John Elflein
Research expert covering health and health care
Sleep in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts
The average person will spend around one third of their life sleeping. While this might sound like a waste of time to some, sufficient and consistent sleep is an essential part of staying healthy and poor sleep can negatively affect a person's life in many ways. A survey of U.S. adults from 2022 found that almost half of respondents agreed that sleep has a major impact on their mood, their day at work, and their health in general. Nevertheless, almost half of adults in the United States state getting good sleep on a typical weekday is not a major priority for them and insufficient sleep is a problem for many people.
How prevalent is insufficient sleep?
The recommended number of hours of sleep a person needs per 24 hours changes with age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children aged 6 to 12 years are recommended to get between 9 and 12 hours of sleep per day while teenagers are recommended to get 8 to 10 hours. Short sleep duration among adults aged 18 to 60 years is defined as less than seven hours. In 2022, around 37 percent of U.S. adults reported getting less than seven hours of sleep on average each day. At that time, insufficient sleep was slightly more common among men than women, and seniors were less likely to report not getting enough sleep than younger adults. For example, around 28 percent of those aged 65 years and older reported insufficient sleep in 2022, compared to 38 percent of those aged 18 to 44 years. Common reasons U.S. adults give for having a poor night's sleep or trouble sleeping include needing to use the bathroom, physical discomfort, and being too hot.Sleeping aids
Sleeping aids are a common solution to sleeping problems for many people in the United States. Common sleep aids among U.S. adults include opening a window or using air conditioning, using a noise machine, and taking non-medicinal sleep aids such as tea and melatonin, which is considered a dietary supplement in the United States, but a prescription drug in many other countries. Medication is another way many adults help with falling or staying asleep, with their use increasing with age. The OTC sleep aid market in the United States has grown over the past decade, reporting revenue of about 427 million U.S. dollars in 2023, compared to 402 million U.S. dollars in 2013. Finding the right sleeping environment and aids can be essential as getting sufficient sleep has proven to reduce stress, improve one's mood, and decrease the risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. So although sleeping may sometimes feel like a waste of time, it is essential to live a long and healthy life.
