Debt per person is the anchor number. These six lenses help explain what it means — each its own page, each tracing back to official data.
Every lens links back to source, date, and method so the analysis stays as checkable as the tracker. See the methodology for the formula, vintages, freshness, and QA.
Both parties have added trillions over the same two decades — the line goes up regardless of who holds the White House.
View this lens →Each of the last several terms added between roughly $2T and $8T. None bent the curve back down.
View this lens →Debt was under a third of GDP in the early 1980s. It crossed 100% in 2012 and has not looked back.
View this lens →Past wars spiked the debt and then it receded. This climb has continued for two decades without a world war.
View this lens →Even measured in today's dollars, the burden on each person has more than doubled since 2005.
View this lens →Interest is the fastest-growing line in the budget. Every dollar servicing the debt is a dollar not spent elsewhere.
View this lens →If this lens made the debt more legible, get the weekly brief for the anchor number plus the sourced context that mattered most that week.
Confirmation email first. Source, formula, timestamp, freshness, and QA stay visible.
Figures are the latest available estimates from U.S. Treasury, Census/FRED, BLS, CBO, and the IMF. Each lens page shows its own source and vintage. DebtPerPerson is an independent, nonpartisan informational project — these views are for general education, not financial or political advice.