The best 5% credit cards are the Chase Freedom Flex℠, Discover it® Cash Back, and the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®. These 5% cards stand out because of their $0 annual fees and other great rewards that support their 5% bonus categories, which may require activation.Those aren’t the only attractive offers available, though. You can see how the rest of the top options compare below.
Best 5% Cash Back Credit Cards Comparison
| Credit Card | 5% Categories | Annual Fee | Min. Credit Needed |
| U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card | 2 categories you choose from a list of options | $0 | Good |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | Rotating categories* and travel | $0 | Good |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | Travel | $0 | Good |
| Discover it® Cash Back | Rotating categories* | $0 | Good |
| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card | Office supplies and internet, cable and phone services | $0 | Good |
| Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard® | Walmart.com (and Walmart stores with Walmart Pay the first year) |
$0 | Fair |
Before applying for a 5% credit card offer, make sure that you understand exactly what, if anything, is required of you in order to qualify for the 5% rate. In some cases, you might have to activate new 5% cash back categories each quarter, for example.
Methodology for Selecting the Best 5% Cash Back Credit Cards
To identify the best 5% cash back credit cards, WalletHub’s editors compare more than 1,500 credit card offers to first determine which cards offer at least 5% back in at least one major purchase category. We then compare the eligible cards based on how much of the average person’s spending would earn 5% back and how much total rewards value the average person would earn over the course of two years, after subtracting any fees.
In addition to 5% rewards rates and annual fees, we take into account approval requirements and the type of cardholder each offer is intended for. In the interest of not excluding cards with great terms unnecessarily, we do not automatically rule out cards offering rewards in the form of points or miles. Rather, we factor the cash value and ease of conversion into our final selection of the best 5% credit cards. We also update our picks whenever new offers come about or existing offers change substantially.
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Given that different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of the most common financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for consumers and PEX data for businesses.
