Last updated July 18, 2026
Average rate on a 24-month personal loan as of February 2026: 11.40% (Federal Reserve G.19). Full table on the average rates page.
Payment by term, $20,000 at 11.5% APR
| Term | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 24 months | $937 | $2,490 |
| 36 months | $660 | $3,760 |
| 48 months | $523 | $5,100 |
| 60 months | $439 | $6,340 |
A longer term buys a smaller payment and a bigger interest bill, every time, no exceptions. The question worth asking isn't which row looks affordable this month, it's which row you can live with for the whole term without needing another loan to cover the gap.
What actually sets your rate
A personal loan is unsecured. No car, no house backs it up, so the lender is pricing pure trust in your ability to pay, built almost entirely from your credit file, income, and existing debt load. That's why the advertised "rates from X%" banner rarely applies to the person reading it: it's the rate for the thinnest slice of applicants with the strongest files. Everyone else lands somewhere up the range.
The consolidation math, done honestly
If the loan is meant to pay off credit cards, the comparison only works one way: take the blended APR you're actually paying across those cards today, and compare it to the APR this loan quotes you, not the advertised one. If the new number is lower and you close or freeze the cards, the loan can save real money. If you keep the cards open and keep charging, you now owe the loan and the cards, which is a worse spot than you started in.
The arithmetic behind the payment
The payment formula is M = A times i, over 1 minus (1 plus i) to the negative n, where A is the amount, i the monthly rate, n the number of payments. On $20,000 at 11.5 percent for 60 months, i is 0.115 divided by 12, about 0.009583. The numerator, A times i, comes to roughly 191.67. The denominator works out near 0.4366. Divide the two and the payment lands close to $439. Change any of the three inputs and the fraction resolves differently, which is exactly what the calculator above is doing on every keystroke.
Full amortization schedule
See exactly how much of every payment on your numbers goes to interest versus principal.
What the fee does to your real payout
Some lenders take an origination fee straight out of the disbursement, so a $20,000 loan can land in your account as $19,400 while you still owe payments on the full $20,000. That fee is baked into the APR, which is why comparing loans by APR rather than the sticker interest rate protects you here. It doesn't come back if you pay the loan off early either, so ask about it before you sign, not after.
Related calculators
- APR Calculator, to see the fee-adjusted cost side by side
- Debt Payoff Calculator, for the cards you might be consolidating
- Loan Calculator, the general-purpose version of this math
- Auto Loan Calculator, if the loan is for a vehicle instead