Bond Yields, Rates, and Pricing: How they all work

Many new investors are surprised to learn that a bond’s price fluctuates and changes on a daily basis, just like that of any other publicly-traded security.

Glad we’ve got bond quotes down pat. Now, it’s time for bond rates and pricing. We’ll cover what a yield is and how bond rates are calculated.

What is a bond yield?

When people talk about the yield of a bond, they are generally referring to the term yield-to-maturity (YTM). The yield-to-maturity is the average annual return you can expect to realize by holding the bond to maturity, or to the end of its life span.

So, imagine you have a bond with a face value of $100 and it pays a 5% coupon yearly for 5 years. That means you are paid $5 every year plus you get your $100 back at the end. If at the end of 5 years, the bond’s price is still $100 then your coupon rate (5%) and your YTM are the same (5%). After all, if you earn 5% yearly for years, then your average annual return is 5%.

Where YTM differs is that it takes into account the bond’s current price. So if that changes, if it deviates in any way from $100, then your YTM will change. It will no longer be 5%.

So bonds can definitely be risky. Companies collapse all the time. Even government bonds carry some, even if U.S. Treasuries are often touted as being “risk-free”. If you buy a U.S. Treasury bond and interest rates rise, the price of the bond falls and if you sell, you will LOSE money. That’s a risk you have to bear. Of course you could always get around that by holding the bond to maturity.

Hold on, we just glossed over the fact that when interest rates rise, the price of a bond falls.

Imagine again that you own a bond with a face value of $100 and it pays a 5% coupon yearly for 5 years. We’ll call you Neo. You’ve literally just bought it but then all of a sudden, there’s a liquidity crunch and all the interest rates out in the world (this is very simplified, but bear with us) rise to 8%.

Picture yourself as a buyer of bonds in this environment, where companies are strapped for cash and are willing to offer 8% to people with the money to lend to them. Now you come across your other self, Neo who’s trying to offload a bond. He offers you a bond with a 5% coupon yearly for 5 years.

Would you, a buyer of bonds, buy that bond?

Hell no. Everyone else is offering you 8%. Now because you bought the bond and the coupon rate was agreed upon, it’s not like you can change that. Instead you negotiate on the only thing you can: the price of the bond. Thus, you offer him the bond at a discount. That’s why when interest rates go up, prices go down.

What are bond rates?

Bond rates are really just bond yields. The terms are used synonymously – don’t get confused!

How are bond prices determined?

It’s all about pricing.

In order to understand the pricing of bonds, start by logging in to your favorite financial website. Bond prices do fluctuate, so the price you see quoted may change several times throughout the next business day. Usually, bonds are broken down into municipal and corporate bonds.

When you are buying a bond from a market and not directly from the treasury or company, you pay either a premium or a discount. Here, we see the market price is 103.66. This means that I can buy a bond with a face value of $1,000 for $1,003.66. This is considered a premium, and is set by the market. If the price had been less that $100, it would be considered a discount.

Just like stocks, the price of a bond is determined by a few factors, but really comes to down to two main things: bid and ask (or supply and demand). If more people want to buy the bond then sell it, the price goes up and there will be a premium. If there are more people who want to sell the bond than buy it, the price will go down and there will be a discount.

There’s a lot to know about bond rates and pricing and it can feel overwhelming – we know. If learning about bonds interests you, check out our Investing in Different Markets course!

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The Best U.S. Brokerages as of June 30, 2025

Ranking of Top U.S. Stock Brokerages Based on Fees, Features, and Sign-Up Bonuses

We are experienced users of dozens of stock trading platforms. We stay up to date on these platforms' service offerings, subscription fees, trade commissions, and welcome bonuses. The brokerages listed below are for U.S.-based investors, and are ranked in order of overall value received after taking advantage of their sign-up and/or referral offers.

Rank	Brokerage	Fees	Features	Sign-Up Bonus	Read Our Review
1.	Robinhood	$0	✅ U.S. stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos ✅ Now 23 million users ✅ Cash mgt account and credit card	Free stock up to $200 with new account, plus up to $1,500 more in free stock from referrals	Robinhood Review
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3.	Interactive Brokers	$0	✅ Access 150+ global stock exchanges ✅ IBKR Lite & Pro tiers for all ✅ SmartRouting™ and deep analytics	Refer a Friend and Get $200	Interactive Brokers Review
4.	Robinhood Gold	$5	✅ 4% APY on cash ✅ 3% IRA match ✅ Level II data ✅ No interest on first $1,000 of margin	Save with Annual Fee	Robinhood Gold Review
5.	M1 Finance	$3 monthly 10k in assets	✅ Automated investing “Pies” ✅ Banking & low-interest loans ✅ No trading fees with scheduled trades	$75-$500 Tiered Sign-up bonus	M1 Finance Review
6.	Webull	$0	✅ Extended-hours trading ✅ Great charts and screeners ✅ Commission-free options trading	$10 and a 30-day complimentary subscription to Webull premium; $200-$30,0000 Tiered Sign up bonus	Webull Review
7.	Public	$0	✅ Fractional shares ✅ No payment for order flow model ✅ “Alpha” tool with earnings calls	$100-$10,000 Tiered Cash Account Transfer Bonus	Public Review
8.	Composer	$32 a month	✅ Invest in automated strategies ✅ Build custom strategies easily ✅ IRAs	$49 per successful referral with no limit on the number of referrals	Composer Review
9.	Stash	Growth $3; + $9 Month	✅ Stock-Back® debit card rewards in fractional shares ✅ Auto-invest and budgeting tools ✅ Curated theme portfolios	$5 when you invest $5	Stash Review
10.	Acorns	Bronze $3; Silver $6; Gold $12 a month	✅ Automated investing portfolios ✅ ESG curated portfolios ✅ Acorns Early Invest for Kids' Accounts	Get a $20 bonus when you start saving & investing	Acorns Review
11.	Etoro	$0	✅ CopyTrading™ to follow top traders ✅ Trade U.S. stocks, ETFs, and crypto ✅ Trades with themed portfolios	$10 Crypto Sign-Up Bonus	Etoro Review
12.	Cash App	$0	✅ U.S. stocks and bitcoin; $1 minimum ✅ Peer-to-peer payments ✅ Beginner-friendly financial ecosystem	Up to $200 in free overdraft coverage and earn 4% on cash	Cash App Review
Fees, features, sign-up bonuses, and referral bonuses are accurate as of May 31, 2025. All information listed above is subject to change.