What are Americans doing at 8 PM?
At 8 PM on an average weekday, 47.2% of Americans age 15 and older are relaxing or socializing, 8.1% are doing household tasks, and 7.9% are eating or drinking. 3.9% (about 9.9 million) are driving.
Explore 8 PM by age, work, income, and more ↗
Everything Americans are doing at 8 PM
| Activity | Weekdays | People | Weekends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure & socializing | 47.2% | 118.5 million | 53.0% |
| Household tasks | 8.1% | 20.2 million | 7.7% |
| Eating & drinking | 7.9% | 19.8 million | 7.9% |
| Working | 6.5% | 16.2 million | 4.0% |
| Sleeping | 5.7% | 14.4 million | 5.7% |
| Caring for others | 5.2% | 13.1 million | 4.4% |
| Personal care | 4.1% | 10.4 million | 3.9% |
| Driving | 3.9% | 9.9 million | 3.7% |
| Sports & exercise | 2.1% | 5.3 million | 1.5% |
| Other travel | 1.9% | 4.7 million | 2.6% |
| Learning | 1.8% | 4.5 million | 1.0% |
| Shopping & services | 1.4% | 3.6 million | 1.4% |
| Calls & messages | 1.2% | 3.0 million | 1.1% |
| Volunteering | 1.1% | 2.7 million | 0.5% |
| Religious activities | 1.0% | 2.4 million | 0.7% |
| Civic activities | <0.1% | 34,000 | <0.1% |
The ten most common activities at 8 PM on weekdays
- Television and movies (not religious): about 81.7 million people (32.5%)
- Eating and drinking: about 19.7 million people (7.8%)
- Sleeping: about 14.4 million people (5.7%)
- Work, main job: about 14.1 million people (5.6%)
- Socializing and communicating with others: about 11.8 million people (4.7%)
- Washing, dressing and grooming oneself: about 8.6 million people (3.4%)
- Playing games: about 5.9 million people (2.3%)
- Physical care for household children: about 5.6 million people (2.2%)
- Reading for personal interest: about 5.6 million people (2.2%)
- Food and drink preparation: about 4.8 million people (1.9%)
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.