Reading challenges

44 reading and book club statistics (2026)

Research by BiblioFiend · Published on · Updated after source checks

Read on an average day
16.1%
U.S. ages 15+, 2025
Change since 2003
−10.2 pp
Daily participation
Published estimates
282
22 years · 2020 unavailable
Daily reading participation, 2003–2025
0%10%20%30% 2003: 26.3%2004: 27.7%2005: 27%2006: 26.4%2007: 24.9%2008: 23.9%2009: 24.2%2010: 21.1%2011: 20%2012: 20.7%2013: 20.5%2014: 21.3%2015: 21.1%2016: 19.5%2017: 18.7%2018: 17.5%2019: 18%2021: 17.9%2022: 16.7%2023: 16.2%2024: 16.1%2025: 16.1% 200320102020 gap2025

BiblioFiend compilation of BLS time-use estimates. Reading for personal interest includes books and other reading. All values appear in the table and CSV.

Key takeaways

  • In the October 2025 survey, 7% of U.S. adults said they had participated in a book club in the past 12 months. (Pew Research Center, April 2026)
  • In the February 2025 NPR/Ipsos survey, 14% of U.S. adults said they had set a reading goal in the past year. (Ipsos, April 2025)
  • Among the avid book-club readers surveyed by PRH in June 2024, 51% named availability or accessibility as the top consideration when choosing a club book. (Penguin Random House, October 2024)
  • The Audio Publishers Association’s 2026 release reported that 58% of Americans aged 18 or older had ever listened to an audiobook. (Audio Publishers Association, June 2026)
  • In YouGov’s April 2019 daily poll, 12% of U.S. adults said they often reread books they had already read. (YouGov, April 2019)
  • In YouGov’s April 2024 survey, 47% of U.S. adult citizens said funding for public libraries should be increased. (YouGov, April 2024)

Explore the complete U.S. reading-time series

94 population/day/year records contain 282 published estimates. National all-day results cover 2003–2025; sex and weekday/weekend detail covers 2016–2025. Annual 2020 estimates were not published. Hours were converted to minutes by multiplying by 60.

Download full table (CSV)282 estimates in long form44 findings with scope and sources

All 94 records. Source: BLS American Time Use Survey; civilian noninstitutional population aged 15+.

