What are Americans doing at 5 PM?
At 5 PM on an average weekday, 24.4% of Americans age 15 and older are relaxing or socializing, 18.1% are working, and 14.9% are doing household tasks. 11.6% (about 29.2 million) are driving.
Explore 5 PM by age, work, income, and more ↗
Everything Americans are doing at 5 PM
| Activity | Weekdays | People | Weekends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure & socializing | 24.4% | 61.4 million | 36.7% |
| Working | 18.1% | 45.6 million | 6.2% |
| Household tasks | 14.9% | 37.6 million | 15.8% |
| Driving | 11.6% | 29.2 million | 6.7% |
| Eating & drinking | 7.5% | 18.8 million | 9.0% |
| Caring for others | 4.2% | 10.4 million | 3.6% |
| Other travel | 3.7% | 9.2 million | 4.2% |
| Shopping & services | 3.1% | 7.8 million | 3.8% |
| Sleeping | 2.8% | 7.0 million | 3.6% |
| Personal care | 2.7% | 6.8 million | 3.0% |
| Sports & exercise | 2.4% | 6.0 million | 2.7% |
| Learning | 1.9% | 4.7 million | 1.1% |
| Calls & messages | 0.7% | 1.9 million | 0.8% |
| Volunteering | 0.6% | 1.6 million | 0.7% |
| Religious activities | 0.2% | 618,000 | 1.0% |
| Civic activities | <0.1% | 71,000 | <0.1% |
The ten most common activities at 5 PM on weekdays
- Work, main job: about 43.1 million people (17.1%)
- Television and movies (not religious): about 32.8 million people (13.0%)
- Eating and drinking: about 18.7 million people (7.4%)
- Food and drink preparation: about 18.1 million people (7.2%)
- Driving · Travel related to working: about 11.5 million people (4.6%)
- Socializing and communicating with others: about 10.3 million people (4.1%)
- Sleeping: about 7.0 million people (2.8%)
- Relaxing, thinking: about 6.7 million people (2.7%)
- Washing, dressing and grooming oneself: about 5.6 million people (2.2%)
- Shopping, except groceries, food and gas: about 3.4 million people (1.4%)
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.