LAST UPDATED: 2026/07/07 at 14:53 EDT
AUTHOR: Brennen Slaney
GITHUB: @realslimslaneyUS Fiscal
This page tracks how the federal government spends, how it collects, and the gap between the two, which is where the national debt comes from. The two sides of the ledger are analyzed independently, then combined. Everything here is pulled straight from primary sources (Treasury, OMB, IRS, IMF) with no adjustments beyond unit conversions; the numbers are left to speak for themselves. Commentary lives on the blog.
All federal figures use the fiscal year (October–September). Historical series are actuals only: no estimates or projections, except the IMF forecast years, which are explicitly dashed.
NoteAbbreviations used on this page
- Treasury: US Department of the Treasury, whose FiscalData API supplies the live series
- OMB: Office of Management and Budget, the White House budget office
- IRS: Internal Revenue Service
- IMF: International Monetary Fund
- MTS: Monthly Treasury Statement, Treasury’s monthly accounting of receipts and outlays
- FY / FYTD: fiscal year (October through September) / fiscal year to date
- GDP: gross domestic product
Spending
The long run: what the government buys
The stacked bands below sum to total federal outlays. “Everything else (net)” bundles the remaining functions (transportation, education, veterans, agriculture, justice, international affairs, and offsetting receipts), none of which individually exceeds ~4% of spending today.
Source: OMB Historical Tables 3.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), fiscal years 1940–2024.
Source: OMB Historical Table 3.1 (FY2026 edition).
Source: OMB Historical Table 3.1 (FY2026 edition). Not inflation-adjusted.
Source: OMB Historical Tables 3.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), deflated with the GDP chained price index into constant dollars of the latest complete fiscal year (the y-axis names the base year).
What a typical budget looks like
The latest complete fiscal year, by budget function, against each function’s average share of spending over the prior 20 years.
| Federal outlays by function, FY2024 | ||||
| Share vs. that function's average share of spending, FY2004–2023 | ||||
| Function | $B | % of outlays | 20-yr avg % | Δ vs avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $1,461 | 21.6 | 21.5 | 0.2 |
| Health | $911 | 13.5 | 11.5 | 2.0 |
| Net interest | $880 | 13.0 | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Medicare | $874 | 12.9 | 13.3 | −0.4 |
| National Defense | $874 | 12.9 | 16.9 | −4.0 |
| Income Security | $671 | 9.9 | 14.9 | −5.0 |
| Veterans Benefits and Services | $326 | 4.8 | 3.6 | 1.2 |
| Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services | $306 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 1.1 |
| Transportation | $137 | 2.0 | 2.5 | −0.4 |
| Community and Regional Development | $85 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Administration of Justice | $84 | 1.2 | 1.5 | −0.2 |
| International Affairs | $72 | 1.1 | 1.2 | −0.1 |
| Natural Resources and Environment | $58 | 0.9 | 1.0 | −0.1 |
| General Science, Space, and Technology | $41 | 0.6 | 0.8 | −0.2 |
| Commerce and Housing Credit | $36 | 0.5 | 0.7 | −0.2 |
| General Government | $35 | 0.5 | 1.0 | −0.5 |
| Agriculture | $33 | 0.5 | 0.7 | −0.2 |
| Energy | $14 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Undistributed offsetting receipts | −$147 | −2.2 | −2.6 | 0.4 |
| Source: OMB Historical Table 3.1 (FY2026 edition), $ millions. | ||||
Right now: the trailing 12 months
Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9), latest 12 reported months.
| FY2026 outlays by function, first 8 months | |||||
| vs. the same period of FY2025: the shape of the current budget | |||||
| Function | FY2026 $B | FY2025 $B | Δ $B | Δ % | Monthly, last 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $1,097 | $1,040 | $57 | 5.5 | |
| Net Interest | $723 | $665 | $58 | 8.7 | |
| Medicare | $677 | $700 | −$23 | −3.2 | |
| Health | $665 | $635 | $30 | 4.8 | |
| National Defense | $631 | $613 | $18 | 2.9 | |
| Income Security | $499 | $517 | −$18 | −3.4 | |
| Veterans Benefits and Services | $271 | $260 | $11 | 4.1 | |
| Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services | $107 | $120 | −$12 | −10.4 | |
| Transportation | $87 | $88 | −$1 | −0.6 | |
| Administration of Justice | $68 | $56 | $13 | 22.5 | |
| Agriculture | $45 | $39 | $6 | 15.7 | |
| Natural Resources and Environment | $39 | $65 | −$26 | −39.5 | |
| International Affairs | $33 | $39 | −$6 | −14.6 | |
| Community and Regional Development | $29 | $60 | −$31 | −51.6 | |
| General Science, Space, and Technology | $26 | $27 | −$1 | −4.5 | |
| General Government | $15 | $22 | −$7 | −32.5 | |
| Energy | $11 | $14 | −$3 | −21.5 | |
| Commerce and Housing Credit | −$8 | −$2 | −$6 | 273.7 | |
| Undistributed Offsetting Receipts | −$114 | −$109 | −$5 | 4.2 | |
| Total | $4,902 | $4,846 | $55 | 1.1 | |
| Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Trend shows the last 12 reported months. | |||||
Revenue
The long run: how the government collects
Source: OMB Historical Tables 2.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), fiscal years 1934–2024. “Other” bundles customs duties, estate & gift taxes, and miscellaneous receipts.
Source: OMB Historical Table 2.1 (FY2026 edition).
Source: OMB Historical Table 2.1 (FY2026 edition). Not inflation-adjusted.
Source: OMB Historical Tables 2.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), deflated with the GDP chained price index. The deflator series starts in 1940, so this view omits 1934–1939.
