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Americans age 15 and over read for an average of 16 minutes per day in 2025

July 22, 2026

In 2025, Americans aged 15 and over spent an average of 16 minutes per day reading for personal interest, compared with 2.6 hours watching TV.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Average hours per day spent in selected leisure and sports activities by age, 2025 annual averages
Age	Total, all leisure and sports activities	Socializing and communicating	Watching TV	Relaxing and thinking	Playing games	Computer use for leisure, excluding games	Reading for personal interest	Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation
Total, 15 years and over	5.16	0.58	2.61	0.35	0.40	0.22	0.27	0.34
15 to 24 years	5.16	0.58	1.77	0.30	0.89	0.42	0.16	0.57
25 to 34 years	4.50	0.59	1.89	0.25	0.60	0.31	0.17	0.33
35 to 44 years	3.89	0.58	1.76	0.25	0.33	0.11	0.22	0.30
45 to 54 years	4.30	0.56	2.26	0.28	0.18	0.20	0.21	0.30
55 to 64 years	5.21	0.66	3.06	0.37	0.14	0.12	0.21	0.25
65 years and over	7.11	0.56	4.30	0.56	0.26	0.19	0.53	0.31

The average time spent on leisure and sports activities was highest for those aged 65 and over (7.1 hours per day) and lowest for people between 35 and 44 (3.9 hours per day). Those between 55 and 64 years of age spent an average of 15 minutes per day participating in sports, exercise, and recreation, while people between 15 and 24 spent about 34 minutes on those activities.

Not surprisingly, individuals aged 55 and over (and more likely to be retired) spent more time relaxing, thinking, socializing and communicating than those in younger age groups. People between the ages of 55 and 64 spent about 40 minutes a day socializing and communicating and about 22 minutes a day relaxing and thinking. Those 65 and over spent about 34 minutes a day on each of these activities, while those between the ages of 25 and 34 spent about 15 minutes a day relaxing and thinking in 2025.

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. For more information, see “American Time Use Survey — 2025 Results.” We also have more charts on activities and time use.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Americans age 15 and over read for an average of 16 minutes per day in 2025 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/americans-age-15-and-over-read-for-an-average-of-16-minutes-per-day-in-2025.htm (visited July 23, 2026).

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