May 2026 | Released May 07, 2026

+$2.70T
Change in gross national debt
May 05, 2025 to May 05, 2026

$288,676
Gross national debt per household
May 05, 2026

3.373 percent
Avg. int. rate on total marketable debt
Apr 2026

Growth of the national debt

• As of May 05, 2026, total gross national debt is $38.91 trillion.

  • Debt held by the public is $31.26 trillion.
  • Intragovernmental debt is $7.65 trillion.

• Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.70 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $10.75 trillion higher.

• Over the past year, the rate of increase averaged $7.39 billion per day, $307.98 million per hour, $5.13 million per minute, or $85,550.14 per second.

• The increase in gross national debt over the past year amounts to $7,889.92 per person or $20,015.65 per household.

• Total gross national debt amounts to $113,792 per person or $288,676 per household.

• Assuming the average daily rate of growth over the past three years continues, the U.S. will reach $39 trillion by approximately May 18, 2026.

  • At that rate, an increase of another trillion dollars would be reached in approximately 147 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 April 2026, the average interest rate on the total marketable national debt is 3.373 percent. One year ago, it was 3.354 percent; five years ago, it was 1.491 percent.

• The total amount of interest paid to trust funds over the past 12 months was $255.95 billion, an average of $21.33 billion per month.

Composition of U.S. debt

• A bid-to-cover ratio of 2 or higher reflects strong Treasury demand. As of April 2026, the bid-to-cover ratio for Treasury bills (4-week) is 2.92, for notes (10-year) is 2.39, and for bonds (30-year) is 2.75.

• As of April 2026, of the $31.27 trillion of total public debt outstanding, $15.93 trillion (50.95 percent) is in notes, $6.62 trillion (21.17 percent) is in bills, and $5.37 trillion (17.18 percent) is in bonds. $3.35 trillion (10.70 percent) is in other securities.

• As of the most recent data from Q2 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 March 2026, the average maturity is 70 months. In March 2025, it was 71 months; in March 2021, it was 67 months.

Upcoming releases

Date	Time	Release	Data source
May 08	08:30 AM	Monthly Employment Update, April 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
May 12	08:30 AM	Monthly Inflation Update, April 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
May 13	10:00 AM	Monthly Fiscal Update, April 2026	U.S. Treasury
May 22	10:00 AM	State Employment and Unemployment, April 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
May 28	08:30 AM	Monthly Expenditures Update, April 2026	Bureau of Economic Analysis
May 28	08:30 AM	Monthly GDP Update, Q1 2026 Second Estimate	Bureau of Economic Analysis
Jun 05	08:30 AM	Monthly Employment Update, May 2026	Bureau of Labor Statistics
Jun 05	10:00 AM	Monthly Debt Update, June 2026	U.S. Treasury

Notes

Source: U.S. Treasury; JEC Republicans calculations