Nathan Nguyen

Contrary to alarmist claims about an increasingly sleep-deprived society, sleep duration has actually increased among most American demographic groups. Healthy sleep is essential for physical health, cognitive function, and overall well-being, yet many U.S. adults do not achieve the recommended sleep duration. Some experts warned that longer work hours, ubiquitous electronic media, and the 24/7 lifestyle were eroding time available for sleep, leading to a growing “sleep debt” in the population. Sociodemographic disparities in sleep are well documented, but evidence on long-term population trends are mixed. In this study [n=239,930], we used two decades of data from the American Time Use Survey, a continuous, nationally representative diary study, to provide an updated assessment of changes in Americans’ sleep duration from 2003 to 2024. Americans in 2024 slept about half an hour longer per day than they did in 2003. Average daily sleep duration increased significantly over the study period, rising from approximately 8 hours 30 minutes in 2003 to 8 hours 55 minutes in 2024. The modest but steady increase in overall sleep duration included both night sleep and naps. Improvements were seen across most groups, with no meaningful sex differences in trends and unadjusted age-related divergence was attenuated after adjustment. Higher-income and higher-educated adults consistently slept less, although disparities narrowed modestly. Our study paints an optimistic yet nuanced picture: Americans are sleeping a bit better overall, a testament to increasing health consciousness and possibly more flexible lifestyles, but significant work remains to ensure these gains are universal.

i think about this dude all the time