american minute.

When do Americans study and go to class?

On an average weekday, the share of Americans in class or studying peaks at 10:45 AM, when 5.6% of people age 15 and older (about 14.1 million) are in class or studying. On weekends it peaks at 2:45 PM (1.5%). Averaged over all days, Americans spend 26 min a day in class or studying.

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12 AM6 AM12 PM6 PM12 AM
Share of Americans in class or studying, by local time. Solid: weekdays. Dashed: weekends. Scale: 0–5.6%.

Learning by hour

Share and number of Americans in class or studying at the top of each hour.

TimeWeekdaysPeopleWeekendsPeople
12 AM0.3%816,0000.2%505,000
1 AM0.2%421,0000.1%315,000
2 AM<0.1%181,000<0.1%183,000
3 AM<0.1%123,000<0.1%118,000
4 AM<0.1%134,000<0.1%123,000
5 AM<0.1%217,000<0.1%127,000
6 AM0.2%514,000<0.1%186,000
7 AM0.9%2.3 million0.1%327,000
8 AM3.6%9.2 million0.4%946,000
9 AM5.1%12.7 million0.7%1.8 million
10 AM5.5%13.9 million1.2%3.1 million
11 AM5.4%13.6 million1.3%3.4 million
12 PM4.5%11.3 million1.2%3.1 million
1 PM4.8%12.1 million1.3%3.3 million
2 PM4.8%12.1 million1.4%3.6 million
3 PM3.0%7.7 million1.4%3.5 million
4 PM2.1%5.3 million1.3%3.2 million
5 PM1.9%4.7 million1.1%2.8 million
6 PM1.8%4.6 million0.9%2.4 million
7 PM1.9%4.8 million1.0%2.5 million
8 PM1.8%4.5 million1.0%2.6 million
9 PM1.4%3.6 million1.0%2.4 million
10 PM1.0%2.5 million0.7%1.8 million
11 PM0.6%1.4 million0.5%1.1 million

What it includes

Average time per weekday, for the activities in this group that take the most time.

  • Taking class for degree, certification, or licensure: 20 min a day
  • Research/homework for class for degree, certification, or licensure: 10 min a day

More

About these numbers

Estimates come from all 258,954 diaries in the American Time Use Survey (Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau), 2003–2025, weighted to the U.S. civilian population age 15 and older and pooled across years. Times are local clock time. Counts are people on an average day of that type, not a live count. Weekdays are Monday–Friday. How the estimates work.