Debt-to-Assets Ratio

Leverage & Debt
Updated Apr 2026 • Has calculator

The proportion of a company's assets financed by debt.

What is Debt-to-Assets?

The Debt-to-Assets Ratio divides total debt by total assets to show what fraction of the company's asset base is financed through borrowing. A ratio of 0.50 means half the assets are debt-funded. Unlike the Debt-to-Equity Ratio, it measures leverage relative to the total asset base rather than equity alone, making it more stable when equity is thin or negative. It is widely used in credit analysis and Altman's Z-Score calculation, with higher ratios indicating greater financial risk.

Formula

Debt-to-Assets = Total Debt ÷ Total Assets

Worked Example

Worked example — Apple Inc. (AAPL)

FY2024

Step 1  Total debt (long-term $85,750M + current portion $10,912M): $96,662M
Step 2  Total assets: $364,980M
Step 3  Debt-to-Assets = $96,662M ÷ $364,980M = 0.26
Step 4  → 26% of Apple's assets are financed by debt — moderate leverage for a company of its size

Source: Apple 10-K FY2024 (2024-11-01)

Calculate Debt-to-Assets

Total interest-bearing debt (short-term + long-term) in millions of USD

Total assets from the balance sheet in millions of USD

Debt-to-Assets Ratio

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Not investment advice.

How to Interpret Debt-to-Assets

< 0.25
Low Leverage — mostly equity-funded, conservative
0.25 – 0.5
Moderate — balanced debt and equity financing
0.5 – 0.75
High — significant debt load, monitor earnings coverage
> 0.75
Very High — heavily debt-financed, elevated financial risk
Sources
  1. CFA Institute — Financial Reporting and Analysis, 6th ed., Ch. 10
  2. Investopedia — Debt Ratio