Post-judgment interest is the money that accrues on an unpaid court judgment between the day it’s entered and the day it’s paid. In federal court, the rate tracks the one-year Treasury yield and was 3.70% in late March 2026.1United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of California. Post-Judgment Interest Rates State rates are set by legislature and generally fall between 4% and 12% per year, with some consumer-debt rates as low as 2% and contractual rates occasionally running as high as 17% or 18%. The clock starts the moment the clerk enters the judgment, and neither party has any say in whether it applies.
The Federal Rate
For judgments entered in federal court, 28 U.S.C. § 1961 ties the rate to the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield published by the Federal Reserve. The rate used is the one published for the calendar week preceding the judgment date. It locks in at that moment and stays fixed for the life of the judgment.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest The Fed publishes the figures daily in its H.15 statistical release, which is freely available.3Federal Reserve. H.15 – Selected Interest Rates (Daily)
Because it tracks Treasuries, the rate moves with the broader economy. In high-rate environments it climbs; in low-rate periods it drops. What it never does is bend to argument. The court has no discretion over it, and the parties can’t negotiate it. It is whatever the Treasury yield was for the relevant week.
State Rates
States set their own rates by statute, and the variation is substantial. Some fix a flat percentage that holds steady regardless of market conditions. Others use a formula, like the prime rate plus a set number of points, and recalculate annually or quarterly. A handful set different rates for different case types or for judgments against government entities.
Statutory rates generally land between about 4% and 12% per year. A few states have cut rates on consumer-debt judgments to as low as 2%, on the view that high interest on smaller personal debts punishes individual debtors disproportionately. The only reliable way to know the exact rate on a given judgment is to check the statute in the state where it was entered.
When a Contract Sets the Rate
If the underlying dispute involved a written contract specifying a rate for unpaid amounts, courts will often apply that contractual rate instead of the statutory default. This is common in commercial lending, real estate deals, and business-to-business agreements. The contract rate controls so long as it doesn’t violate the state’s usury ceiling or public policy, and it can run up to 17% or 18% in some states. If there’s no contract, or the contract is silent on post-judgment interest, the statutory rate fills the gap. A debtor who assumes the statutory rate applies without reading the original agreement can be in for an unpleasant correction.
How to Calculate It
The arithmetic is simple. Multiply the judgment amount by the annual rate, then divide by 365 to get the daily accrual.4United States District Court Southern District of New York. How to Calculate Post Judgment Interest On a $100,000 judgment at 3.70%, the annual interest is $3,700, which works out to roughly $10.14 per day. That daily figure lets you compute the exact payoff on any specific date.
What goes into the base matters. The judgment amount earning interest typically includes court costs and any attorney fees the court ordered, not just the damages award. Jurisdictions differ: some courts run interest on the full judgment, others only on the damages portion. If the case included pre-judgment interest, that gets folded into the total judgment amount before post-judgment interest starts running. A $200,000 damages award with $30,000 in pre-judgment interest means post-judgment interest accrues on $230,000, not $200,000.
Simple vs. Compound
Federal judgments use compound interest, calculated daily and compounded annually.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest After the first year, unpaid interest gets added to the principal, and the second year’s interest accrues on the larger balance. Over several years the compounding meaningfully increases what’s owed.
Most states use simple interest instead. The percentage applies only to the original judgment amount regardless of how many years pass. On a $100,000 judgment at 10% simple interest, the creditor is owed $10,000 per year, every year, whether or not prior years’ interest was paid. The total grows in a straight line rather than an accelerating curve. A few states allow compounding, particularly where the underlying contract called for it, so local law controls.
When Interest Starts and Stops
Interest begins the moment the court clerk enters the judgment into the official record.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest Not the day the jury returns a verdict. Not the day the judge announces the ruling from the bench. Entry is what matters, and there can be a gap of days or weeks between announcement and formal entry.
Interest stops when the judgment is satisfied in full, meaning the debtor has paid the entire principal plus every dollar of accrued interest. Until then, interest keeps running.
Appeals Don’t Pause the Clock
Filing an appeal does not stop interest from accruing. If the appellate court upholds the judgment, interest runs from the trial court’s entry date, not from when the appeal concluded.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest Appeals can take years, and the interest that stacks up during that stretch is often a significant portion of the final bill.
A losing party who wants to stop the creditor from collecting during the appeal can post a supersedeas bond under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62. The bond guarantees payment and halts enforcement while the appeal is pending. It does not stop interest from accruing. The bond amount typically must cover not just the judgment but also estimated interest and costs expected to accrue during the appeal, which is why 110% to 125% of the judgment is a common bond figure.
How Partial Payments Get Applied
Under a longstanding principle called the United States Rule, a partial payment goes first toward any interest that has accumulated, and only whatever is left reduces the principal. The practical consequence is harsh for debtors making small payments. If the accrued interest exceeds the payment, the entire payment is absorbed by interest and the principal doesn’t move. Interest then keeps accruing on the same base. Token payments on a large judgment barely dent the balance, and the only way to actually reduce principal is to pay enough in one shot to cover the accumulated interest with something left over.
Judgment Expiration and Renewal
Judgments don’t last forever. Each state sets a limit after which an uncollected judgment expires, running roughly 5 to 20 years, with 10 years common. When a judgment expires, the creditor loses the authority to collect and interest becomes moot.
Most states let creditors renew or revive a judgment before it expires, restarting the clock for another term. Renewal usually requires filing paperwork with the court and serving the debtor. In some jurisdictions, interest accrued through the renewal date gets added to the principal, which effectively compounds the debt even in states that otherwise use simple interest. Some states limit the number of renewals; others allow indefinite renewal. Courts don’t send reminders. Missing the deadline by a single day can extinguish the judgment entirely, wiping out both principal and all accumulated interest.
Two Related Points Worth Knowing
Post-judgment interest is taxable income to the recipient. The Internal Revenue Code defines gross income to include interest from any source, and this interest is no exception.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 61 – Gross Income Defined Even where the underlying damages are tax-free (as with certain personal physical injury awards), the interest portion is separately taxable as ordinary income, and the payer generally must issue a Form 1099-INT when the interest reaches $600 or more.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-OID
If the debtor files for bankruptcy, the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 halts collection immediately.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Whether interest continues to accrue is more nuanced: for unsecured debts, post-petition interest is generally not recoverable from the bankruptcy estate; for secured debts where the collateral exceeds the debt, it may be. Anyone sitting at the intersection of a judgment and a bankruptcy filing needs advice specific to the case.