US Household PulseThe United States economy,
from the household inward
1 series not refreshed · updated Nov 2, 2026 Methodology
CPI 3.7%Unemployment 4.2%30Y mortgage 7.24%Saving 3.8¢ per $1Debt service 11.11%Fed funds 3.88%10Y Treasury 4.94%U.S. debt $40.594TDebt / household $301,162Household pressure 43.2

How much federal debt is there for each household?

Debt per household

Total public debt at fiscal year-end divided by the Census Bureau’s count of U.S. households for that year.

$301,162
Debt per household, Oct 29, 2026
+7.9% since the end of fiscal 2025 (Sep 30, 2025)
Download CSV
$0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000$250,000$300,00019501960197019801990200020102020$279,231
Shaded: U.S. recessions (NBER)Dollars

What this measures

This is a scale comparison, not a bill: no household owes this amount, and the debt is repaid (or rolled over) by the federal government from future taxes and borrowing. It is useful for putting a 14-digit number into terms people can picture.

The inflation-adjusted view shows how much of the increase is real growth rather than rising prices.

Source: U.S. Treasury; Census Bureau households via FRED (TTLHH). Updated automatically when the source publishes. How we handle data · Embed this chart

The household economy, once a month

A short email after each month’s inflation and jobs data: what changed, what it means for a household budget, and nothing else.