Adult reading frequency statistics show a broad reading audience with meaningful differences by format, age, gender, race and education. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted October 6–16, 2025, 75% of U.S. adults said they had read a book in at least one format during the previous 12 months.
Adult Reading Frequency Statistics at a Glance
This article uses “read” as the supplied sources define it: a book, print book, e-book or audiobook during a stated reference period. The figures below describe U.S. adults unless a narrower group is named.
- 75% read a book in any format during the past 12 months.
- 64% read a print book during the past 12 months.
- 31% read an e-book during the past 12 months.
- 26% listened to an audiobook during the past 12 months.
- The highest any-format figure in the age breakdown was 78% among adults ages 18–29.
- The highest any-format figure in the education breakdown was 88% among college graduates.
Source for the 2025 figures: Book reading habits in the U.S. vary by education, age and other factors, October 6–16, 2025.
Table of contents
- How many U.S. adults read books in a typical year
- Which formats adults read or listen to
- Reading frequency by age group
- Reading frequency by gender, race and ethnicity
- Reading frequency by education level
- How adult reading rates have changed over time
How Many U.S. Adults Read Books in a Typical Year
The 2025 Pew Research Center results indicate that book reading reaches three-quarters of U.S. adults when print books, e-books and audiobooks are considered together. That overall measure is broader than print reading alone and captures adults who use more than one format.
| Reading measure | U.S. adults who did this | Reference period |
|---|---|---|
| Read a book in any format | 75% | Past 12 months; October 6–16, 2025 survey |
| Read a print book | 64% | Past 12 months; October 6–16, 2025 survey |
| Read an e-book | 31% | Past 12 months; October 6–16, 2025 survey |
| Listened to an audiobook | 26% | Past 12 months; October 6–16, 2025 survey |
The measures overlap. An adult who read a print book could also have read an e-book or listened to an audiobook, so the format percentages should not be added together. The most inclusive figure is the 75% any-format result, while the 64% print figure shows that print remained the largest individually reported format in this dataset.
Big number: Three out of four U.S. adults reported reading a book in at least one format during the 12 months before the October 6–16, 2025 survey (Pew Research Center).
Which Formats Adults Read or Listen To
Print reading was more common than either e-book reading or audiobook listening in the overall U.S. adult results. The format pattern also differed between men and women.
Among women, 78% read a book in any format during the past 12 months. The corresponding figure among men was 71%. Women also reported higher use of each listed format: 68% read a print book, 33% read an e-book and 27% listened to an audiobook. Among men, the figures were 60% for print books, 28% for e-books and 24% for audiobooks.
These are participation measures for the prior 12 months, not counts of books or the number of reading sessions. They show whether respondents used a format during the reference period, rather than how frequently they used it each week or month.
Format findings by gender
- Women: 78% read a book in any format, 68% read print, 33% read e-books and 27% listened to audiobooks.
- Men: 71% read a book in any format, 60% read print, 28% read e-books and 24% listened to audiobooks.
Source: Book reading habits in the U.S. vary by education, age and other factors, October 6–16, 2025.
Reading Frequency by Age Group
Age differences appear in both the broad any-format measure and the three format-specific measures. Adults ages 18–29 had the highest any-format reading figure in the supplied age groups, at 78%. Adults ages 30–49 followed at 76%, adults ages 65 and older were at 73%, and adults ages 50–64 were at 71%.
| Age group | Any format | Print book | E-book | Audiobook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–29 | 78% | 66% | 41% | 32% |
| 30–49 | 76% | 64% | 33% | 33% |
| 50–64 | 71% | 61% | 26% | 23% |
| 65 and older | 73% | 65% | 23% | 13% |
Source: Book reading habits in the U.S. vary by education, age and other factors, October 6–16, 2025.
Adults ages 18–29 reported the highest e-book figure, at 41%. Adults ages 30–49 had the highest audiobook figure in the supplied age breakdown, at 33%, followed by 32% among adults ages 18–29. Adults ages 65 and older reported the lowest audiobook figure in the age table, at 13%, while their print-book figure was 65%.
The age results show why a single adult reading statistic can hide format differences. Any-format reading was relatively high in every listed age group, but e-book and audiobook participation varied more visibly, especially for older adults in the audiobook measure.
Reading Frequency by Gender, Race and Ethnicity
The 2025 Pew results also report differences across racial and ethnic groups. The Asian estimates are specifically described as representing English-speaking Asian adults, so that qualification belongs with those figures.
