U.S. Federal Debt · Cost of Borrowing
What interest rate is the U.S. government actually paying?
In Aug 2026, the average interest rate across all interest-bearing U.S. federal debt edged higher to 3.490%, up 0.12 percentage points from a year earlier. That is the blended cost of a debt stack that reprices slowly — most of it was borrowed in earlier years — so the headline rate lags moves in current market yields.
Looking for today's rates instead? This page tracks the average rate the Treasury pays on debt already issued. For what bills and notes yield right now, see Treasury bill rates today (4.12% on the 13-week), the yield curve (4.96% on the 10-year) or TIPS real yields (2.62% on the 10-year) — all updated every business day.
Average rate on all interest-bearing debt
Monthly, Jan 2013 – Aug 2026. Hover the line for any month.
Current average rates by security type
Latest month, with change vs. the prior month (MoM) and a year earlier (YoY). Click any security for its full history.
| Security type | Avg. rate | MoM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Interest-bearing Debt | 3.490% | ▲ +0.043 pp | ▲ +0.118 pp |
| Total Marketable | 3.475% | ▲ +0.032 pp | ▲ +0.060 pp |
| Treasury Bills | 3.788% | ▲ +0.030 pp | ▼ -0.495 pp |
| Treasury Notes | 3.345% | ▲ +0.036 pp | ▲ +0.258 pp |
| Treasury Bonds | 3.453% | ▲ +0.011 pp | ▲ +0.142 pp |
| Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) | 1.134% | ▲ +0.007 pp | ▲ +0.233 pp |
| Treasury Floating Rate Notes (FRN) | 3.845% | ▼ -0.103 pp | ▼ -0.458 pp |
| Total Non-marketable | 3.559% | ▲ +0.096 pp | ▲ +0.374 pp |
| United States Savings Securities | 3.145% | ▼ -0.007 pp | ▼ -0.236 pp |
| Government Account Series | 3.558% | ▲ +0.097 pp | ▲ +0.385 pp |
| State and Local Government Series | 3.349% | ▼ -0.004 pp | ▼ -0.184 pp |
| Government Account Series Inflation Securities | 1.392% | ■ no change | ▲ +0.151 pp |
| United States Savings Inflation Securities | 4.496% | ▲ +0.030 pp | ▲ +0.792 pp |
| Domestic Series | 7.577% | ■ no change | ■ no change |
| Federal Financing Bank | 2.383% | ■ no change | ▼ -0.006 pp |
| Special Purpose Vehicle | 2.878% | ▼ -0.078 pp | ▼ -0.301 pp |
How to read these numbers
The Treasury reports a weighted-average interest rate for each class of security it has issued. Because the government is constantly rolling over old debt and issuing new debt, these averages move gradually — a Bond issued at 2% in 2020 keeps dragging the average down for years even after new Bonds are sold at 4%. That is why the total rate here can look low relative to today’s market yields, and why the fastest-moving line is always Bills and Floating Rate Notes.
Every figure on this site comes straight from the Treasury’s official monthly release and updates automatically when a new month is published.