What are Americans doing at 12 AM?
At 12 AM on an average weekday, 84.2% of Americans age 15 and older are asleep, 7.7% are relaxing or socializing, and 2.1% are on personal care. 0.8% (about 2.0 million) are driving.
Explore 12 AM by age, work, income, and more ↗
Everything Americans are doing at 12 AM
| Activity | Weekdays | People | Weekends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleeping | 84.2% | 211.7 million | 82.1% |
| Leisure & socializing | 7.7% | 19.4 million | 9.5% |
| Personal care | 2.1% | 5.3 million | 2.2% |
| Working | 2.0% | 5.1 million | 1.5% |
| Driving | 0.8% | 2.0 million | 1.0% |
| Household tasks | 0.7% | 1.8 million | 0.8% |
| Eating & drinking | 0.5% | 1.2 million | 0.6% |
| Other travel | 0.4% | 1.0 million | 0.8% |
| Calls & messages | 0.3% | 859,000 | 0.3% |
| Caring for others | 0.3% | 832,000 | 0.4% |
| Learning | 0.3% | 816,000 | 0.2% |
| Sports & exercise | 0.1% | 291,000 | 0.3% |
| Religious activities | <0.1% | 249,000 | <0.1% |
| Shopping & services | <0.1% | 207,000 | <0.1% |
| Volunteering | <0.1% | 100,000 | <0.1% |
| Civic activities | 0.0% | fewer than 1,000 | <0.1% |
The ten most common activities at 12 AM on weekdays
- Sleeping: about 211.7 million people (84.2%)
- Television and movies (not religious): about 11.0 million people (4.4%)
- Work, main job: about 4.8 million people (1.9%)
- Washing, dressing and grooming oneself: about 3.0 million people (1.2%)
- Socializing and communicating with others: about 1.9 million people (0.8%)
- Sleeplessness: about 1.9 million people (0.7%)
- Playing games: about 1.8 million people (0.7%)
- Reading for personal interest: about 1.7 million people (0.7%)
- Computer use for leisure (exc. Games): about 1.4 million people (0.5%)
- Eating and drinking: about 1.2 million people (0.5%)
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.