Updated May 28, 2026 · U.S. Treasury, U.S. Census, BLS (CPI-U)
The dashed line is debt per person restated in today's dollars using the Consumer Price Index. It removes the effect of inflation entirely.
A common objection is that the debt only looks bigger because dollars are worth less. So we converted debt per person into constant 2026 dollars. Even on that apples-to-apples basis, the real burden on each person has grown sharply — this is genuine growth, not just rising prices.
If the whole story were inflation, the real (dashed) line would be roughly flat. Instead it climbs steeply — meaning the country is borrowing faster than prices, population, or the economy are growing.
How to read this lens
Each Friday, get the current debt-per-person figure, what changed, and the sourced lens that mattered most that week.
Real figures restate debt per person (U.S. Treasury debt ÷ U.S. Census population) in constant 2026 dollars using BLS CPI-U. The newsletter preview is illustrative. Figures are the latest available estimates — DebtPerPerson is independent and nonpartisan, for general education, not financial or political advice.