Reading participation differs substantially by education level in U.S. survey data. The pattern appears across literary reading, books, newspapers, magazines, and newer digital or audio formats, although the surveys use different definitions and measurement periods. The figures below keep those distinctions explicit.
Table of contents
- Literary reading by education in 2002
- Literary reading by education in 2008
- Reading formats by education in 2017
- Books, newspapers, and magazines in 1996
- The education-related likelihood gap
- Education gradients within racial and ethnic groups
Literary reading by education in 2002
The National Endowment for the Arts measured whether U.S. adults had read literature during the 12-month period ending August 2002. The education categories show a steady increase from the grade-school group to adults with graduate-school education.
The reported literary-reading rates were:
- 14.0% among adults with grade-school education.
- 23.3% among adults with some high-school education but no diploma.
- 37.7% among high-school graduates.
- 52.9% among adults with some college education.
- 63.1% among college graduates.
- 74.3% among adults with graduate-school education.
These figures come from Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, for the 12-month period ending August 2002. “Literary reading” is the measure used by that report; it should not be treated as interchangeable with every kind of reading activity in the later comparisons.
The difference between the lowest and highest reported groups is large within this survey: 14.0% for the grade-school group compared with 74.3% for the graduate-school group. The figures also show that the pattern is not limited to a simple divide between people with and without college experience. The rate rises through several education categories, including the move from high-school graduation to some college and then to college graduation.
Literary reading by education in 2008
The NEA’s Reading on the Rise report provides comparable education-level figures for 2008. It reported literary reading among 18.5% of U.S. adults with grade-school education, 34.3% of adults with some high-school education, and 39.1% of high-school graduates.
The rates were higher among the two categories with college experience shown in the report: 56.2% for adults with some college education and 68.1% for adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The 2008 categories are not identical in wording to every 2002 category, so the comparisons should be read as survey-period comparisons rather than a single uninterrupted series for each exact education label.
| Education group | 2002 literary reading | 2008 literary reading |
|---|---|---|
| Grade-school education | 14.0% | 18.5% |
| Some high-school education | 23.3% | 34.3% |
| High-school graduate | 37.7% | 39.1% |
| Some college education | 52.9% | 56.2% |
| College degree or bachelor’s degree or higher | 63.1%* | 68.1% |
*The 2002 figure in this row is for college graduates, while the 2008 figure is for adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
For all U.S. adults, the overall literary-reading rate was 46.7% in 2002 and 50.2% in 2008, according to Reading on the Rise. That overall change does not erase the education gradient: in both periods, the reported rate was lowest in the least-educated group and highest in the most-educated group.
Reading formats by education in 2017
The NEA’s How Do We Read? Let’s Count the Ways: Comparing Digital, Audio, and Print-Only Readers examined reading during the preceding 12 months of 2017. Its categories separate digital/audio readers, print-only readers, and nonreaders under the report’s combined print, digital, and audio definition.
Digital or audio reading increased with education. The reported shares were 7.0% for adults with less than ninth-grade education, 13.6% for adults with some high-school education, 17.7% for high-school graduates, 32.1% for adults with some college education, 42.3% for college graduates, and 55.8% for adults with an advanced graduate degree.
Print-only reading followed a different but still education-linked pattern. The corresponding shares were 13.6%, 16.6%, 23.7%, 27.5%, 29.1%, and 24.7%. The advanced graduate-degree category was lower than the college-graduate category for print-only reading, even though it had the highest digital/audio share.
| Education group | Digital/audio readers | Print-only readers | Nonreaders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than ninth grade | 7.0% | 13.6% | 79.4% |
| Some high-school education | 13.6% | 16.6% | 69.9% |
| High-school graduate | 17.7% | 23.7% | 58.6% |
| Some college education | 32.1% | 27.5% | 40.4% |
| College graduate | 42.3% | 29.1% | 28.6% |
| Advanced graduate degree | 55.8% | 24.7% | 19.5% |
The nonreader share declined as education increased across the categories reported: from 79.4% among adults with less than ninth-grade education to 19.5% among adults with an advanced graduate degree. These percentages describe the report’s combined definition, not a claim that respondents never read any material outside the measured period.
Across all U.S. adults in 2017, 30.4% were digital/audio readers, 25.1% were print-only readers, and 44.5% were nonreaders under the same report definitions. The overall figures provide context for the education-specific distribution, while the category values show how strongly the format mix varied by education.
Books, newspapers, and magazines in 1996
The National Center for Education Statistics reported several reading activities in Adult Civic Involvement in the United States. These 1996 measures use different time frames: newspaper reading was measured at least once a week, magazine reading on a regular basis, and book reading during the previous six months.
Weekly newspaper reading was reported by 71% of adults with less than a high-school education, 85% of adults with a high-school diploma or equivalent or vocational education, 89% of adults with some college education, and 91% of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Regular magazine reading was reported by 66% of adults with less than a high-school education, 86% of adults with a high-school diploma or equivalent or vocational education, 89% of adults with some college education, and 94% of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Book reading during the previous six months showed a wider spread. The reported shares were 42% for adults with less than a high-school education, 57% for adults with a high-school diploma or equivalent or vocational education, 74% for adults with some college education, and 83% for adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The source is Adult Civic Involvement in the United States, with the measurement year 1996. Because the newspaper, magazine, and book questions refer to different frequencies or recall periods, their percentages should be compared as separate indicators rather than combined into one reading rate.
The education-related likelihood gap
The 2002 NEA report also presented a statistical model comparing education groups with high-school graduates. In that model, adults with grade-school education were almost 60% less likely than high-school graduates to read literature during the 12-month period ending August 2002. Adults with some high-school education but no diploma were 35% less likely.
The modeled likelihood moved above the high-school graduate comparison group for adults with more education. Adults with some college education but no degree were 35% more likely to read literature, adults with a college degree were 75% more likely, and adults with a graduate-school degree were 240% more likely.
These are model-based relative likelihood differences, not percentage-point differences in the observed reading rates. They also describe the 2002 statistical model and its comparison with high-school graduates; they should not be presented as current estimates or applied automatically to the 2008 or 2017 measures.
Education gradients within racial and ethnic groups
The 2002 Reading at Risk data also show an education gradient within racial and ethnic groups. Among Hispanic U.S. adults, literary reading was 11.7% for the grade-school group and 57.0% for the graduate-school group during the 12-month period ending August 2002.
Among African American U.S. adults, the corresponding reported rates were 6.5% for the grade-school group and 59.9% for the graduate-school group. Among White U.S. adults, excluding Hispanics, literary reading was 14.0% for the grade-school group and 76.1% for the graduate-school group.
| Group in 2002 | Grade-school education | Graduate-school education |
|---|---|---|
| Hispanic adults | 11.7% | 57.0% |
| African American adults | 6.5% | 59.9% |
| White adults, excluding Hispanics | 14.0% | 76.1% |
The figures indicate that the education-related difference appears within each of these reported groups, while the levels differ between groups. They are literary-reading rates for the 12-month period ending August 2002, not general reading rates and not estimates for later years.