Average reading time in the U.S. 2018-2021, by age group

The average daily time spent reading by individuals in the United States in 2021 amounted to 0.28 hours, or 16.8 minutes. According to the study, adults over the age of 75 were the most avid readers, spending over 40 minutes reading each day. Meanwhile, those aged between 15 and 19 years read for less than 10 minutes per day on average.

Reading and COVID-19

Daily time reading increased among most consumers between 2019 and 2020, part of which could be linked to the unprecedented increases in media consumption during COVID-19 shutdowns. The mean annual expenditure on books per consumer unit also increased year over year, along with spending on digital book readers.

Book reading habits

A 2020 survey on preferred book formats found that 70 percent of U.S. adults favored print books over e-books or audiobooks. However, engagement with digital books is growing. Figures from an annual study on book consumption revealed that the share of adults who reported reading an audiobook in the last year almost doubled between 2011 and 2019, and e-book readership also grew overall during that period.