Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Wisconsin?

No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest.

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Wisconsin?

No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.

Do any cities or counties in Wisconsin have their own deposit-interest rules?

No Wisconsin municipality may add a deposit rule of its own, and the bar is far wider than interest. Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(b) provides that "[n]o city, village, town, or county may enact an ordinance that places requirements on a residential landlord with respect to security deposits or earnest money or pretenancy or posttenancy inspections that are additional to the requirements under administrative rules related to residential rental practices" — that is, additional to ch. ATCP 134, which requires no interest — and § 66.0104(3)(a) provides that an ordinance inconsistent with that bar and in effect on December 21, 2011 "does not apply and may not be enforced."

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Wisconsin?

Verified August 28, 2026 All Wisconsin topics →

Wisconsin requires no interest on a residential security deposit, and the widely circulated claim that a Wisconsin landlord owes five percent a year after the first year is false.

Cited to Wis. Stat. § 704.28 (Withholding from and return of security deposits) (1), (4) and 3 more cited sources · Verified August 28, 2026

Three instruments settle it. Wis. Stat. § 704.28 is the whole of the statutory deposit regime, and it is a withholding-and-return section: it lists what a landlord may keep the money for and then requires delivery of "the full amount of any security deposit paid by the tenant, less any amounts that may be withheld," within twenty-one days. Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.06, the consumer-protection rule that governs how deposits are administered, uses the same formula and likewise says nothing about interest, an account, or where the money is kept. And Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(b) forbids any city, village, town or county from imposing deposit requirements beyond that rule, so no Wisconsin locality can supply an interest duty either. Principal only, at the state level and the local level alike.

Wisconsin deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	No — no statute addresses it
How the rate is set	No rate exists — there is no interest duty
Current figure	No published figure exists
Rate rules	No rate rules — no duty exists
Accrual and payment	No payment duty exists
Who and what is covered	No statutory conditions stated — see the summary and notes
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	No statute addresses how the deposit is held
Interest-bearing account required	No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest
Custody rules	No statute addresses custody of the deposit
Penalty for violation	No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically
Local rules	No Wisconsin municipality may add a deposit rule of its own, and the bar is far wider than interest. Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(b) provides that "[n]o city, village, town, or county may enact an ordinance that places requirements on a residential landlord with respect to security deposits or earnest money or pretenancy or posttenancy inspections that are additional to the requirements under administrative rules related to residential rental practices" — that is, additional to ch. ATCP 134, which requires no interest — and § 66.0104(3)(a) provides that an ordinance inconsistent with that bar and in effect on December 21, 2011 "does not apply and may not be enforced." Madison is the casualty. Its rent-credit ordinance, Madison General Ordinances § 32.07(3), which tied a yearly credit to a state-published escrow rate, was voided by state law on December 21, 2011 and the city has never repealed it, so the dead text is still printed in the current city code.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Wisconsin Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/wisconsin/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Check the verified Wisconsin answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Wisconsin law as this page.

City and county deposit-interest pages in Wisconsin

Madison — a repealed or voided former rule, still widely misquoted

Notes and caveats

The "five percent after one year" claim has no Wisconsin source — It circulates on landlord-advice sites and in automated summaries, and there is nothing behind it. § 704.28(4) returns the deposit's full amount less permitted withholdings and stops there; ATCP 134.06(2) repeats that sentence; § 66.0104(2)(b) blocks the only other level of government that could add to them. The figure looks like a corrupted memory of Madison's former rent-credit ordinance, which really did give tenants a yearly credit tied to a published rate until state law voided it at the end of 2011.
Both instruments are silent on custody too — Neither § 704.28 nor § ATCP 134.06 contains an escrow, trust, separate-account, commingling or named-institution provision. Chapter 704's one mention of a financial institution is § 704.22(2), about filing a designation of agent with the state department of financial institutions, and it has nothing to do with deposits. A Wisconsin landlord may hold the money wherever the landlord likes.
The preemption is broader than interest, which makes it a stronger answer — § 66.0104(2)(b) does not single out deposit interest. It bars any local requirement on a residential landlord respecting security deposits, earnest money, or move-in and move-out inspections that goes beyond the administrative rules — so the question is not whether a city may require interest, but whether it may require anything extra about deposits at all. It may not. The subsection was created by 2011 Wisconsin Act 108 and its words are unchanged since; the later 2017 amendment to the section added other paragraphs and left this one alone.

Common questions: Wisconsin deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the Wisconsin security deposit interest rate right now?: No published figure exists.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Wisconsin?: No payment duty exists.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Wisconsin?: No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Wisconsin?: No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.
Do any cities or counties in Wisconsin have their own deposit-interest rules?: No Wisconsin municipality may add a deposit rule of its own, and the bar is far wider than interest. Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(b) provides that "[n]o city, village, town, or county may enact an ordinance that places requirements on a residential landlord with respect to security deposits or earnest money or pretenancy or posttenancy inspections that are additional to the requirements under administrative rules related to residential rental practices" — that is, additional to ch. ATCP 134, which requires no interest — and § 66.0104(3)(a) provides that an ordinance inconsistent with that bar and in effect on December 21, 2011 "does not apply and may not be enforced."

Citations

Wis. Stat. § 704.28 (Withholding from and return of security deposits) · (1), (4) (verified 2026) Official source
Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.06 (Security deposits) · (2), (3), (4) (verified 2026) Official source
Wis. Stat. § 66.0104 (Prohibiting ordinances that place certain limits or requirements on a landlord) · (2)(b), (3)(a) (verified 2026) Official source
2011 Wisconsin Act 108 (2011 Senate Bill 107), creating Wis. Stat. § 66.0104 · § 1 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Complete read of Wis. Stat. § 704.28 (withholding from and return of security deposits) and of the whole of ch. 704 in the Legislative Reference Bureau's published chapter text, certified under s. 35.18 as of August 5, 2026; complete read of Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.06 and of all ten sections of ch. ATCP 134 in the same official form; complete read of Wis. Stat. § 66.0104 together with 2011 Wisconsin Act 108 as enrolled, which created it, the enrolled (2)(b) text matched word for word against the section as it stands; every occurrence of 'interest', 'escrow', 'trust', 'segregate', 'commingle', 'separate account', 'deposit account', 'bank' and 'financial institution' in both chapters examined in context, with no occurrence of any of them inside § 704.28 or § ATCP 134.06; and the Legislature's official subject index to legislation for the 2025 biennium, subject "landlord and tenant," read entry by entry for the period ending August 28, 2026.