US national debt tops $40 trillion: These four charts offer more context

Updated: 6:59 AM EDT Aug 21, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ Susie Webb Data Visualization Journalist

The U.S. national debt has now surpassed the $40 trillion benchmark, new data from the Treasury Department shows.

The four charts below give context to the nation's debt issues.

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A wider look at how the debt has grown

U.S. national debt has grown nearly 600% since the turn of the century. In 2000, it was about $5.8 trillion compared to $40.05 trillion as of the close of business on Tuesday.

Divided evenly across the current U.S. population, national debt is at about $116,800 per American.

Debt by president

The U.S. had about $36.2 trillion in debt when President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2025. From then to now, the national debt has grown by 10.6%.

Among recent presidents, Barack Obama had the greatest percent increase in national debt from when he assumed office to the end of his first term. Obama took office amid the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis.

During Trump's first term, total national debt grew by 39.1%. During former President Joe Biden's term, debt grew by 30.5%.

The greatest dollar increase in the national debt was during Biden's presidency — $8.45 trillion. The COVID-19 pandemic — which began at the end of Trump's first term and continued into Biden's — did impact the national debt.

During Trump's first term, the national debt grew by $7.81 trillion. In Obama's second term, it grew by $3.51 trillion, and in his first, it increased by $5.81 trillion.

Federal surplus versus deficit

Each year, the federal surplus and deficit are determined by how much the federal government spends versus how much it gains in revenue.

Federal spending grew by about 50% from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to an increase in the deficit, according to the Treasury Department.

The last year there was a federal surplus — where the government made more than it spent — was in 2001.

How much is a trillion?

Forty trillion dollars is a lot of cash.

To help visualize the scope, the Get the Facts Data Team created a graphic that compares just $1 trillion to the median U.S. household income. Scroll below to see the difference.