Bond Yield Calculator
A bond paying a 5% coupon isn’t earning you 5% if you bought it at 94 cents on the dollar — you’re earning more. The bond yield calculator takes face value, coupon rate, current market price and years-to-maturity, and returns the current yield (income ÷ price) and the yield to maturity (the internal rate of return if you hold to the end). YTM is the number that lets you compare bonds apples-to-apples.
How bond yields are computed
-
1
Enter face value and coupon
Most corporate bonds have $1,000 face value. Coupon rate is the annual interest as a percent of face (e.g. 5% = $50/year).
-
2
Enter market price
Quoted as a percent of par (95 means $950) or as a dollar amount.
-
3
Enter years to maturity and payment frequency
Most bonds pay semi-annually. Enter remaining years accurately — one year off changes YTM meaningfully.
-
4
Read current yield and YTM
Current yield is the simple income ratio. YTM solves numerically for the discount rate that makes all future cash flows equal the market price.
Two yields, two uses
Current yield = annual coupon / market price
- Simple to compute by hand.
- Ignores capital gain or loss at maturity.
- Useful when comparing income-only from two bonds priced near par.
Yield to maturity (YTM) solves for the rate y in:
Price = Σ (Coupon / (1 + y/m)^(m·t)) + Face / (1 + y/m)^(m·T)
where m = payments per year, T = years to maturity. There is no closed-form solution — the tool uses Newton-Raphson iteration to converge in a handful of steps.
Example
- Face: $1,000
- Coupon: 5% (semi-annual → $25 every 6 months)
- Market price: $950
- Years to maturity: 10
Current yield: $50 / $950 = 5.26% YTM: approximately 5.66% — the extra return comes from the $50 gain when face value redeems at maturity.
Premium, par, discount
| Price relative to face | Current yield vs coupon | YTM vs coupon |
|---|---|---|
| Discount (< face) | Higher | Higher |
| Par (= face) | Equal | Equal |
| Premium (> face) | Lower | Lower |
What YTM hides
- Reinvestment risk: YTM assumes every coupon is reinvested at the same yield. If rates fall, you reinvest at less; realised yield drops.
- Credit risk: YTM ignores default probability. A 12% YTM on a junk bond and 4% on an investment-grade bond are not comparable without a default-adjusted spread.
- Callable bonds: if the issuer can call the bond early, use yield to call (YTC) instead. YTM overstates the return on bonds likely to be called.
Frequently Asked Questions
YTM for buy-and-hold comparisons. Current yield for income planning if you intend to sell before maturity. Most fixed-income screens show both side by side.
You pay less than face today but receive full face at maturity, so there is a built-in capital gain in addition to the coupon. YTM captures both.
Yes. Enter coupon rate 0 and the tool solves YTM as the single-discount-rate equivalent of your price-to-face ratio over the remaining years.
Only if you hold to maturity and reinvest every coupon at the YTM rate. If rates drift, your realised total return will drift with them.
Related Tools
BMI Calculator
Calculate body mass index from height and weight. Shows WHO category, healthy-weight range and limitations of BMI.
Inflation Calculator
Calculate the equivalent purchasing power of a dollar across any two years using historical CPI data from 1913 to today.
Scientific Calculator
Full scientific calculator with trig, log, exponents, factorial, memory, parentheses and DEG/RAD toggle. Runs in your browser.
GPA Calculator
Calculate grade point average from letter grades and credit hours. Supports US 4.0 and 5.0 honors scales with the standard A/B/C/D letter table.
Rising Sign Calculator
Estimate your rising sign from birth date and birth time. This quick astrology calculator uses a simple two-hour block method, not a full birth chart.
Name Numerology Calculator
Calculate your destiny number and expression number from your full name using Pythagorean numerology, with a personality reading.