American debt hit a record high of $38 trillion earlier this week. Here's a look at how quickly the debt is growing and how much every American would owe today.
Record National Debt
A government shutdown isn't the only thing that could be putting pressure on the country’s health moving forward, as the national debt passed $38 trillion for the first time.
While that milestone is alarming on its own, the speed of the increase is even more striking. The debt climbed from $36 trillion in November 2024 to $37 trillion by August 2025, and in just two more months, it has now topped $38 trillion—underscoring how rapidly federal borrowing is accelerating.
This marks the fastest the country has added a trillion dollars to the national debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. The debt levels are also ahead of projections made by the Congressional Budget Office prior to 2030, which were issued before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Borrowing by the country increased after the pandemic to help boost the economic turnaround.
The national debt can be tracked in real time and, at the time of writing, stands at $38,026,645,975,100, or more than $38 trillion.
This translates to $110,649 per person in debt the country owes. This also translates to $327,507 per taxpayer in the country.
America's debt-to-GDP ratio currently stands at 120.7%, significantly higher than the 55.7% in 2000 and 34.7% in 1980.
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What the Debt Means
While Americans are not responsible for paying off the country's debt, they could feel the impacts of it.
University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School professor Kent Smetters said the growing debt could lead to higher inflation and hurt the purchasing power of American consumers, as reported by the Associated Press.
"I think a lot of people want to know that their kids and grandkids are going to be in good, decent shape in the future – that they will be able to afford a house. That additional inflation compounds," Smetters said.
The Government Accountability Office says higher debt for the country can lead to higher borrowing costs for consumers on items like houses and automotives.
Peter G. Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson told the Associated Press that the rising national debt could be a bad sign for the current state of Congress.
"Reaching $38 trillion in debt during a government shutdown is the latest troubling sign that lawmakers are not meeting their basic fiscal duties," Peterson said.
Peterson said higher interest costs are likely to have a big impact on Americans, especially in the future.
"We spent $4 trillion on interest over the last decade, but will spend $14 trillion in the next ten years," Peterson said. "Interest costs crowd out important public and private investments in our future, harming the economy for every American."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently shared the potential progress being made under President Donald Trump. Bessent shared that from April to September, lower government spending led to a lower deficit of $468 billion, the lowest since 2019.
The signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill into law is expected to add trillions of dollars to the national debt. The figures shown today of $38 trillion and $110,649 per American could increase significantly in the coming years.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
