30-Year Treasury Yield: What the 30-Year Treasury Bond Is
By Markets & Investing DeskUpdated Nov 10, 2026
Definition
The 30-year Treasury yield is the annual return earned by buying the U.S. government's 30-year "long bond" at today's market price and holding it to maturity.
Key takeaways
- Interest on Treasury bonds is taxed federally but exempt from state and local income taxes.
- In the article's example, a one-point rise in yields cuts a 4% long bond's value by about 15%.
- A two-year note with the same 4% coupon loses under 2% from the same one-point rate increase.
- At auction, noncompetitive bidders can buy up to $5 million, with a $100 minimum purchase.
The 30-year Treasury yield is the annual return an investor earns by buying a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond at today’s market price and holding it to maturity. The bond, often called the “long bond,” is the longest-maturity debt the U.S. government sells. Its coupon rate is fixed at auction, while its yield changes every trading day as its price moves in the secondary market. The quoted 30-year yield (ticker US30Y on many quote services) normally refers to the most recently auctioned issue.
How the 30-Year Treasury Bond Works
The Treasury Department funds federal spending with several kinds of debt. Treasury bills mature in less than a year, Treasury notes in two to 10 years, and Treasury bonds in 20 or 30 years. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) adjust their principal with the Consumer Price Index.
A 30-year bond is a marketable security, so it can be bought and sold before maturity. Investors can buy it at auction through a TreasuryDirect account or through a bank, broker or dealer. At auction, bonds sell in $100 increments with a $100 minimum. A noncompetitive bidder, who accepts whatever yield the auction sets, can buy up to $5 million. A competitive bidder, who names a yield, can buy up to 35% of the initial offering amount.
The auction determines both the coupon rate and the price. If the auction’s yield to maturity is above the coupon rate, the bond is issued at a discount to par. If the two are equal, it is issued at par. If the yield is below the coupon rate, it is issued at a premium.
Interest from Treasury bonds is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income taxes.
Calculating the 30-Year Treasury Yield
The quoted yield is the bond’s yield to maturity: the single discount rate that makes the present value of all remaining coupons plus the face value equal to the current price. For a bond paying semiannually:
Price = Σ (C ÷ 2) ÷ (1 + y/2)^t + F ÷ (1 + y/2)^n
Here C is the annual coupon, F is face value, y is the annual yield, t counts each six-month period, and n is the total number of periods (60 for a new 30-year bond). The equation is solved for y, usually by software.
A simpler measure, current yield, divides the annual coupon by the price. It ignores the gain or loss from buying above or below par, so it differs from the quoted yield whenever the price is not $100 per $100 of face value.
Interpreting the Yield
Since the government is treated as a very low-risk borrower, the 30-year yield is mainly the price of lending money for three decades. It reflects expected short-term rates over that span, expected inflation, and the extra compensation investors want for tying up money that long. Demand moves it directly: heavier buying raises prices and lowers the yield, and weaker demand does the opposite.
Example of 30-Year Treasury Yield
Hypothetical example, assuming semiannual coupons and no accrued interest. An investor buys a newly issued $1,000 bond at par with a 4% coupon. It pays $20 every six months, $40 a year, and its yield at purchase is 4%.
| Market yield moves to | 30-year bond price | 2-year note price (same 4% coupon) |
|---|---|---|
| 3% | about $1,197 | about $1,019 |
| 4% | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 5% | about $845 | about $981 |
The coupons never change; only the price another buyer would pay does. A one-point rise in yields cuts the long bond’s value by about 15%, while the two-year note loses under 2%. An investor who holds to maturity still receives every coupon and the $1,000 face value. One who sells early locks in the gain or loss.
Why the 30-Year Yield Matters
The 10-year Treasury has replaced the long bond as the main bellwether for U.S. borrowing costs, but the 30-year remains the longest point on the Treasury yield curve and a gauge of long-run expectations for growth, inflation and rates.
Normally the curve slopes upward, with the 30-year paying more than shorter maturities as compensation for added time and rate risk. When investors expect weaker growth and falling rates, they buy long bonds to lock in current yields, pushing long yields down while short yields hold up or rise. The curve flattens, and it inverts when short-term yields climb above long-term yields.
Limitations and Risks
- Interest rate risk. Rising rates cause large price declines, and a holder misses the higher yields available on new issues.
- Inflation risk. Fixed coupons lose purchasing power if inflation runs above what the yield anticipated. Unlike TIPS, a standard 30-year bond offers no protection.
- Lower yields than riskier debt. With minimal default risk, Treasury yields generally sit below those of corporate bonds of similar maturity.
- The quote is one issue. The headline yield describes the current benchmark bond. Older 30-year bonds trade at their own yields.
30-Year Treasury Bond vs. Savings Bonds
Series EE savings bonds also earn interest for up to 30 years, but they are non-marketable and pay no periodic coupons. Interest accumulates and is paid on redemption. They can be cashed after one year, but redeeming before five years forfeits the last three months of interest, so a holder who cashes out after 24 months receives 21 months of interest. A 30-year Treasury bond instead pays cash every six months and can be sold at any time, though its market value fluctuates while a savings bond’s redemption value does not.
FAQs
Can an investor own the long bond without buying it directly?
Yes. Long-term Treasury funds, including some ETFs, hold long-dated government bonds. A fund has no maturity date, so it never repays a fixed face value the way a single bond held to maturity does.
The Bottom Line
The 30-year yield matters to investors weighing long-term Treasury bonds and to anyone tracking long-run expectations for growth, inflation and rates. Holding the bond to maturity delivers every coupon and the full face value, but selling early after rates rise can lock in a sizable loss. Investors concerned about inflation should keep in mind that a standard long bond offers no protection, unlike TIPS.
