US national debt today
The official total of federal debt outstanding, reported by the Treasury for each business day with a one-day lag.
Total public debt outstanding
$40,343,879,238,036
Data for: October 13, 2026
Previous: $40,301,480,531,900 (October 9, 2026)
Debt held by the public
$32,483,641,012,612
Data for: October 13, 2026
Previous: $32,447,832,644,924 (October 9, 2026)
Intragovernmental holdings
$7,860,238,225,424
Data for: October 13, 2026
Previous: $7,853,647,886,976 (October 9, 2026)
What it is
Debt to the Penny is the Treasury’s exact daily figure for total public debt outstanding. Debt held by the public is owed to investors such as individuals, companies, foreign governments and the Federal Reserve. Intragovernmental holdings are owed to federal trust funds such as Social Security.
Why it matters
The debt grows when the government spends more than it collects. Interest on it is now one of the largest items in the federal budget, and the debt limit set by Congress caps how much can be borrowed. Online debt clocks extrapolate; this is the official audited daily number.
Recent history
| Date | Total public debt outstanding | Debt held by the public | Intragovernmental holdings |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 13, 2026 | $40,343,879,238,036 | $32,483,641,012,612 | $7,860,238,225,424 |
| October 9, 2026 | $40,301,480,531,900 | $32,447,832,644,924 | $7,853,647,886,976 |
| October 8, 2026 | $40,305,316,210,830 | $32,454,086,117,711 | $7,851,230,093,118 |
| October 7, 2026 | $40,284,036,147,367 | $32,439,260,138,550 | $7,844,776,008,817 |
| October 6, 2026 | $40,273,024,579,219 | $32,440,264,284,906 | $7,832,760,294,313 |
| October 5, 2026 | $40,249,104,431,078 | $32,426,124,989,617 | $7,822,979,441,461 |
| October 2, 2026 | $40,242,446,619,209 | $32,428,913,787,327 | $7,813,532,831,882 |
| October 1, 2026 | $40,260,641,972,390 | $32,433,790,394,254 | $7,826,851,578,136 |
| September 30, 2026 | $40,171,825,101,340 | $32,425,012,546,391 | $7,746,812,554,950 |
| September 29, 2026 | $40,096,954,633,567 | $32,367,872,193,304 | $7,729,082,440,263 |
| September 28, 2026 | $40,102,185,696,865 | $32,386,263,609,756 | $7,715,922,087,110 |
| September 25, 2026 | $40,097,178,119,751 | $32,385,874,118,414 | $7,711,304,001,337 |
| September 24, 2026 | $40,068,807,991,925 | $32,362,728,656,693 | $7,706,079,335,231 |
| September 23, 2026 | $40,073,558,531,202 | $32,376,938,482,751 | $7,696,620,048,450 |
| September 22, 2026 | $40,097,834,028,442 | $32,375,685,818,022 | $7,722,148,210,420 |
| September 21, 2026 | $40,112,118,151,112 | $32,402,191,477,342 | $7,709,926,673,770 |
| September 18, 2026 | $40,101,500,516,712 | $32,401,926,526,744 | $7,699,573,989,968 |
| September 17, 2026 | $40,093,343,468,151 | $32,392,786,557,372 | $7,700,556,910,778 |
| September 16, 2026 | $40,094,080,427,791 | $32,406,353,922,774 | $7,687,726,505,017 |
| September 15, 2026 | $40,114,445,691,167 | $32,406,391,951,586 | $7,708,053,739,581 |
| September 14, 2026 | $40,054,421,967,787 | $32,358,452,350,575 | $7,695,969,617,212 |
| September 11, 2026 | $40,046,178,322,793 | $32,357,573,654,300 | $7,688,604,668,492 |
| September 10, 2026 | $40,047,726,949,770 | $32,363,418,108,364 | $7,684,308,841,406 |
| September 9, 2026 | $40,074,284,925,787 | $32,388,611,390,872 | $7,685,673,534,915 |
| September 8, 2026 | $40,084,090,785,446 | $32,387,921,094,747 | $7,696,169,690,700 |
| September 4, 2026 | $40,094,590,636,302 | $32,410,785,543,623 | $7,683,805,092,678 |
| September 3, 2026 | $40,102,964,278,586 | $32,423,635,247,199 | $7,679,329,031,387 |
| September 2, 2026 | $40,117,045,127,073 | $32,421,027,120,428 | $7,696,018,006,644 |
| September 1, 2026 | $40,112,464,593,206 | $32,420,529,452,197 | $7,691,935,141,009 |
| August 31, 2026 | $40,175,641,071,634 | $32,414,988,847,175 | $7,760,652,224,459 |
How to read
Latest: $40,343,879,238,036
Where it comes from
U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny
Careful
Information, not advice
What to do
Compare with the related indicators
Reading the us national debt today figure
What the latest us national debt today reading says
The most recent value on this page is $40,343,879,238,036, for October 13, 2026. Against the previous reading of $40,301,480,531,900, that is +$42,398,706,136 — a move up. Every business day, for the previous business day is how often U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny publishes it, so a single reading is a snapshot and not a trend. The 30 observations in the table above, from August 31, 2026 onwards, are what gives the figure context.
Where the us national debt today figure sits in its own history
Across the 30 readings loaded here, the series moved between $40,046,178,322,793 and $40,343,879,238,036. The latest value is the highest of that window, which is the kind of reading worth checking against a longer history before calling it a record. A window this short cannot show a cycle. It shows the direction of travel and the size of the usual swing, which is enough to tell a normal move from an unusual one, and no more than that.
Who sets the us national debt today and who it affects in United States
U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny publishes the us national debt today series, and the page links the exact dataset and its licence below. Nothing here is a second-hand copy: the figure above is read from that source and shown with the date the source gave it. People reach this page searching for "national debt", and the honest answer is the published figure plus its date. A national figure is an average: your own rate, bill or salary in United States will sit above or below it.
Glossary
Basis point
One hundredth of a percentage point. Central banks and markets talk in basis points because "a 0.25 point cut" and "a 25 basis point cut" are the same thing, and the second wording leaves no room for doubt.
Real rate
An interest rate after inflation is taken out, roughly the quoted rate minus the inflation rate. A savings account paying less than inflation has a negative real rate, which means the money loses purchasing power.
Revision
A later correction of a published figure, as the statistics office receives more complete data. Values marked provisional or estimated are the ones most likely to change, which is why the page keeps the source flag.
National average
A figure averaged over a whole country, and therefore not a quote for you. Your own mortgage rate, salary or grocery bill depends on your region, your lender or your shop and will sit above or below the average.
Year-on-year inflation
The change in a price index against the same month a year earlier. It can fall while prices are still rising, because it measures the speed of the increase, not the level of prices.
Yield
The annual return an investor earns by lending money through a bond, expressed as a percentage of its price. Price and yield move in opposite directions: when a bond gets cheaper, its yield rises.
Update frequency: Every business day, for the previous business day
Information only, not financial advice. Figures come from the official source shown and may be revised.