March 2026

Released March 06, 2026

+$2.64T
Change in gross national debt
Mar 04, 2025 to Mar 04, 2026

$288,283
Gross national debt per household
Mar 04, 2026

3.355 percent
Avg. int. rate on total marketable debt
Feb 2026

Growth of the national debt

• As of March 04, 2026, total gross national debt is $38.86 trillion.

  • Debt held by the public is $31.27 trillion.
  • Intragovernmental debt is $7.59 trillion.

• Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.64 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $10.86 trillion higher.

• Over the past year, the rate of increase averaged $7.23 billion per day, $301.39 million per hour, $5.02 million per minute, or $83,720.62 per second.

• The increase in gross national debt over the past year amounts to $7,721.19 per person or $19,587.61 per household.

• Total gross national debt amounts to $113,638 per person or $288,283 per household.

• Assuming the average daily rate of growth over the past three years continues, the U.S. will reach $39 trillion by approximately March 25, 2026.

  • At that rate, an increase of another trillion dollars would be reached in approximately 148 days.

Interest rate on U.S. debt

U.S. public debt in the form of Treasury securities is primarily made up of bills (4-52 weeks), notes (2-10 years), and bonds (20-30 years). Others include Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, Cash Management Bills, and Floating Rate Notes.

• Net interest as a share of outlays is forecast by the Congressional Budget Office to be 13.95 percent in FY2026, 14.25 percent in FY2027, and 14.94 percent in FY2028.

• As of February 2026, the average interest rate on the total marketable national debt is 3.355 percent. One year ago, it was 3.346 percent; five years ago, it was 1.512 percent.

• The total amount of interest paid to trust funds over the past 12 months was $255.70 billion, an average of $21.31 billion per month.

Composition of U.S. debt

• A bid-to-cover ratio of 2 or higher reflects strong Treasury demand. As of February 2026, the bid-to-cover ratio for Treasury bills (4-week) is 2.89, for notes (10-year) is 2.39, and for bonds (30-year) is 2.75.

• As of February 2026, of the $31.19 trillion of total public debt outstanding, $15.76 trillion (50.55 percent) is in notes, $6.81 trillion (21.83 percent) is in bills, and $5.29 trillion (16.96 percent) is in bonds. $3.33 trillion (10.67 percent) is in other securities.

• As of the most recent data from Q1 of FY2026, approximately 33 percent of U.S. publicly held marketable debt will be maturing within 12 months.

• As of the most recent data from December 2025, the average maturity is 70 months. In December 2024, it was 71 months; in December 2020, it was 65 months.

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
Mar 11	08:30 AM	Monthly Inflation Update, February 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Mar 27	08:30 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, February 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Mar 27	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q4 2025 Third Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Apr 02	08:30 AM	Monthly Trade Update, February 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Apr 03	08:30 AM	Monthly Employment Update, March 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics

Notes

Source: U.S. Treasury; JEC Republicans calculations