools
US Treasury bonds are issued by the federal government — the gold standard for credit-free risk. The 10-year Treasury yield is the canonical reference for "risk-free rate" in nearly every financial model. Treasury bonds are exempt from state and local income tax (federal income tax still applies). Buy directly via TreasuryDirect.gov (no commissions) or via brokerage (some brokers charge USD 5-15 per trade).
Corporate bonds are issued by companies, with credit risk priced into the yield spread over Treasuries. Investment-grade (AAA-BBB) corporate bonds typically trade 50-150 bps over equivalent-maturity Treasury. High-yield ("junk") bonds (BB and below) trade 300-700+ bps over Treasury. Corporate bond interest is taxed as ordinary income — important consideration vs Treasury (federal-only) or muni (federal + state-exempt).
Municipal bonds are issued by state and local governments. The headline feature: interest is exempt from federal income tax, and from state income tax for residents of the issuing state. For high-income US investors (35-37% federal bracket), this tax-equivalent yield premium can be 1-2pp over comparable corporate bonds. The trade-off: lower headline yield, smaller market with less liquidity, and credit risk varies widely (Detroit muni bonds during 2013 bankruptcy lost 70%+).
10 Facts About Bond Yields
YTM formula: solve PV = Σ (coupon/(1+y)^t) + FV/(1+y)^N for y. Requires iterative solution; this tool uses bisection.
US Treasury convention: semi-annual coupons, semi-annual compounding. The 10-year Treasury yield quotes the annualised semi-annual YTM.
Discount bonds (price below par) have YTM > coupon rate. Premium bonds (price above par) have YTM < coupon rate.
The 10-year US Treasury yield is the canonical "risk-free rate" reference in finance models.
Modified duration estimates price change for a 1% yield move. A duration of 7 means 1pp rate rise drops price ~7%.
The 2022 Fed hiking cycle drove 30-year Treasury prices down 30%+ as yields moved from 2% to 5% (duration ~20).
US Treasury interest is exempt from state and local tax (federal tax still applies). Municipal bond interest is exempt from federal tax.
FINRA TRACE publishes corporate and municipal bond transaction data — the canonical retail-accessible price source.
TreasuryDirect.gov offers commission-free Treasury bond and note purchases — Treasury's direct retail platform.
EU sovereign bond yields use Actual/Actual day-count convention vs US 30/360 — slightly different YTM math.
Frequently Asked Questions
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YTM is the total annualised return you earn if you buy a bond at the current price and hold it until maturity, receiving all coupon payments and the face value at the end. It's the single best comparison metric across bonds. The math: solve for the discount rate y in PV = Σ(coupon/(1+y)^t) + FV/(1+y)^N. Requires iterative solution because the equation can't be rearranged analytically. This tool uses bisection — most financial calculators and Excel's =YIELD() function use Newton-Raphson, faster but more code.
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Current Yield = annual coupon ÷ current price. Simple, but ignores capital gain/loss at maturity. A bond bought at USD 950 (discount) with 4.5% coupon has Current Yield of 4.74% but YTM higher than that because you also gain USD 50 at maturity. A bond bought at USD 1,050 (premium) with 4.5% coupon has Current Yield 4.29% but YTM LOWER than that because you lose USD 50 at maturity. YTM is the right comparison number; Current Yield is the quick-look income comparison.
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YTC applies to callable bonds — issued securities where the issuer has the option to redeem early, typically at face value + 1-3% premium. Most corporate and municipal bonds are callable; US Treasury bonds are not. If interest rates fall after issuance, callable issuers redeem to refinance at lower rates, leaving holders to reinvest at lower yields. YTC computes the yield assuming the bond is called at the earliest call date. The "yield to worst" — lower of YTM and YTC — is the conservative analysis number for callable bonds.