Reading for personal interest: participation and time
PopulationDayMinutes per reader
2025All peopleAll days16.1%16.2100.2
2025All peopleWeekdays16.5%16.296.6
2025All peopleWeekends and holidays15.2%16.8109.2
2025MenAll days13.4%13.8103.2
2025MenWeekdays13.7%13.8101.4
2025MenWeekends and holidays12.7%13.8106.8
2025WomenAll days18.8%18.697.8
2025WomenWeekdays19.3%18.092.4
2025WomenWeekends and holidays17.6%19.8111.0
2024All peopleAll days16.1%16.8104.4
2024All peopleWeekdays16.4%16.299.6
2024All peopleWeekends and holidays15.3%18.0116.4
2024MenAll days13.7%15.0109.8
2024MenWeekdays14.4%15.6106.8
2024MenWeekends and holidays12.2%14.4117.0
2024WomenAll days18.3%18.6100.2
2024WomenWeekdays18.3%17.493.6
2024WomenWeekends and holidays18.3%21.0116.4
2023All peopleAll days16.2%15.696.6
2023All peopleWeekdays16.3%15.093.0
2023All peopleWeekends and holidays16.1%16.8105.6
2023MenAll days13.7%12.089.4
2023MenWeekdays13.9%11.483.4
2023MenWeekends and holidays13.4%13.8105.0
2023WomenAll days18.6%19.2102.0
2023WomenWeekdays18.6%18.6100.2
2023WomenWeekends and holidays18.7%19.8106.8
2022All peopleAll days16.7%15.694.8
2022All peopleWeekdays16.8%15.089.4
2022All peopleWeekends and holidays16.5%18.0107.4
2022MenAll days13.6%12.692.4
2022MenWeekdays14%12.085.8
2022MenWeekends and holidays12.5%13.8109.2
2022WomenAll days19.7%19.296.6
2022WomenWeekdays19.4%18.091.8
2022WomenWeekends and holidays20.3%21.6106.8
2021All peopleAll days17.9%16.893.0
2021All peopleWeekdays17.7%15.689.4
2021All peopleWeekends and holidays18.2%18.6100.8
2021MenAll days14.7%13.894.8
2021MenWeekdays15.2%13.892.4
2021MenWeekends and holidays13.7%13.899.6
2021WomenAll days20.8%19.291.8
2021WomenWeekdays20.1%17.487.0
2021WomenWeekends and holidays22.4%22.8101.4
2019All peopleAll days18%16.290.0
2019All peopleWeekdays18.5%15.684.0
2019All peopleWeekends and holidays17.1%18.0103.8
2019MenAll days16%13.887.0
2019MenWeekdays16.5%13.278.6
2019MenWeekends and holidays14.8%16.2108.0
2019WomenAll days19.9%18.692.4
2019WomenWeekdays20.3%18.088.8
2019WomenWeekends and holidays19.2%19.2100.8
2018All peopleAll days17.5%15.690.6
2018All peopleWeekdays17.9%15.085.2
2018All peopleWeekends and holidays16.7%17.4103.2
2018MenAll days16.2%14.489.4
2018MenWeekdays16.3%13.885.8
2018MenWeekends and holidays15.9%15.698.4
2018WomenAll days18.8%17.491.2
2018WomenWeekdays19.3%16.285.2
2018WomenWeekends and holidays17.5%18.6107.4
2017All peopleAll days18.7%16.888.8
2017All peopleWeekdays18.8%16.286.4
2017All peopleWeekends and holidays18.6%17.494.2
2017MenAll days15.2%13.287.0
2017MenWeekdays15.2%13.286.4
2017MenWeekends and holidays15.3%13.888.8
2017WomenAll days22%19.890.0
2017WomenWeekdays22.1%19.286.4
2017WomenWeekends and holidays21.7%21.097.8
2016All peopleAll days19.5%17.488.8
2016All peopleWeekdays19.5%16.282.8
2016All peopleWeekends and holidays19.6%19.8101.4
2016MenAll days17%15.087.0
2016MenWeekdays17.6%14.482.8
2016MenWeekends and holidays15.7%15.697.8
2016WomenAll days21.8%19.890.0
2016WomenWeekdays21.2%17.483.4
2016WomenWeekends and holidays23.2%24.0103.8
2015All peopleAll days21.1%19.292.4
2014All peopleAll days21.3%19.290.0
2013All peopleAll days20.5%19.294.2
2012All peopleAll days20.7%19.894.8
2011All peopleAll days20%18.088.8
2010All peopleAll days21.1%18.085.8
2009All peopleAll days24.2%20.485.2
2008All peopleAll days23.9%20.486.4
2007All peopleAll days24.9%21.084.6
2006All peopleAll days26.4%21.682.8
2005All peopleAll days27%22.883.4
2004All peopleAll days27.7%22.882.8
2003All peopleAll days26.3%21.683.4

“Per person” averages readers and non-readers; “per reader” covers only people who read on their diary day. The estimates describe a typical day, not how many people read a book during a year. Weekends include holidays. Use the CSV for exact published hours and source links.

How has time spent reading changed?

BLS time diaries cover the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population aged 15 or older. Reading for personal interest includes more than books. These are descriptive point estimates, without tests of statistical significance.

Reading time: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Daily participation change10.2 percentage pointsU.S. civilian noninstitutional population aged 15+ · 2003–2025
Minutes per person change5.4 minutesU.S. civilian noninstitutional population aged 15+ · 2003–2025
Minutes per reader change16.8 minutesU.S. civilian noninstitutional population aged 15+ · 2003–2025

  1. Across BiblioFiend’s compilation of BLS estimates, U.S. daily reading participation fell by 10.2 percentage points from 26.3% in 2003 to 16.1% in 2025. (BiblioFiend compilation of BLS, November 2026)

    Published point estimates, not causal or significance-tested changes; 2020 annual data unavailable.

  2. BiblioFiend’s comparison of published BLS estimates finds 5.4 minutes less reading per person on an average U.S. day in 2025 than in 2003, a change from 21.6 to 16.2 minutes. (BiblioFiend compilation of BLS, November 2026)

    Published point estimates, not causal or significance-tested changes; 2020 annual data unavailable.

