Sleep research measures several different things: reported sleep duration, regular routines, symptoms, diagnosed or estimated disorders, and safety outcomes. The statistics below focus mainly on the United States and make each population, period, measure, and limitation explicit.
Key Sleep Research Statistics
The following figures highlight the most broadly useful findings:
- In 2022, 36.8% of U.S. adults age 18 and older reported less than 7 hours of sleep in the CDC BRFSS.
- In 2022, insufficient sleep ranged from 30.0% of adults in Vermont to 45.9% in Hawaii.
- In 2023, 23% of U.S. high school students reported at least 8 hours of sleep on an average school night.
- From 2013 to 2023, the share of U.S. female high school students reaching at least 8 hours on an average school night fell from 35% to 25%.
- From 2013 to 2023, the share of U.S. male high school students reaching at least 8 hours on an average school night fell from 29% to 22%.
- In 2024, 85.6% of U.S. children ages 2–17 had a regular bedtime most days or every day.
- In 2024, 8.1% of U.S. children ages 2–17 had daytime tiredness most days or every day.
- In 2024, regular bedtime prevalence was 77.5% among U.S. children ages 14–17.
- In 2024, daytime tiredness was reported for 14.6% of U.S. children ages 14–17.
- In 2024, 22.0% of U.S. children with disability reported daytime tiredness, compared with 6.3% of children without disability.
- About 30%–40% of U.S. adults report some insomnia symptoms in a given year, according to the NHLBI healthy-sleep guide.
- About 10%–15% of U.S. adults report chronic insomnia in the NHLBI guide.
- An NHLBI workshop report estimated chronic insomnia at about 10% of American adults in 2001, with occasional sleep difficulty affecting an additional 25%.
- Obstructive sleep apnea affects more than 24 million U.S. adults, according to an NHLBI estimate reported in 2023.
- An NHLBI-cited estimate says 50%–75% of adults with sleep-apnea symptoms had not discussed the condition with a physician.
- Drivers reporting 5 hours of sleep had 1.9 times the odds of culpable crash involvement compared with drivers reporting 7–9 hours in a peer-reviewed observational study.
- Drivers reporting less than 4 hours of sleep had 15.1 times the odds of culpable crash involvement compared with drivers reporting 7–9 hours in that study.
Contents
- Adult sleep duration statistics and demographic gaps
- Teen sleep research statistics and school-night trends
- Child sleep routines and daytime tiredness data
- Insomnia prevalence and chronic sleep difficulty statistics
- Sleep apnea prevalence and underdiagnosis research
- Sleep loss, drowsy driving, and crash outcomes
Adult Sleep Duration Statistics and Demographic Gaps
The CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) defines insufficient sleep here as self-reported average sleep below 7 hours in a 24-hour period. These are age-adjusted survey estimates for U.S. adults age 18 and older, not clinical measurements.
| Year | Adults reporting less than 7 hours | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 35.8% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
| 2014 | 35.1% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
| 2016 | 35.0% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
| 2018 | 36.2% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
| 2020 | 33.3% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
| 2022 | 36.8% | Age-adjusted BRFSS survey estimate |
Source: CDC, FastStats: Sleep in Adults. Sleep was not assessed on the BRFSS core survey in 2015, 2017, 2019, or 2021.
The 2022 state range was 30.0% in Vermont to 45.9% in Hawaii. At county level, the 2020 age-adjusted modeled estimates ranged from 24% in Boulder County, Colorado, to 48% in Greene County, Alabama; these are modeled estimates rather than a direct county census.
Selected 2022 adult subgroup estimates were 37% for men, 39% for adults ages 45–64, and 49% for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander adults. The subgroup estimate for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander adults may have wider uncertainty than the overall estimate.
Teen Sleep Research Statistics and School-Night Trends
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) asks U.S. high school students about sleep on an average school night. The results are self-reported school-night estimates, not 24-hour actigraphy measurements and not estimates for every teenager.
| 2023 group | At least 8 hours on an average school night |
|---|---|
| All high school students | 23% |
| Male students | 22% |
| Female students | 25% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native students | 19% |
| Asian students | 25% |
| Black students | 19% |
| Hispanic students | 24% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students | 36% |
| White students | 26% |
| Multiracial students | 17% |
| Cisgender heterosexual students | 25% |
| LGBTQ+ students | 16% |
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report for Dietary, Physical Activity, and Sleep Behaviors: 2013–2023. Subgroup precision varies, especially for smaller categories.
The repeated cross-sectional trend shows the share reaching at least 8 hours falling from 35% to 25% among female students and from 29% to 22% among male students between 2013 and 2023. The report found no change from 2021 to 2023 for female students: 25% at both points, with “no change” reflecting statistical testing rather than proof that the underlying values were identical.
