A new SSRS Opinion Panel poll explores how Americans sleep.
The survey asked how many hours of sleep, on average, U.S. adults get, how Americans rate their quality of sleep, and what sleeping position is the most popular. We learned:
- 45% of U.S. adults report that on an average night they sleep six hours or less.
- About half (49%) of U.S. adults rate their sleep quality as “very good or good,” 37% as “fair,” and 14% as “poor or very poor”.
- 69% of Americans say they usually sleep on their sides, 19% on their backs, and 12% on their stomachs.
These findings are part of an SSRS Opinion Panel poll conducted September 9 – 23, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 3,364 adults aged 18 and older.
How Much Sleep Do U.S. Adults Get?
A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and Sleep Research Society (SRS) has recommended that adults sleep seven or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. According to the AASM/SRS consensus, sleeping less than seven hours per night on a regular basis is associated with adverse health outcomes, including weight gain and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke, depression, and increased risk of death. Sleeping less than seven hours per night is also associated with impaired immune function, increased pain, impaired performance, increased errors, and greater risk of accidents.[1]
Groups where the majority report getting six hours of sleep or less on an average night include adults who are Black (60%), adults without a college degree (54%), and those with a household income less than $50,000 per year (53%).
The two demographic groups most likely to report getting seven or more hours of sleep per night are college graduates (66%) and 18-29-year-olds (66%). But even among these two groups, about one-third (34% each) report getting six hours of sleep or less.
[1]“Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society,” Sleep, 2015:38(6): 843–844, https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article-abstract/38/6/843/2416939?redirectedFrom=fulltext.
How U.S. Adults Rate the Quality of Their Sleep
The SSRS Opinion Panel poll also finds that about half U.S. adults (49%) rate the quality of the sleep they get most nights as very good or good; 37% rate their sleep as fair, and 14% rate it as poor or very poor.
U.S. adults who report sleeping seven hours (56%) or eight hours or more (70%) per night are significantly more likely than those who sleep six hours or less (33%) to describe the quality of they get on most nights as very good or good.
Men are more likely than women (56% to 43%) to describe the quality of their sleep as very good or good.
Only 37% of adults with children under age 18 in their household describe their sleep as very good or good, compared with 53% of those from households without children under age 18.
Seniors (age 65 or over) are the age group most likely to report very good or good sleep (63%), compared with 40% of adults aged 30-49.
In What Position Do U.S. Adults Sleep?
The SSRS Opinion Panel poll also finds that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults (69%) report usually sleeping on their side. Fewer people report sleeping on their back (19%) or stomach (12%). Large majorities of every major demographic group report usually sleeping on their side.
The number of hours of sleep adults get on most nights does not differ between the three sleeping positions. Adults who usually sleep on their back are more likely than those who sleep on their side (55% to 47%) to report that they get a very good or good quality of sleep on most nights.
Methodology
Interviews for this study were conducted on the SSRS Opinion Panel on September 9 – 23, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 3,364 respondents aged 18 and older. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-2.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The design effect is 2.49.
The SSRS Opinion Panel is a multi-mode panel (web and phone). Most panelists take self-administered web surveys; however, the option to take surveys conducted by a live telephone interviewer is available to those who do not use the internet as well as those who use the internet but are reluctant to take surveys online. Panelists take surveys in their preferred language (English or Spanish). All sample drawn for this study were SSRS Opinion Panelists who are U.S. adults ages 18 or older.
SSRS Opinion Panel members are recruited randomly based on nationally representative ABS (Address Based Sample) design (including Hawaii and Alaska). ABS respondents are randomly sampled by Marketing Systems Group (MSG) through the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File (CDS), a regularly-updated listing of all known addresses in the U.S. For the SSRS Opinion Panel, known business addresses are excluded from the sample frame. Additional panelists are recruited via random digit dial (RDD) telephone sample of cell phone numbers connected to a prepaid cell phone. This sample is selected by MSG from the cell phone RDD frame using a flag that identifies prepaid numbers. Prepaid cell numbers are associated with cell phones that are “pay as you go” and do not require a contract.
All SSRS Opinion Panel data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. View the questions used for this analysis, along with the responses >>. The questionnaire was developed and the data analyzed by SSRS contributor, John M. Benson, with assistance from the SSRS team.
John M. Benson is a public opinion researcher, academic writer, and editor with over thirty years’ experience examining public attitudes about health policy and other domestic policy issues. He has directed numerous national and international polling projects leading to more than 100 publications in New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, JAMA, Public Opinion Quarterly, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Public Health Reports, Milbank Quarterly, Social Science Research, and other domestic policy and polling journals. He is also co-author of American Public Opinion and Health Care (CQ Press).
About SSRS
SSRS is breaking the mold on what research companies can do. A full-service market and survey research firm, we use the latest data collection best practices and apply cutting-edge survey methodologies backed by insight from our industry-leading team. We have genuine enthusiasm for our work and a shared goal to connect people through research. Our solutions include groundbreaking approaches fit for purpose: the SSRS Opinion Panel, Encipher®, SSRS Virtual Insights, the SSRS Text Message Panel, and more. Our research areas focus on Health Care and Health Policy, Public Opinion and Policy, Political and Election Polling, Consumer and Lifestyle, and Sports and Entertainment.
Media Contact: Karin Bandoian | SSRS Vice President of Brand and Creative Strategy