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Modified Duration estimates the percentage price change for a 1 percentage point change in yields. A bond with modified duration of 7 will lose roughly 7% if rates rise 1pp, and gain 7% if rates fall 1pp. Long-maturity, low-coupon bonds have high duration (30-year zeros: duration = 30). Short-maturity, high-coupon bonds have low duration (2-year, 5% coupon: duration ~1.9). The 2022 Fed rate hikes drove 10-year Treasury prices down ~15% and 30-year Treasury prices down ~30% as duration × rate-move math played out. For most US Treasury and corporate bonds, expect duration roughly 80-95% of maturity in years.
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Because the coupon is fixed at issuance. If you buy a 10-year bond paying 4% coupon and then 10-year yields rise to 6%, your bond's 4% coupon is suddenly worth less — new bonds yielding 6% are more attractive. The market re-prices your 4% bond down so its new buyer earns 6% equivalent yield. Conversely, if yields fall to 2%, your 4% bond is more valuable and prices up. This inverse relationship is mathematical — embedded in the bond pricing equation. The size of the price move depends on duration: longer-duration bonds move more for the same rate change.
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Bond ETFs (BND, AGG, TLT, IEF, MUB) offer diversification and liquidity but with constant-duration mechanics — they're rebalanced to maintain target duration, which means you never "get back to par" the way you do with an individual bond held to maturity. Individual bonds give you predictable cash flows and a guaranteed return-to-par at maturity (assuming no default). For 90% of retail investors, low-cost bond ETFs are the easier choice. For investors wanting to ladder maturities (specific income years), individual bonds make sense. For US Treasury exposure specifically, TreasuryDirect.gov is the lowest-friction option.
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Depends on your tax bracket. Municipal bond interest is exempt from federal income tax (and from state income tax for in-state residents in many states). For a US investor in the 32% federal bracket, a 4% muni yield is equivalent to a 5.88% taxable bond yield (4% ÷ 0.68). For someone in the 12% bracket, the same 4% muni is equivalent to 4.55% taxable — much smaller premium. Munis are most attractive for high-income US investors in high-tax states (California, NY, NJ); less attractive for low-bracket investors and not relevant for non-US tax residents.
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TreasuryDirect.gov — the US Treasury's direct retail platform. No commissions, USD 100 minimum (per security), Treasury bills, notes, bonds, TIPS, and I-Bonds all available. Limit USD 10K per person per year for I-Bonds; no limit for marketable Treasuries. Alternative: any major US brokerage (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Robinhood) offers Treasury access — typically commission-free now, with slightly tighter spreads than TreasuryDirect.gov but more convenient for active trading. For Treasury bills (under 1 year maturity), Fidelity and Schwab now offer auto-rolling Treasury accounts that compound short-term yields without manual reinvestment.
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Asian sovereign yields are typically higher than US Treasury at equivalent maturities to reflect currency risk and emerging-market premia. Singapore SGS (Singapore Government Securities) 10-year is typically 0.5-1pp above US Treasury. Malaysia MGS, Thailand THBS, Indonesia ORI all yield 2-4pp above equivalent-maturity US Treasury. Hong Kong HKGB tracks closely to US Treasury due to USD peg. Japan JGB is the outlier — 10-year often yields below 1% due to BOJ's yield-curve control. For ASEAN investors with USD assets, US Treasury offers the highest credit quality + global liquidity; for ASEAN investors with local-currency liabilities, home-country sovereigns may make sense for currency-matched income.
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US Treasury for US-based investing — same currency as your income/expenses, no FX conversion friction, federal-tax-exempt income reduces drag, and TreasuryDirect.gov makes direct purchase trivial. Singapore SGS yields slightly higher than US Treasury but the SGD-USD currency exposure adds risk that offsets the yield advantage for US-resident investors. If you have specific SGD-denominated future needs (planning to return to Singapore for retirement, sending children to Singapore schools), partial allocation to SGS bonds via DBS, OCBC, or Endowus offers currency-matched income. Most ASEAN expats settling long-term in the US consolidate to US Treasury + corporate bonds, with smaller home-country positions only for currency hedging.
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