Reading statistics: how many Americans read, and how much
Key takeaways
- 75% of U.S. adults read a book in any format in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center, survey Jan 25 – Feb 8, 2021).
- 12.6 books read on average in the past year, down from 15.6 in 2016 and the lowest Gallup has measured since 1990 (Gallup, survey Dec 1–16, 2021, n = 811 adults).
- 17% of adults read no books at all that year (Gallup, survey Dec 1–16, 2021, n = 811 adults).
- 40% of U.S. fourth-graders scored below the NAEP Basic reading level (NAEP, The Nation's Report Card, 2024 assessment).
- 20,804 school reading-list assignments counted on this site, covering 2,809 distinct books (our state reading-list data, snapshot Oct 24, 2026).
Most reading statistics online are recycled without dates or sources. This page does the opposite: a small set of numbers, each from the primary source that measured it, with the survey date attached — plus the one thing nobody else measures, what U.S. schools actually assign.
Who reads, and in what format
75% of U.S. adults read a book in some format in the past year: 65% read print and 30% read an e-book.
Source: Pew Research Center, U.S. adults, survey 2021 · Source checked 2026-07-23
Show the numbers
| Format | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| Any format | 75% |
| Print book | 65% |
| E-book | 30% |
Pew Research Center's survey (fielded January 25 – February 8, 2021) is the canonical read on formats:
| Measure | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| U.S. adults who read a book in any format in the past 12 months | 75% |
| U.S. adults who read a print book in the past year | 65% |
| U.S. adults who read an e-book in the past year | 30% |
| Read digital formats and print books | 33% |
| Read print books only | 32% |
| Read digital formats only | 9% |
Source: Pew Research Center, published January 6, 2022, from a survey fielded January 25 – February 8, 2021.
33% of U.S. adults read both print and digital, 32% print only and 9% digital only.
Source: Pew Research Center, U.S. adults, survey 2021 · Source checked 2026-07-23
Show the numbers
| How they read | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| Print and digital | 33% |
| Print only | 32% |
| Digital only | 9% |
How many books per year
Americans read an average of 12.6 books in the 2021 Gallup survey, down from 15.6 in 2016.
Source: Gallup telephone surveys of U.S. adults · Source checked 2026-07-23
Show the numbers
| Gallup survey | Average books in the past year |
|---|---|
| 2016 survey | 15.6 books |
| 2021 survey | 12.6 books |
Gallup has asked Americans how many books they read since 1990. Its December 1–16, 2021 telephone survey (n=811 adults) found an average of 12.6 books in the past year — the lowest in the series — versus 15.6 in 2016. The share reading zero books (17%) is essentially unchanged from the 16–18% of 2002–2016: the decline comes from readers reading less, not from more people giving up books entirely.
Source: Gallup, survey December 1–16, 2021.
Student reading: the NAEP picture
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (2024) puts numbers on how students read: the average grade-4 reading score was 2 points lower than in 2022, and 40% of fourth-graders scored below the NAEP Basic level — a larger share than in 2022 (and not significantly different from the first assessment in 1992).
Source: The Nation's Report Card, NAEP 2024 Reading Assessment.
What students are assigned to read — our own data
Grades 3–5 carry the most assignments: 38.8% of all 20,804.
Source: 20,804 U.S. school reading-list assignment records, bookstatistics.com · Dataset snapshot 2026-10-24
Show the numbers
| School level | Share of all assignments · count |
|---|---|
| Grades K–2 | 10.9% · 2,268 |
| Grades 3–5 | 38.8% · 8,064 |
| Grades 6–8 | 32.5% · 6,754 |
| Grades 9–12 | 17.9% · 3,718 |
Surveys measure what people say they read. This site measures what schools put in front of students, computed at build time from 20,804 assignment records across published U.S. reading lists (snapshot 2026-10-24):
- 2,809 distinct books assigned across 50 states — assigned books statistics
- The most-assigned book is Wonder by R.J. Palacio (163 assignments) — the full ranked table
- Median length 208 pages (n=17,266) — book length statistics
- Median publication year 2010 — assigned book age statistics
Questions this page answers
How many Americans read books?
75% of U.S. adults say they read a book in any format in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center, survey fielded January 25 – February 8, 2021). Print still leads: 65% read a print book, 30% an e-book.
How many books does the average American read per year?
12.6 books in the past year, per Gallup's December 2021 survey — the lowest average Gallup has measured in any survey since 1990, down from 15.6 in 2016.
What share of Americans read no books at all?
17% of U.S. adults read no books in the past year (Gallup, December 2021) — similar to the 16–18% Gallup measured across 2002–2016. Falling averages are driven by heavy readers reading less, not by more non-readers.
Are American students reading better or worse?
Worse on the national assessment: the average NAEP grade-4 reading score in 2024 was 2 points lower than in 2022, and 40% of fourth-graders scored below the NAEP Basic level — a larger share than in 2022.
How long is a typical book assigned in school?
The median book on U.S. school reading lists runs 208 pages, computed across 17,266 assignment records in this site's corpus — see the book length statistics page for the full grade-by-grade distribution.
Download the data
- reading-statistics.csv Every figure on this page with its source, source URL and survey date. Free, CORS-enabled, CC BY 4.0 — reuse with a link.
- All data downloads →
Cite this page
<a href="https://bookstatistics.com/reading-statistics/">U.S. Reading Statistics</a>. Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site. [U.S. Reading Statistics](https://bookstatistics.com/reading-statistics/). Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site. [url=https://bookstatistics.com/reading-statistics/]U.S. Reading Statistics[/url]. Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site. Method note
External figures on this page are quoted from their primary sources — Pew Research Center (surveyed 2021), Gallup (surveyed 2021) and NAEP (assessed 2024) — fetched and verified on 2026-07-23; survey vintages differ and are stated inline rather than blended. Assigned-reading figures are computed at build from this site's corpus (snapshot 2026-10-24); see the methodology.
Related reference pages
- Bestseller statistics How the NYT list actually works — the odds and the mechanics.
- Assigned books statistics The corpus in reference form.
- Most-assigned books, ranked The living top-50 table.
Data + analysis: bookstatistics.com, CC BY 4.0. A Figures Bureau study.
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