What Is Ohio’s Statutory Interest Rate for Judgments?

Ohio’s statutory interest rate for judgments is 7% for calendar year 2026. That rate applies to most court-ordered money judgments and to unpaid debts where no written contract sets a different rate.¹ The rate in effect on the day the court enters the judgment locks in and runs until the judgment is paid, even if the statutory rate changes in later years.²

Interest After Judgment Is Automatic

Every money judgment in Ohio accrues interest from the date the court enters it until the losing party pays. ORC 1343.03(B) sets this as the default, and it covers both tort judgments and contract judgments.² Nobody has to ask for it. The court applies the statutory rate in effect on the judgment date.

At 7%, a $100,000 judgment grows by $7,000 each year it goes unpaid. That is the point of the rule. Interest discourages a losing defendant from stalling, and it compensates the winner for the time value of money they are owed but have not received.

Interest Before Judgment Is Harder to Get

Whether interest also runs for the period before judgment depends on the kind of case.

Tort Cases

In personal injury, property damage, and other tort cases, prejudgment interest is not automatic. Under ORC 1343.03(C), the winning party has to ask for it, and the court holds a post-verdict hearing to decide whether the defendant failed to make a good-faith effort to settle while the plaintiff did make a good-faith effort. Both conditions have to be met. If the plaintiff also refused to engage in settlement, the request fails.²

When the court awards prejudgment interest in a tort case, the start date depends on the facts. If the defendant admitted liability in a pleading, or if the harm was deliberate, interest runs from the date the cause of action accrued. In other tort cases, interest runs from whichever came first: the date the plaintiff gave written notice (by certified mail or in person) that the claim had accrued, or the date the lawsuit was filed.² In Musisca v. Massillon Community Hospital, 69 Ohio St.3d 673 (1994), the Ohio Supreme Court held that trial judges cannot shift these start dates on equitable grounds. The statute says “shall,” and that word is mandatory.

Contract Cases

Contract disputes work differently. ORC 1343.03(A) entitles the creditor to interest at the statutory rate whenever money becomes due and payable on a written instrument, book account, settlement, or verbal contract, unless the contract itself specifies another rate.² No good-faith hearing. If the money was owed and not paid, interest accrues from the date it was due.

When a Contract Sets Its Own Rate

If the parties signed a contract that specifies an interest rate, that rate controls instead of the statutory one. For promissory notes and similar written instruments, ORC 1343.02 keeps the stipulated rate running until payment.³

There is a trap here that catches a lot of businesses. In Minster Farmers Cooperative Exchange Co. v. Meyer, 117 Ohio St.3d 459 (2008), the Ohio Supreme Court held that interest-rate language printed on invoices and account statements is not a “written contract” under ORC 1343.03(A). Printing “1.5% per month on overdue balances” on the bottom of your invoice does not create a contractual rate. A court will apply the statutory rate instead.

Simple Interest Is the Default

Ohio judgments carry simple interest, not compound interest. In Mayer v. Medancic, 124 Ohio St.3d 101 (2009), the Ohio Supreme Court held that compound interest is not available on a defaulted written instrument under ORC 1343.02 unless the parties specifically agreed to it or another statute authorizes it.⁴

One wrinkle from that case matters when calculating what you are owed. If a borrower defaults on an instrument that had already accrued interest, simple interest going forward runs on the unpaid principal plus the interest that was already due on the default date. The post-default rate does not compound on itself, but the base it runs on is larger than just the original principal.⁴

The 8% Usury Cap Is a Different Rule

Ohio’s 8% cap under ORC 1343.01 is sometimes confused with the judgment interest rate. They are separate. The 8% figure is the maximum rate parties can agree to in a written instrument, and it is riddled with exceptions: loans over $100,000, federally backed mortgages, most real estate loans, business loans, and demand or single-payment notes all fall outside the cap.⁵ The cap governs what you can agree to in a loan. The 7% statutory rate governs what a judgment accrues when no agreed rate controls.

Judgments Against Cities and Counties Still Accrue Interest

A judgment against an Ohio political subdivision carries interest the same way a judgment against a private defendant does. ORC 2744.05 limits certain damages against cities, counties, and townships (punitive damages are barred, non-economic damages are capped at $250,000), but the statute specifically says those limits do not apply to court costs or to interest on a judgment rendered in favor of a plaintiff.⁶

Keep the Judgment Alive or Lose the Leverage

Statutory interest only matters if the judgment is still enforceable. Under ORC 2329.07, a judgment that is not in favor of the state goes dormant if the creditor takes no enforcement action within five years of the judgment date or the last enforcement step. Judgments in favor of the state get ten years.⁷ Any of the following within the window keeps the judgment active:

Issuing a writ of execution
Filing a certificate of judgment with the county clerk to maintain the real property lien
Obtaining a wage or bank garnishment order
Starting a proceeding in aid of execution to force asset disclosure⁷

A dormant judgment no longer clouds the debtor’s title and cannot be enforced until it is revived. Interest may theoretically keep running, but a creditor who cannot collect has nothing to apply it to.

Where the 7% Comes From

The Ohio Tax Commissioner recalculates the rate each October under ORC 5703.47. The formula takes the federal short-term rate (the average yield on U.S. Treasury obligations maturing in three years or less, measured in July), rounds it to the nearest whole percent, and adds three percentage points.⁸ The result takes effect January 1 and stays fixed for the full calendar year. For 2026, that produced 7%.¹

Settlements and Consumer Credit

Parties can waive interest or agree to a lower rate, and this comes up often in settlement agreements where a lump sum closes out the claim. If a settlement agreement is silent on interest, the right to claim it may be lost, so the point is worth addressing in writing during negotiations.

Consumer credit transactions follow their own rules. Retail installment contracts and consumer credit agreements are governed by ORC Chapter 1317, which carries its own disclosure and rate requirements. A consumer credit dispute is not governed by the general judgment interest provisions discussed here.

1
Ohio Department of Taxation. Annual Certified Interest Rates
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 1343.03 – Rate Not Stipulated
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 1343.02
4
Supreme Court of Ohio. Mayer v. Medancic, 124 Ohio St.3d 101, 2009-Ohio-6190
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 1343.01 – Maximum Rate of Interest
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 2744.05 – Damage Limitations
7
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 2329.07 – Judgment May Become Dormant
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5703.47 – Definition of Federal Short Term Rate