White adults had an any-format reading figure of 77%, with 67% reading print books, 30% reading e-books and 27% listening to audiobooks. Black adults recorded 69% for any-format reading, 57% for print, 27% for e-books and 25% for audiobooks.
Hispanic adults recorded 70% for any-format reading. Their format-specific figures were 57% for print books, 29% for e-books and 24% for audiobooks.
For Asian adults, the supplied any-format figure was 70%, the e-book figure was 42%, the print-book figure was 53%, and the audiobook figure was 24%. These estimates represent English-speaking Asian adults.
| Group | Any format | Print book | E-book | Audiobook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White adults | 77% | 67% | 30% | 27% |
| Black adults | 69% | 57% | 27% | 25% |
| Hispanic adults | 70% | 57% | 29% | 24% |
| Asian adults* | 70% | 53% | 42% | 24% |
*The supplied source notes that the Asian estimates represent English-speaking Asian adults.
Source: Book reading habits in the U.S. vary by education, age and other factors, October 6–16, 2025.
Reading Frequency by Education Level
Education shows one of the clearest differences in the supplied adult reading statistics. Any-format reading rose from 60% among adults with a high-school education or less to 78% among adults with some college education and 88% among college graduates.
The same ordering appears for each listed format. Among adults with a high-school education or less, 50% read a print book, 20% read an e-book and 17% listened to an audiobook. Among adults with some college education, the figures were 67%, 30% and 27%, respectively. Among college graduates, they were 76%, 42% and 35%.
| Education level | Any format | Print book | E-book | Audiobook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-school education or less | 60% | 50% | 20% | 17% |
| Some college education | 78% | 67% | 30% | 27% |
| College graduates | 88% | 76% | 42% | 35% |
Source: Book reading habits in the U.S. vary by education, age and other factors, October 6–16, 2025.
What the education figures show
- College graduates had the highest supplied result in every listed reading measure.
- The any-format measure was 60% for adults with a high-school education or less and 88% for college graduates.
- E-book reading was 20% for the lowest education group and 42% for college graduates.
- Audiobook listening was 17% for adults with a high-school education or less and 35% for college graduates.
These figures describe differences between groups in the 2025 survey period. They do not identify a cause for the differences, and they should not be read as a measure of how many books any individual group completed.
How Adult Reading Rates Have Changed Over Time
Earlier survey results provide a separate historical view, with different wording and measurement periods. The National Endowment for the Arts’ 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts found that 55.6% of U.S. adults had read books, novels, short stories, poetry or plays, or listened to audiobooks. That was down from 59.2% in 2017, a decline of 3.6 percentage points (NEA, By All Means, the Arts: A Full Report of the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 2017 and 2022 survey years).
A second NEA comparison used a narrower measure: the share of U.S. adults who read at least one book in print or electronically. That figure was 48.5% in 2022, which was 6.1 percentage points lower than in 2012 (NEA, New Data Reveal How Adults Participated in the Arts During COVID-19, 2012 and 2022 survey years).
The same NEA comparison reported that the share of U.S. adults who read novels or short stories fell from 45.2% in 2012 to 37.6% in 2022, described as a 17% decline. Poetry reading was 9.2% in 2022, down from 11.7% in 2017 but above the 6.7% recorded in 2012 (NEA, same source, 2012, 2017 and 2022 survey years).
| NEA measure | Earlier figure | Later figure | Survey period stated by source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Books, literary works or audiobooks | 59.2% in 2017 | 55.6% in 2022 | 2017 and 2022 |
| Print or electronic book reading | 6.1 percentage points higher than 2022 | 48.5% in 2022 | 2012 and 2022 |
| Novels or short stories | 45.2% in 2012 | 37.6% in 2022 | 2012 and 2022 |
| Poetry | 6.7% in 2012; 11.7% in 2017 | 9.2% in 2022 | 2012, 2017 and 2022 |
The historical measures should be kept distinct from the Pew Research Center’s 2025 results because the wording, included formats and survey years differ. The NEA figures describe earlier survey comparisons; they are not a direct replacement for the 2025 Pew measures and should not be treated as independently rechecked here.
Source labels: By All Means, the Arts: A Full Report of the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts and New Data Reveal How Adults Participated in the Arts During COVID-19.