Child Sleep Routines and Daytime Tiredness Data
The 2024 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) used caregiver-reported regular bedtimes and daytime tiredness for U.S. children ages 2–17. A regular bedtime is not a direct sleep-duration measure, and daytime tiredness is not a clinical diagnosis.
| 2024 population | Regular bedtime most or every day | Daytime tiredness most or every day |
|---|---|---|
| Children ages 2–17 | 85.6% | 8.1% |
| Girls | 86.1% | 9.3% |
| Boys | 85.2% | 6.9% |
| Ages 2–4 | 86.5% | 2.7% |
| Ages 5–10 | 90.4% | 5.4% |
| Ages 11–13 | 87.4% | 8.8% |
| Ages 14–17 | 77.5% | 14.6% |
The NHIS estimates also show differences by disability and family income. Regular bedtime prevalence was 86.4% among children without disability and 79.6% among children with disability, while it rose from 78.6% among children in families below 100% of the federal poverty level to 88.5% among those at 200% FPL or more.
Daytime tiredness was reported for 22.0% of children with disability, compared with 6.3% without disability. By race and Hispanic origin, the reported levels were 4.7% for Asian non-Hispanic children, 9.0% for Black non-Hispanic children, and 8.1% for both White non-Hispanic and Hispanic children.
Insomnia Prevalence and Chronic Sleep Difficulty Statistics
Insomnia statistics depend strongly on whether a source measures any symptoms, chronic difficulty, or a clinical diagnosis. The NHLBI healthy-sleep guide summarizes historical literature, so its ranges combine evidence with varying study years and definitions.
The guide reports that about 30%–40% of U.S. adults experience some insomnia symptoms in a given year, while about 10%–15% report chronic insomnia. These symptom estimates should not be read as equivalent to a confirmed clinical disorder.
In the guide’s historical text, chronic insomnia is described as symptoms occurring at least 3 nights per week for more than 1 month. The supplied limitation notes that newer NHLBI diagnostic material uses a 3-month duration for chronic insomnia.
An NHLBI workshop report gave a historical 2001 estimate of chronic insomnia at about 10% of American adults and occasional sleep difficulty at an additional 25%. Those categories are not mutually exhaustive clinical categories.
Source: NHLBI, Your Guide to Healthy Sleep.
Sleep Apnea Prevalence and Underdiagnosis Research
Obstructive sleep apnea estimates describe a large U.S. adult burden but do not represent a single national registry of diagnosed patients. NHLBI reported in 2023 that obstructive sleep apnea affects more than 24 million U.S. adults.
An NHLBI-cited CDC estimate reported in 2017 said that 50%–75% of adults with sleep-apnea symptoms had not discussed the condition with a physician. This applies to adults with symptoms, not to all adults, and is not equivalent to confirmed undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea.
An NHLBI-funded study summarized by the institute reported that sleep apnea affected more than 80% of people with obesity and type 2 diabetes in the referenced study population. That is a study-specific result, not a prevalence estimate for everyone with either condition.
Sources: NHLBI, SBIR success story: diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea at home and NHLBI, Sleep apnea: NHLBI sheds light on an underdiagnosed disorder.
Sleep Loss, Drowsy Driving, and Crash Outcomes
A peer-reviewed observational crash study compared drivers reporting 7–9 hours of sleep in the prior 24 hours with drivers reporting shorter durations. The results are adjusted associations, based on self-reported exposure, and do not establish that sleep duration alone caused a crash or provide an absolute crash probability.
| Sleep reported in prior 24 hours | Odds of culpable crash involvement | 95% confidence interval |
|---|---|---|
| 6 hours | 1.3 times | 1.04–1.7 |
| 5 hours | 1.9 times | 1.1–3.2 |
| 4 hours | 2.9 times | 1.4–6.2 |
| Less than 4 hours | 15.1 times | 4.2–54.4 |
Source: PubMed, Acute sleep deprivation and culpable motor vehicle crash involvement. The comparison group was drivers reporting 7–9 hours.
Among drivers who had slept less than 4 hours, the odds increase for culpable involvement was 3.4 times higher in single-vehicle crashes than in multiple-vehicle crashes, with a 95% confidence interval of 2.1–5.6. The extreme-sleep estimate has a very wide confidence interval, and the study’s under-4-hour subgroup may have been small.
The study concluded that sleeping less than 7 hours in the prior 24 hours was associated with elevated risk of culpable crash involvement. This threshold is an observational finding rather than a randomized trial effect.