March 27, 2009 5:03PM 

# Federal Debt Per Household 

By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) 

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This afternoon, a congressional office asked me what the estimated national debt in President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget submission would be on a per‑U.S.-household basis. I think the answer is worth sharing with C@L readers:

According to the president’s budget, the estimated national debt (debt held by the public) in fiscal year 2010 would equal approximately **$81,000** per U.S. household.

But no worries, “[we owe it to ourselves](http://www.econlib.org/library/Buchanan/buchCv8c3.html)”!

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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