US National Debt Clock
The total U.S. national debt, ticking in real time. Anchored to the U.S. Treasury's official daily "Debt to the Penny" figure, with per-second growth estimated from the trailing 30-day run rate.
How this clock is calculated
The official total comes from the U.S. Treasury's Debt to the Penny dataset, which updates once per business day. Debt does not actually rise in smooth per-second increments — it jumps when Treasury securities settle — so the ticking number is an estimate of the run rate between official updates, computed as the average daily change over the trailing 30 days divided across 86,400 seconds. When the next daily figure publishes, the clock re-anchors to it.
National debt over time
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the US national debt right now?
The figure ticking above is the live estimate. Its anchor is the U.S. Treasury's official 'Debt to the Penny' total, published every business day; the smoothly rising number interpolates growth between those daily updates and is labeled as an estimate.
How fast is the US national debt growing?
The pace varies with tax receipts and Treasury borrowing, but in recent months it has averaged tens of thousands of dollars per second. This clock estimates the rate from the trailing 30-day average of Treasury's daily figures and shows it as dollars per second and per day.
Is this the official national debt figure?
The anchor value is the official Treasury 'Debt to the Penny' total, updated each business day. The continuously ticking number is an interpolation between those official updates — a visualization of the run rate, clearly marked '(est.)'.
What is the difference between debt held by the public and intragovernmental debt?
Debt held by the public is owed to outside investors — individuals, companies, foreign governments and the Federal Reserve. Intragovernmental holdings are what the government owes itself, mainly the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Together they are the total national debt.
How much is the national debt per person?
Dividing the total debt by the U.S. population gives the per-resident share shown above. For a personalized household figure, use the 'Your share of the debt' calculator.