Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 2 · Federal budget
How much federal debt is there per American?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In fiscal 2025 the federal debt came to about $110,100 for every person in the US, up from $33,000 in 2008 and $1,585 in 1960. It is the debt at the end of each fiscal year divided by the World Bank's mid-year population estimate, not adjusted for inflation. It starts in 1960, the first year of the World Bank's population figures.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding; population from the World Bank (SP.POP.TOTL) (Debt data public domain (U.S. government work); World Bank population data CC BY 4.0) · Data as of Sep 30, 2025
Open the chart and its numbersChart 2 of 2 · Income and poverty
What is the typical household income in each state?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In the Census Bureau's 5-year survey ending in 2024, the typical household in District of Columbia earned $109,870 a year, the most, followed by Massachusetts ($103,960) and Maryland ($103,678). Mississippi was lowest at $56,447, and the U.S. median was $80,734. These are 5-year estimates in 2024 dollars, each with a margin of error.
How to read this chart
Each bar is the median household income in a state: half of households earn more and half earn less. The dashed line is the whole U.S., for comparison. These are survey estimates, and each has a margin of error: the true value is likely within that range, so states with overlapping ranges may not really differ.
Questions to discuss
- Find your state. Is it above or below the U.S. median, and by about how much?
- Why do statisticians often use the median instead of the average (mean) for income?
- Housing and groceries cost more in some states. What would you need to know to compare what these incomes can buy?
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (Public domain (U.S. government work). This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024
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