  3. In BiblioFiend’s BLS compilation, time spent reading among people who read on their diary day increased by 16.8 minutes between 2003 and 2025. (BiblioFiend compilation of BLS, November 2026)

    Published point estimates, not causal or significance-tested changes; 2020 annual data unavailable.

  4. BiblioFiend’s comparison of 2025 BLS estimates finds women’s daily reading participation 5.4 percentage points higher than men’s, across the U.S. population aged 15 or older. (BiblioFiend compilation of BLS, November 2026)

    Published point estimates, not causal or significance-tested changes; 2020 annual data unavailable.

How much do Americans read?

Annual book counts, reading frequency and goal setting measure different things. Each finding keeps its own question, survey period and population.

Reading habits: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Past-year book-club participation7%U.S. adults · October 2025
Mean books read in a year12.6U.S. adults · December 2021
Share of books read by the 10+ group82%U.S. adult citizens · December 2025

  1. In the October 2025 survey, 7% of U.S. adults said they had participated in a book club in the past 12 months. (Pew Research Center, April 2026)

    Any book club participation; not monthly membership.

  2. U.S. adults reported reading an average of 12.6 books in the past year in Gallup’s December 2021 survey. (Gallup, January 2022)

    All or part of books; includes audio. A mean is not the typical person’s count.

  3. The 19% of U.S. adult citizens who reported at least 10 books accounted for 82% of books read or listened to in YouGov’s 2025 survey estimate. (YouGov, December 2025)

    Publisher’s estimated concentration from self-reported count bands; not a census of individual books.

  4. In the February 2025 NPR/Ipsos survey, 14% of U.S. adults said they had set a reading goal in the past year. (Ipsos, April 2025)

    Setting a goal does not establish meeting it; probability-based KnowledgePanel.

  5. In the June 2026 CBS News/YouGov survey, 36% of U.S. adults said they were reading fewer books for personal enjoyment than 10 years earlier. (CBS News and YouGov, June 2026)

    Retrospective self-assessment; not a measured ten-year panel.

  6. In the 2022 SPPA, 48.5% of U.S. adults reported reading at least one print or electronic book not required for work or school in the past year. (National Endowment for the Arts, October 2023)

    Excludes required work/school books and does not count audiobook listening as print/electronic book reading.

  7. In YouGov’s December 6, 2023 daily poll, 24% of U.S. adults said they currently read books every day. (YouGov, December 2023)

    Self-reported usual frequency differs from a time-diary day.

  8. In Pew’s spring 2016 survey, 80% of U.S. adults said they read for pleasure at least occasionally across written material of any kind. (Pew Research Center, September 2016)

    Includes magazines, newspapers and online material; not book reading alone.

  9. In Verasight’s December 2025 survey, 38.2% of U.S. adults reported reading one to four books in the previous year. (Verasight, December 2025)

    Self-reported count band; exact wording differs from Pew and YouGov.

How do book clubs choose what to read?

Club-member and subscriber surveys describe their respondents. They are not interchangeable with a survey of all U.S. adults. The Canadian finding is international context.

Book club choices: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Availability leads club book choice51%PRH Reader Lounge book-club respondents · June 2024
No official book-length maximum80%1,268 book-club-member respondents · February 2023
Choose one club book at a time62%Bookclubs survey respondents’ clubs · Survey cited February 2025

  1. Among the avid book-club readers surveyed by PRH in June 2024, 51% named availability or accessibility as the top consideration when choosing a club book. (Penguin Random House, October 2024)

    Opt-in panel of over 3,000 avid readers, not nationally representative.

  2. More than 80% of book groups represented in BookBrowse’s February 2023 respondent survey had no official maximum book length. (BookBrowse, August 2023)

    Subscriber survey; no claim about all U.S. clubs.

  3. In Bookclubs’ annual survey cited in February 2025, 62% of represented clubs chose one book at a time. (Bookclubs, February 2025)

    Platform-user survey; sample size and field dates not given on the article.

