US debt — the current US national debt — is 40.28T from official U.S. Treasury data. Watch it on the US Debt Clock or the fullscreen live view.
The current US national debt is 40.28T as of October 2026.
It grows by approximately $5,000,000,000 per day — that's $57,870 every second. Each citizen's share is $120,232, and each taxpayer owes $287,699. The live debt-to-GDP ratio is 126% (2024 official: 122.9%), meaning the national debt exceeds one full year of U.S. economic output.
Treasuries owned by investors, mutual funds, the Federal Reserve, state and local governments, and foreign holders. This is the portion most economists watch for market and interest-rate effects.
Money the federal government owes itself through trust funds such as Social Security and Medicare. Combined with public debt, this is total public debt outstanding — the headline US debt figure.
Debt vs deficit: the national debt is the cumulative total owed; the deficit is the annual shortfall when spending exceeds revenue. Explore deficits by year on the deficit by year page, or watch the live total on the US Debt Clock.
Live National Debt Total
40.28T
Updated in real-time from U.S. Treasury data
Per Second
+$57,870
Per Hour
+208.33M
Per Day
+5.00B
Per Year
+1.82T
Daily Interest Cost
3.20B
$37,000/second
Accelerating Growth
The US debt has more than tripled since 2008. It took 200+ years to reach $10 trillion, but only 16 years to add another $26 trillion.
The current US national debt is approximately 40.28T as of October 2026. This includes both debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings.
The US national debt is increasing by approximately $5,000,000,000 per day, or about $57,870 per second. The exact rate varies based on government spending and revenue.
The current US debt per citizen is approximately $120,232. This is calculated by dividing the total national debt by the US population.
US debt (total public debt outstanding) includes debt held by the public — Treasuries owned by investors, the Federal Reserve, and foreign governments — plus intragovernmental holdings the government owes to trust funds such as Social Security. The debt is the cumulative total; the deficit is the annual shortfall when spending exceeds revenue.
Our current US debt figures are sourced from the U.S. Treasury's Fiscal Data API, which provides official "Debt to the Penny" data. This data is typically updated each business day by 6 PM ET. We project real-time estimates between updates based on historical daily increase rates.
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Current US debt figures from U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data API (Debt to the Penny). Historical data from Treasury Direct and Congressional Budget Office. Growth rate projections based on trailing 30-day averages. Page last updated: October 8, 2026.
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