# Americans spend more time asleep than they did 20 years ago, not less

> In the American Time Use Survey, the average American aged 15+ spent 9.03 hours a day sleeping in 2025, up from 8.57 hours in 2003, about 28 minutes more. The rise was steady before the pandemic too (8.84 hours in 2019).

Confidence: **solid**. Published 2026-10-14. Canonical: https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/americans-sleep-more-than-in-2003

This is self-reported time in a diary, and ATUS "sleeping" includes naps, dozing and lying awake trying to sleep, so
the level (about 9 hours) is higher than sleep measured by a device. The trend is the interesting part: the same
survey, asked the same way every year, shows time spent sleeping going up, not down: slowly from 2003 to 2019,
then a step up in the pandemic years that has not reversed. It fits with [the lack of clear evidence for a decline](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/sleep-duration-has-not-declined) in
objectively measured sleep.

## Average time spent sleeping per day, Americans 15+, 2003–2025

| year | Hours per day |
| --- | --- |
| 2003 | 8.57 h |
| 2004 | 8.55 h |
| 2005 | 8.62 h |
| 2006 | 8.63 h |
| 2007 | 8.57 h |
| 2008 | 8.6 h |
| 2009 | 8.67 h |
| 2010 | 8.67 h |
| 2011 | 8.71 h |
| 2012 | 8.73 h |
| 2013 | 8.74 h |
| 2014 | 8.8 h |
| 2015 | 8.83 h |
| 2016 | 8.79 h |
| 2017 | 8.8 h |
| 2018 | 8.82 h |
| 2019 | 8.84 h |
| 2020 | 9 h |
| 2021 | 8.95 h |
| 2022 | 9.02 h |
| 2023 | 9.07 h |
| 2024 | 9.04 h |
| 2025 | 9.03 h |

atus-sleep dataset, trend table. 2020 is a partial year (COVID-19 suspension of data collection) and not an official annual estimate.

## Sources

- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) [American Time Use Survey 2003–2025 multi-year microdata](https://www.bls.gov/tus/data/datafiles-0325.htm) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sample: 258,954 respondents, one diary day each, 2003–2025
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [American Time Use Survey, Table A-1 (published annual estimates)](https://www.bls.gov/tus/tables.htm) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

## Method

Weighted average of minutes per day coded as sleeping (ATUS codes 0101: sleeping, sleeplessness, sleeping n.e.c.), using BLS final weights (TUFNWGTP; TU20FWGT for 2020). Computed by this site from the microdata and checked against BLS's published 'Sleeping' estimates, which match to two decimals in all 22 published years. 2020 is a partial year (no diaries for Mar 18–May 9) and BLS published no annual figure for it.

Dataset: [When and how long Americans sleep (American Time Use Survey)](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/datasets/atus-sleep)

Ranking: [How much do Americans sleep at each age?](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/sleep-by-age)

## Related facts

- [There's no clear evidence that adults sleep less than 50 years ago](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/sleep-duration-has-not-declined)
- [People living without electricity don't sleep more than we do](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/hunter-gatherers-sleep-less)
- [US melatonin use rose about fivefold in two decades](https://karelbusta.dev/data/sleep/melatonin-use-rose-fivefold)