United States: Debt at a Glance
World's largest economy. Moody's downgraded outlook to Negative in 2025. Debt ceiling repeatedly raised. Interest payments exceed $1T/year.
The total is $40.24 trillion, equal to 123% of a year's economic output. Shared equally, every resident's part would be about $117,315. The central bank is the Federal Reserve; the sovereign credit rating is AA+ with a negative outlook.
How the clock works
The U.S. Treasury publishes the exact total public debt outstanding every business day. We take the latest figure and add the average amount the debt grew per second over the previous 12 months. The real debt moves in steps, jumping when Treasury auctions settle and dipping on tax days, so the smooth clock is an average, not a live feed.
Why government debt matters to you
Governments borrow by selling bonds. The interest they pay competes with other spending and taxes, and large borrowing can push up the yields that mortgage rates and savings rates follow. US interest costs now exceed $1 trillion a year, more than the defense budget. Debt is not a household debt, though: countries that borrow in their own currency and grow their economies can carry high debt for decades, as Japan shows. What matters most is the trend of debt relative to GDP and the cost of servicing it.
See how interest rates feed into your own borrowing on our live rates page, or work out your own debt with the debt payoff planner.