Who pays the individual income tax
Share of all individual income tax paid by each slice of filers, ranked by adjusted gross income. Slices are cumulative: the top 10% includes the top 1%.
Note
This series covers the individual income tax only, about half of federal revenue. It excludes payroll taxes and corporate taxes. That scope caveat cuts both ways and is why the payroll/income split in the charts above matters.
Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Table 4.1 (returns excluding dependents, ranked by AGI), tax years 2001–2023. For context, the same table puts the top 1%’s share of income at 21% and its average tax rate at 26% in 2023.
Right now: the trailing 12 months
Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9), latest 12 reported months.
| FY2026 receipts by source, first 8 months | |||||
| vs. the same period of FY2025 | |||||
| Source | FY2026 $B | FY2025 $B | Δ $B | Δ % | Monthly, last 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Income | $1,913 | $1,823 | $89 | 4.9 | |
| Social Insurance (Payroll) | $1,228 | $1,166 | $62 | 5.3 | |
| Corporate Income | $210 | $298 | −$88 | −29.6 | |
| Customs | $189 | $81 | $107 | 131.7 | |
| Excise | $67 | $68 | −$0 | −0.7 | |
| Estate & Gift | $28 | $20 | $8 | 40.8 | |
| Other | $21 | $25 | −$4 | −15.4 | |
| Total | $3,656 | $3,482 | $174 | 5.0 | |
| Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Trend shows the last 12 reported months. | |||||
The Gap: Deficit & Debt
Put the two sides together and the picture since 1940 is below: spending (red) has exceeded revenue (blue) in all but a handful of years, and the shaded gap is the annual deficit that accumulates into the debt. Drag the handles of the slider under the chart to zoom into a year range; double-click the chart to reset.
Source: OMB Historical Table 1.2 (FY2026 edition). The shaded band is the deficit (or, briefly, surplus).
Source: OMB Historical Table 1.1 (FY2026 edition). Not inflation-adjusted.
Source: OMB Historical Tables 1.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), deflated with the GDP chained price index into constant dollars of the latest complete fiscal year (the y-axis names the base year).
The denominator: GDP
Every “% of GDP” figure on this page divides by the series below. The vertical gap between the two lines is inflation; the climb of the real line is actual economic growth.
Source: OMB Historical Table 10.1 (FY2026 edition). Real GDP is the nominal series deflated with the GDP chained price index; the two lines meet at the base year.
How this fiscal year is tracking
Cumulative deficit by month of the fiscal year: the canonical “are we on a better or worse path than last year” chart.
Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Fiscal years run October to September.
Month by month
Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Trailing-12-month sums remove seasonality; the shaded band is the running annual deficit.
Source: Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 9. Raw months are seasonal; April’s tax-deadline receipt spike is real, not an artifact.
The debt itself
Source: Treasury “Debt to the Penny”, daily. The difference between the lines is intragovernmental holdings (mostly the Social Security trust funds).
Source: Treasury “Debt to the Penny”, downsampled to weekly.
Source: OMB Historical Table 7.1 (FY2026 edition). The WWII peak was 106% of GDP.
Source: OMB Historical Tables 7.1 & 10.1 (FY2026 edition), deflated with the GDP chained price index. Debt held by the public is narrower than the total-debt lines in the neighboring tabs, which include intragovernmental holdings.
Source: Treasury “Historical Debt Outstanding”, annual, nominal dollars. On a log scale a straight line is a constant growth rate.
The cost of carrying it
Source: Treasury “Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities”, all interest-bearing debt. This rate times the debt stock is (approximately) the “Net interest” band in the spending section.
US vs. Other Major Economies
General government gross debt as a share of GDP for the ten largest economies plus the US. Dashed segments are IMF World Economic Outlook projections, not data.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook via the IMF DataMapper (indicator GGXWDG_NGDP). “General government” includes state/local debt, so the US figure here runs higher than the federal-only measures above.
| General government debt, % of GDP (2025) | |
| Country | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| Japan | 206.5 |
| Italy | 137.1 |
| United States | 123.9 |
| France | 116.0 |
| Canada | 113.5 |
| United Kingdom | 102.3 |
| China | 99.2 |
| Brazil | 93.3 |
| India | 84.1 |
| Germany | 62.9 |
| South Korea | 52.3 |
| Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, latest actual year. | |
Sources & methodology
| Data | Source | Coverage | Refresh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily debt | Treasury Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny | 1993– | every site render |
| Annual debt | Treasury Fiscal Data: Historical Debt Outstanding | 1790– | every site render |
| Monthly receipts, outlays, deficit | Treasury Fiscal Data: Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9) | Mar 2015– | every site render |
| Interest rates | Treasury Fiscal Data: Average Interest Rates | 2001– | every site render |
| Long-run budget history | OMB Historical Tables 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 7.1, 10.1 (FY2026 edition) | 1901–2024 | annual (vendored) |
| Income-tax shares by percentile | IRS SOI Table 4.1 | 2001–2023 | annual (vendored) |
| International comparison | IMF World Economic Outlook | varies by country | every site render |
Methodology notes, stated once so the charts don’t have to hedge:
- Fiscal years throughout for US federal data (FY2026 = Oct 2025–Sep 2026).
- No estimates: OMB tables ship with projection columns; only actuals are used.
- % of GDP figures use OMB’s own GDP series (Table 10.1) for historical charts and the IMF’s for the international chart; the two differ slightly in vintage.
- The IRS percentile series covers the individual income tax only, as flagged inline.
- Live Treasury/IMF fetches degrade gracefully: if a source is down at render time, that chart shows an unavailability note and the rest of the page still builds.