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The estimated population of the United States is 306,010,584
so each citizen's share of this debt is $36,527.90.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.84 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!

    Do you have any questions about the National Debt or this Debt Clock?
    Here are some answers. The Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt also has their own Public Debt FAQ.
 

What is the National Debt?

The national debt is the total amount of money owed by the US Federal Government to creditors who hold US Debt instruments (like Treasury Bills and Savings Bonds). It includes all federal debt held by states, corporations, individuals and *this is the kicker* foreign governments. Yes, you heard right. We borrow money

from other countries’ governments to finance our own. Which really means that we’re borrowing from their citizens to pay for programs for our citizens. It’s a head scratcher I know. By the way, that doesn’t even include the amounts we’ve promised to pay out for Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare.

The National Debt is also known as the public debt or the government debt.

Now that we’re clear on debt, let’s move on to that other D word.

What is the National Deficit?

The National Deficit is a budget deficit of the federal government. If the government drew up a spreadsheet and subtracted all the expenses from all the income, they’d come up short. The amount of this shortfall is the national deficit. They spends more money than they earn. So, just like you do when you really, really, really want those Jimmy Choos, or the cool new bike, or the newest iPhone, the federal government takes out a loan. Where you use plastic, the government uses Treasury Bills and Savings Bonds. And this brings us back to debt. As deficits accumulate, they must be financed. That’s where the confusion with the terminology sets in.

National Debt -- In the News
 Other sites concerned about the National Debt are:
    Also, the U.S. Department of the Treasury provides daily, monthly, and yearly figures for the Debt--to the penny! These are the figures I use to calibrate this Debt Clock.
    This debt clock is maintained by BBPSG.COM (www.bbpsg.com). It was last calibrated using information obtained from the U.S. Department of the Treasury dated 15 April 2009. Population figures are derived from the U.S. Bureau of the Census' Population Clock.

The National Debt on January 1st 1791 was just $75 million dollars. Today, it rises by that amount every hour or so.