The numbers

The national debt

What the U.S. government owes, who holds it, and how big that really is — plainly, with sources, and no argument about what to do about it.

Last updated September 22, 2026

Total debt
$40.1 trillion
Held by the public
$32.4 trillion
Per person
$116,900
Of GDP
123%

Fiscal Balance

Federal spending & revenue, 1976–2025
  • Spending
  • Revenue
Federal spending and revenue as a percent of GDP, 1976 to 2025Two lines, U.S. federal spending and revenue as a percent of GDP, by fiscal year, 1976 to 2025. Spending stays above revenue — the gap is the deficit — in every year except 1998 to 2001. Spending ranges from about 17.5% of GDP to a 30.5% peak in 2020; revenue from about 14.4% to 19.8%. Spending fell steadily through the Clinton years, 1993 to 2001. In 2025, spending is 22.8% and revenue 17.0%. Background tint marks the president's party (blue Democratic, red Republican); ticks mark each inauguration.15%20%25%30%Carter ’77Reagan ’81Bush ’89Clinton ’93Bush ’01Obama ’09Trump ’17Biden ’21Trump ’2522.8%17.0%

Federal spending fell through the Clinton years (1993–2001), from 20.5% of GDP to 17.6% — about the lowest share in the 50 years shown — then climbed again.

Federal outlays and receipts by fiscal year, share of GDP — OMB Historical Tables, via FRED. Background tint: president’s party (blue Democratic, red Republican).

Fiscal Breakdown

Where every federal dollar went and came from in fiscal 2025. Spending is grouped the way the budget is written — the inner ring is mandatory programs (run on standing law), discretionary spending (set by Congress each year), and net interest (the cost of the debt); the outer ring breaks each of those down. The $1.8 trillion gap between spending and revenue was borrowed — and added to the debt below.

Spending, fiscal 2025
$7.0Tspent
  • Mandatory$4.20T · 60%
    • Social Security$1.52T · 22%
    • Medicare$0.87T · 12%
    • Medicaid$0.63T · 9%
    • Income security & tax credits$0.60T · 9%
    • Retirement, veterans & other$0.58T · 8%
  • Discretionary$1.84T · 26%
    • National defense$0.89T · 13%
    • Nondefense — transportation, education, justice, housing, science…$0.95T · 14%
  • Net interest$0.97T · 14%
Revenue, fiscal 2025
$5.2Tcollected51%33%
  • Individual income taxes$2.66T · 51%
  • Payroll taxes$1.75T · 33%
  • Corporate income taxes$0.45T · 9%
  • Customs duties (tariffs)$0.19T · 4%
  • Excise, estate & other$0.18T · 4%

Spending groups — CBO, FY2025 actuals; subcategory splits approximate. Revenue by source — U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9).

The Debt

Total federal debt, 1976–2026
U.S. federal debt, 1976 to 2026Total U.S. federal debt by fiscal year, 1976 to 2026, rising from $0.6T to $40.1T. Background tint marks the president's party (blue Democratic, red Republican); ticks mark each inauguration: Carter 1977, Reagan 1981, Bush 1989, Clinton 1993, Bush 2001, Obama 2009, Trump 2017, Biden 2021, Trump 2025.$10T$20T$30T$40T$0Carter ’77Reagan ’81Bush ’89Clinton ’93Bush ’01Obama ’09Trump ’17Biden ’21Trump ’25$40.1T$0.6T

Total public debt outstanding at fiscal year-end — U.S. Treasury; final point current. Background tint: president’s party (blue Democratic, red Republican).

As of September 3, 2026 · U.S. Treasury — Debt to the Penny · population July 2026, GDP Q2 2026

Who Gets Paid What

Federal pay, 1976–2026
  • President
  • Senator or Representative
  • Minimum wage · right axis, $/hr
Federal pay, 1976 to 2026Federal pay, 1976 to 2026, on two axes: presidential and congressional salary on the left (dollars per year), the federal minimum wage on the right (dollars per hour). Member pay rose from $44,600 to $174,000 and the president's from $200,000 to $400,000; the minimum wage rose from $2.30 to $7.25 an hour. All three have been flat since 2009 except the president's, last changed in 2001. Ticks mark each inauguration.$100K$200K$300K$400K$0$10$20$30Carter ’77Reagan ’81Bush ’89Clinton ’93Bush ’01Obama ’09Trump ’17Biden ’21Trump ’25$400K$174K$7.25

The minimum wage (right axis) and member-of-Congress pay have both been frozen since 2009. Over that span, inflation has cut the buying power of a $7.25 minimum wage by roughly a third.

Minimum wage — U.S. Dept. of Labor. Member pay — CRS report 97-1011. Presidential salary — 3 U.S.C. § 102. House and Senate members are paid the same. The two axes are scaled independently, so the lines' vertical order is not a comparison.

What's owed to whom

The total splits two ways. Debt held by the public is money borrowed from investors — U.S. and foreign individuals, banks, mutual funds, pension funds, and other governments — by selling Treasury bonds, notes, and bills. Intragovernmental holdings is money one part of the government owes another, mostly IOUs the Treasury issued to trust funds like Social Security and Medicare after they ran surpluses in past years. Add the two together and you get the total public debt outstanding — the number usually reported as "the national debt."

How it grows

The debt grows whenever the government spends more in a year than it collects in revenue — a deficit — and borrows to cover the difference. It also grows from the interest owed on debt already outstanding, which compounds like any other loan. It shrinks only when the government runs a surplus, which has been rare over the last several decades under either party.

Nonpartisan, plainly

We don't take a position on how large the debt should be, what spending should change, or what should be taxed — that's a real disagreement with legitimate arguments on more than one side, and it's not this page's job to settle it. These are the official numbers, sourced below, updated occasionally rather than in real time.

Talking points

These are the questions we think you should ask those who are running for office and will represent you. We don't give our opinion on the answer, but we DO think you should be talking about them.

  1. Should Congress adopt a binding cap on the debt-to-GDP ratio, and who would enforce it?
  2. Should the debt ceiling be abolished or made automatic, instead of a periodic vote that risks default?
  3. Should any plan to reduce the debt include tax increases, spending cuts, or both — and which programs specifically?
  4. Should Social Security and Medicare, the largest long-term drivers of spending, be part of any debt-reduction plan?
  5. Who should bear the cost of rising interest payments on the debt — future taxpayers, or spending cuts made today?

Read more

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