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

No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. Section 535.300.2 requires that "all security deposits shall be held by the landlord for the tenant, who is a party to the rental agreement, in a bank, credit union, or depository institution which is insured by an agency of the federal government." That is a duty about where the money sits and whose benefit it is held for — a federally insured institution, held for the tenant.

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

No penalty reaches interest, because the statute gives the interest to the landlord. The remedy is for the deposit itself: a landlord who wrongfully withholds all or any portion of a security deposit in violation of the section owes the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 535.300.6).

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

Verified August 28, 2026 All Missouri topics →

Missouri expressly gives any interest a security deposit earns to the landlord: "Any interest earned on a security deposit shall be the property of the landlord."

Cited to Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (security deposits) — the interest allocation and the holding duty 2 and 1 more cited source · Verified August 28, 2026

That sentence is the second one in § 535.300.2, sitting between the rule about where the deposit is held and the carve-out for government landlords, so the answer here rests on the statute's own words rather than on silence. Missouri does tell a landlord where to keep the money — deposits must be "held by the landlord for the tenant" in a bank, credit union, or depository institution insured by an agency of the federal government — but that is a holding duty, not an escrow or trust duty, and nothing in the section requires the account to bear interest in the first place. A housing authority created under § 99.040 and any other government entity acting as a landlord are outside that subsection entirely. The deposit itself is capped at two months' rent, must be returned in full or itemized with the balance within thirty days after the tenancy ends, and a landlord who wrongfully withholds any part of it owes the tenant twice the amount withheld.

Missouri deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	No — the statute addresses the interest and does not give it to the tenant
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	Yes
Interest-bearing account required	No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest
Custody rules	Section 535.300.2 requires that "all security deposits shall be held by the landlord for the tenant, who is a party to the rental agreement, in a bank, credit union, or depository institution which is insured by an agency of the federal government." That is a duty about where the money sits and whose benefit it is held for — a federally insured institution, held for the tenant. It is not a trust or escrow duty. The section contains no separate-account requirement, no rule against mixing the deposit with the landlord's own money, and no duty to tell the tenant which institution holds it. It also never says the account must bear interest. A housing authority created under § 99.040, and any other government entity acting as a landlord, "shall not be subject to this subsection."
Penalty for violation	No penalty reaches interest, because the statute gives the interest to the landlord. The remedy is for the deposit itself: a landlord who wrongfully withholds all or any portion of a security deposit in violation of the section owes the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 535.300.6).
Local rules	None noted for this state

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Missouri Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/missouri/" — 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 Missouri answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Missouri law as this page.

Notes and caveats

The express words, and where they sit — "Any interest earned on a security deposit shall be the property of the landlord" is the second sentence of subsection 2, not a subsection of its own. The pinpoint is § 535.300.2, not the section at large — a distinction that matters because the surrounding subsections carry the cap, the return deadline and the penalty.
A holding duty, not an escrow — The statute names a kind of institution and says the money is held "for the tenant." It does not require a separate or trust account, does not forbid mixing the deposit with the landlord's own funds, and does not require any notice of where the account is. Pages that describe Missouri as an escrow state, or as barring a landlord from using an ordinary business account, read more into the sentence than it contains.
The account need not earn anything — Nothing in § 535.300 requires an interest-bearing account. The statute allocates interest that is "earned" — so where the deposit sits in an account paying nothing, there is nothing to allocate. Either way the tenant is owed no interest; the allocation rule and the account rule are two different questions with two different answers.
Government landlords sit outside the holding rule — "A housing authority created under section 99.040 or any other government entity acting as a landlord shall not be subject to this subsection." The exemption is written against subsection 2, which is where both the holding duty and the interest sentence live. The deposit cap in subsection 1, the thirty-day return duty in subsection 3 and the doubling remedy in subsection 6 sit in other subsections.
Pet deposits are not security deposits here — Subsection 8 defines a security deposit as any deposit of money or property furnished to secure performance of the rental agreement, then excludes "any money or property denominated as a deposit for a pet on the premises" — so pet money falls outside the section's cap, holding rule and return duty alike.

Common questions: Missouri 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 Missouri security deposit interest rate right now?: No published figure exists.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Missouri?: No payment duty exists.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Missouri?: No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. Section 535.300.2 requires that "all security deposits shall be held by the landlord for the tenant, who is a party to the rental agreement, in a bank, credit union, or depository institution which is insured by an agency of the federal government." That is a duty about where the money sits and whose benefit it is held for — a federally insured institution, held for the tenant.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Missouri?: No penalty reaches interest, because the statute gives the interest to the landlord. The remedy is for the deposit itself: a landlord who wrongfully withholds all or any portion of a security deposit in violation of the section owes the tenant twice the amount wrongfully withheld (§ 535.300.6).
Do any cities or counties in Missouri have their own deposit-interest rules?: None noted for this state.

Citations

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (security deposits) — the interest allocation and the holding duty · 2 (verified 2026) Official source
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (return deadline, itemization, and the doubling remedy) · subsecs. 3, 6 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300 (security deposits) in the Revisor of Statutes' published section text — all eight subsections, the history line (L. 1983 H.B. 175 § 1, A.L. 2016 H.B. 1862, A.L. 2018 S.B. 581) and the revisor's version table, which shows the text effective August 28, 2018 with no later version — together with the revisor's statement that statutory sections are published on their effective date under § 3.090. The section lists of chapter 535 (23 sections) and chapter 441 (72 sections) were read for any other deposit or deposit-account provision; § 535.300 is the only security-deposit section in either chapter, and Missouri has not adopted the uniform residential landlord and tenant act.