US Debt Clock
Federal borrowing measured the way it actually constrains policy: not by the headline stock alone, but by the cash cost of carrying it, the share rolling over inside three years, and the gap between the average coupon already locked in and the yield the Treasury pays today.
Total public debt outstanding
+$65,000/s126% of GDP
Debt held by the public
+$58,000/sExcludes intragovernmental holdings
Net interest, annual run rate
+$32,320/sCash leaving the budget each year
Debt per taxpayer
136,000,000 filing units
Debt per citizen
342.5M people
Deficit and financing run rate
Annualised from the current accrual
What the interest line now outranks
Interest is not appropriated and cannot be reduced by a spending vote. It is set by the stock of debt and the yield at which it is refinanced, which is why it changes the arithmetic of every other line.
The refinancing wall
Applied to the 31% maturing inside a year, the repricing gap adds roughly $106.1B to annual interest before any new borrowing.
What moves these numbers
How large is the US federal debt right now?
Total public debt outstanding is tracked here from the Treasury's Debt to the Penny series, accrued forward at the current financing run rate. The figure includes both debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings.
Why does net interest matter more than the headline debt number?
The stock of debt is only a claim on future cash. Net interest is the cash that leaves the budget every year regardless of policy choices. Once interest exceeds a major discretionary category it competes directly with everything else appropriated.
What is the maturity wall?
A large share of outstanding debt matures within three years and must be refinanced at prevailing auction yields. When the average coupon on existing debt is below current yields, each refinancing raises the interest bill even if no new borrowing occurs.
Is a high debt-to-GDP ratio the same as a crisis?
No. A ratio is a level, not a trajectory. What matters is the direction of the interest-to-revenue share, the tenor of the debt, and whether there is a domestic buyer base. Countries with equal ratios have experienced very different outcomes.
Sources: US Treasury Fiscal Data, Debt to the Penny; CBO Monthly Budget Review, net interest outlays; Congressional Budget Office and Treasury monthly statements. Anchored July 1, 2026 and accrued forward deterministically.
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