  4. Among U.S. subscription-paying readers aged 18–64 surveyed by Everand in 2024, 43% said they had not joined a book club because they preferred choosing books themselves. (Everand, January 2025)

    Over 1,500 respondents who had paid for an eBook or audiobook subscription in the prior two years; not all U.S. readers.

  5. Among Canadian readers responding to BookNet’s 2023 leisure survey, 33% attended an in-person book club or reading group at least once that year. (BookNet Canada, July 2024)

    International context, not a U.S. estimate; online and in-person attendees may overlap.

What does the evidence say about running a book club?

These findings describe club size, participation and meeting choices. Historical and pandemic-era results retain their dates.

Running a book club: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Own club participation increasing40.64%Roughly 1,000 BookBrowse club respondents · 2025
Joined to read new books68%U.S. adults in book clubs · April 17–24, 2025
Mean registered club size16Clubs registered on Bookclubs · Undated page, accessed November 2026

  1. In BookBrowse’s Inner Lives of Book Clubs research, 16% of current club respondents reported a problem with one or more members rarely participating in discussion. (BookBrowse, October 2020)

    Historical opt-in research; not a current national participation estimate.

  2. In an earlier BookBrowse survey cited in September 2022, half (50%) of respondents’ book clubs served snacks or no food. (BookBrowse, September 2022)

    Underlying field dates not stated in the article; retained as historical context.

  3. In BookBrowse’s October 2020 survey, 27% of respondents in U.S. book groups said their group had agreed not to discuss politics. (BookBrowse, February 2021)

    Pandemic-era snapshot; not a 2026 recommendation or current rate.

  4. Among BookBrowse respondents whose groups were still meeting in October 2020, 61% described themselves as very happy with their book club. (BookBrowse, February 2021)

    Pandemic-era, self-selected survey; do not generalize to current all-club satisfaction.

  5. In BookBrowse’s 2025 respondent survey, 40.64% of book-club members said participation in their own group was increasing. (BookBrowse, May 2025)

    Reports members’ impressions of their own group, not U.S. membership growth.

  6. BookBrowse’s 2019 research reported that 88% of private book clubs represented by respondents were all-women groups. (BookBrowse, August 2019)

    Private clubs differ from public library groups; historic opt-in sample.

  7. Among 2,000 American book-club members surveyed by Talker Research in April 2025, 68% said reading new books was a reason for joining. (ThriftBooks and Talker Research, May 2025)

    Commissioned by ThriftBooks; already-in-club respondents, not all adults. No health-effect inference.

  8. Bookclubs reported an average of 16 members per club on its partnership page accessed in November 2026. (Bookclubs, accessed November 2026)

    Platform-reported average; methodology and data period are not stated.

How do readers find, finish and keep books?

Reader preferences, ownership and buyer segments have different denominators. Responses about a hypothetical choice are not observed behavior.

Choosing and keeping books: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Book owners who do not organize29%U.S. physical-book owners · October 2023
Less fulfilled by an AI-authored book61%U.S. readers in a 1,000-American survey · 2025
Would stop an unenjoyed book55%5,089 U.S. adults · September 8, 2022

  1. Among U.S. adults who owned at least one physical book, 29% said they did not organize their books in October 2023. (YouGov, October 2023)

    Opt-in daily questions panel; different denominator from all adults.

  2. Among U.S. readers in YouGov’s 2025 AI-books survey, 61% reported feeling less fulfilled on learning a book had been written by AI. (YouGov, August 2025)

    Hypothetical or stated response, not observed reading behavior.

  3. 55% of U.S. adults in YouGov’s September 2022 daily poll said they would stop reading a book they were not enjoying. (YouGov, September 2022)

    Daily question; not a measured book-completion rate.

  4. In YouGov’s March 2023 daily poll, 52% of U.S. adults said they were most likely to keep a finished physical book on a bookshelf. (YouGov, March 2023)

    Question includes non-readers; not restricted to current book owners.

  5. Among past-year readers in Pew’s 2011 survey, 26% named learning, gaining knowledge or discovering information as what they most enjoyed about reading. (Pew Research Center, April 2012)

    Historical open-ended responses; not a 2026 preference share.

  6. In Pew’s December 2011 survey, 64% of Americans aged 16 or older said they got book recommendations from family, friends or co-workers. (Pew Research Center, June 2012)

    Historical ever-use question; not a current market share.

