How to Use the TreasuryBonds.com Yield Center

Find the top yield across all asset classes & maturities.

The TreasuryBonds.com Yield Center helps you compare bond yields across maturities, bond types, and TB Score categories in one view. You can evaluate yields before or after federal taxes, switch between average and highest yields, and click a category to explore its individual bonds in the screener.

This makes it easier to identify areas worth researching before working through a long list of securities. The starting question is where yields look attractive for your preferred time horizon and tax assumptions, with the underlying bonds available for closer review.

Read the heat map

The columns show maturity buckets ranging from 1 month to 30+ years. The rows separate the U.S. Treasury benchmark from corporate and municipal bonds grouped by TB Score. In the screenshots, those score groups are A/A+, B/B+, C/C+, and D/D+. These are TreasuryBonds.com score categories, separate from agency credit ratings.

Read across a row to compare maturities within one category. Read down a column to compare bond types and score groups at a similar maturity. Darker green indicates a higher displayed yield. A dash means there are no bonds in that bucket. The figures cover the platform’s universe, so they do not describe every bond in the market.

The corporate universe shown is investment-grade only. Municipal bonds include general obligation and revenue bonds. The as-of date beneath the grid identifies the snapshot being displayed.

Figure 1 - Average yield to worst by maturity and TB Score as of October 1 2026

Choose yield to worst or after tax yield

Select YTW to compare yield to worst before taxes. YTW considers the lower applicable yield from maturity or an early call, helping account for an issuer’s ability to redeem a bond before maturity. It is a calculated yield, not the coupon rate or a guaranteed return; default can produce a worse outcome.

Select After-Tax to reveal the effective federal tax rate slider. Moving it adjusts the displayed Treasury and corporate yields using your selected rate. Municipal yields remain unchanged under the tool’s federal tax-exempt assumption. Increasing the rate therefore reduces taxable yields and can make municipal yields more competitive in the comparison.

Figure 2 - Average after tax yields with the federal tax rate set to 26 percent

The screenshots illustrate this at the 5-year maturity. In Average mode, the corporate A/A+ bucket shows 6.05% before taxes and 4.48% at a 26% federal rate. The municipal B/B+ bucket stays at 3.70%. The corporate yield advantage narrows from 2.35 to 0.78 percentage points. These are different score groups, so the example demonstrates the tax effect rather than an equal-risk comparison.

For taxable yields, the simplified calculation is yield multiplied by one minus the selected federal tax rate. For example, 6.05% multiplied by 74% is approximately 4.48%. The display estimates yield after federal taxes; it does not convert municipal yields into taxable-equivalent yields.

Use the slider for scenarios appropriate to your taxable bond income. This federal-only estimate does not capture state taxes or every bond-specific tax issue, including taxable market discount and possible alternative minimum tax exposure. Verify the individual bond’s tax treatment before relying on the comparison.

Switch between average and highest

The Average and Highest toggle changes what each cell measures. Average shows the mean yield of the bonds within that category. It provides a broader view of the bucket, although its usefulness still depends on the number and mix of bonds represented.

Highest shows the yield of the single highest-yielding bond in the bucket. This helps you locate candidates that stand out from their peers. The same toggle works with YTW or After-Tax selected, allowing you to compare either average yields or the highest yields on your chosen basis.

Figure 3 - Highest yield to worst within each maturity and score bucket

For example, the 5-year corporate A/A+ bucket displays an average YTW of 6.05% and a highest YTW of 7.00% in the October 1 screenshots. That 0.95-percentage-point difference identifies a bond worth investigating, but it does not mean every bond in the category yields 7.00%.

A very high figure can reflect an unusual security, pricing, liquidity, or other bond-specific characteristics. Annualized yields on very short maturities can also look unusually large. Use Highest to find a candidate, then examine why its yield differs from the average and whether the price and availability support that yield.

Use the legend and open the bond screener

Figure 4 - The Yield Center legend explains the color scale and controls

The legend separates the yield color scale from the TB Score grouping. A darker cell indicates a higher yield, not a safer bond. Likewise, an attractive score does not remove credit, interest rate, liquidity, or call risk.

Click a populated cell to open the bond screener with the bonds that fall into that category. For example, clicking the 5-year corporate A/A+ cell takes you from a summary percentage to the corresponding group of corporate bonds. You can then compare the individual securities behind the number.

A practical workflow is to start in Average mode, find your preferred maturity column, and compare the Treasury benchmark with corporate and municipal buckets. Switch to After-Tax and adjust the federal rate to see how the comparison changes. Then select Highest to identify standout yields and click a relevant cell to investigate the underlying bonds.

Before choosing a bond, review its issuer, price, maturity, call provisions, credit quality, and tax treatment. Use the Yield Center to focus your research, then evaluate whether the individual security fits your income needs and risk tolerance.

Further reading: FINRA on bond yields | IRS on interest income | Vanguard on bond taxation