  7. In Circana’s Future of Books research cited in 2025, 26% of romance-book buyers said they were reading much more than a year earlier. (Circana, June 2025)

    Buyer segment, not all adults; self-assessed change.

  8. In YouGov’s April 2019 daily poll, 12% of U.S. adults said they often reread books they had already read. (YouGov, April 2019)

    Historical self-reported frequency; not a record of rereading behavior.

How do readers access print, digital and audio?

A lifetime audiobook question, a library visit, a lending transaction and publisher revenue are different measures of access. None is a count of completed books.

Formats and access: selected findings
MeasureFigurePopulation and period
Ever listened to an audiobook58%U.S. adults 18+ · 2026
Worldwide digital checkouts820 millionOverDrive library/school network worldwide · 2025
Visited a physical library54%U.S. residents aged 13–40 · Survey fielded in 2022

  1. The Audio Publishers Association’s 2026 release reported that 58% of Americans aged 18 or older had ever listened to an audiobook. (Audio Publishers Association, June 2026)

    Lifetime listening, not past-year participation; industry survey headline.

  2. Libraries and schools using OverDrive recorded more than 820 million digital checkouts worldwide in 2025. (OverDrive, January 2026)

    Includes digital magazines; transactions are not unique readers or completed books.

  3. In Pew’s spring 2016 survey, 44% of Americans aged 16 or older said their public library lent e-books. (Pew Research Center, September 2016)

    Awareness of local provision, not a count of libraries actually offering e-books.

  4. In Pew’s 2015 survey published in April 2016, 76% of U.S. adults said libraries served their community’s learning and educational needs very or pretty well. (Pew Research Center, April 2016)

    Opinion about community service, not a reading-proficiency outcome.

  5. In ALA’s study of Americans aged 13–40, 54% of Gen Z and millennial respondents visited a physical library in the previous 12 months. (American Library Association, November 2023)

    Includes teenagers; does not represent all adult ages.

  6. U.S. trade publishing, meaning consumer books, generated an estimated $21.7 billion in revenue in 2025. (Association of American Publishers, August 2026)

    Publisher revenue estimate; not consumer spending or author income.

  7. In the 2022 SPPA, 4.8% of U.S. adults listened to poetry through broadcasts, recordings or web streaming. (National Endowment for the Arts, April 2023)

    New listening question; not directly comparable to reading-only trends.

  8. In Pew’s 2015 survey, 65% of Americans aged 16 or older said closing their local public library would have a major impact on their community. (Pew Research Center, September 2015)

    Historical opinion about a hypothetical closure; not a measured effect of closing a library.

  9. In YouGov’s April 2024 survey, 47% of U.S. adult citizens said funding for public libraries should be increased. (YouGov, April 2024)

    Stated funding preference, not actual funding or library use.

  10. Among U.S. adult citizens who read at least one digital book in 2024, 61% said those books included one they owned. (YouGov, December 2024)

    Multiple answers allowed; digital-book ownership, borrowing and subscriptions can overlap.

Methods and refresh

48 candidate figures checked, 44 kept: 40 distinct first-publisher findings and four comparisons calculated from BLS estimates. The table and chart compile every available annual national reading estimate from 2003–2025 and the complete published sex/day reading rows from Tables A-1 and A-2 for 2016–2025. They contain 94 records and 282 published estimates; repeated values in a chart or table do not add findings.

The missing 2020 annual results remain missing. BLS paused data collection during part of that year. Published point estimates are compared without a significance test or a causal explanation. Rounded hours are converted to minutes; that conversion does not add precision to the underlying survey.

Each survey retains its country, respondent group, question period and publication date. Subscriber, book-club, buyer and subscription-user panels are identified alongside the findings. Older results provide historical context. Different measures are not pooled into an average or a national membership estimate.

Figures checked November 5, 2026. Next review: February 5, 2027. Send a correction. The original compilation and CSV files are available under CC BY 4.0; credit BiblioFiend and retain the underlying source and scope.

Original sources

BLS Tables A-1 and A-2 and the ATUS database supply the time-use series. Choose a reading challenge or find discussion questions.