Book reader demographics at a glance
Book reading is still broad-based in the United States, but the mix of formats and the gaps between demographic groups are where the story gets interesting.
In the most recent Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart, 75% of U.S. adults said they read a book in any format in the past 12 months, while 64% read a print book, 31% read an e-book, and 26% listened to an audiobook (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Table of contents
- Reading across formats
- Gender patterns
- Race and ethnicity
- Age differences
- Education differences
- How the picture changed over time
- What the numbers suggest
Reading across formats
The clearest headline is that print still leads, but digital reading is firmly embedded.
The 2025 Pew Research Center book reading chart shows that 64% of U.S. adults read a print book in the past year, compared with 31% who read an e-book and 26% who listened to an audiobook (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
That means print remains the dominant format, but the combined share for e-books and audiobooks is substantial. The formats also capture different kinds of readers, which is why a single “book reader” label can hide meaningful variation.
Fast facts
- 75% of U.S. adults read a book in any format in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- 64% read a print book in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- 31% read an e-book in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- 26% listened to an audiobook in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- 88% of adults with a college degree or higher read a book in any format in the past year, the highest education figure in the chart (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Format comparison
| Measure | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| Read a book in any format | 75% |
| Read a print book | 64% |
| Read an e-book | 31% |
| Listened to an audiobook | 26% |
These figures are not interchangeable. Someone can overlap across formats, so the format percentages do not add up to the total share of book readers. That overlap is part of the reason the 75% overall reading rate is the most useful top-line measure for broad audience sizing (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Gender patterns
The gender split is notable, but not dramatic, and it shifts depending on the format.
In 2025, 78% of women said they read a book in any format in the past year, compared with 71% of men (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart). The same pattern appears in print: 68% of women read a print book, compared with 60% of men (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
The gap narrows for digital formats. Women were slightly more likely than men to read an e-book, at 33% versus 28%, and slightly more likely to listen to an audiobook, at 27% versus 24% (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Gender by format
| Group | Any format | E-book | Audiobook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 71% | 60% | 28% | 24% |
| Women | 78% | 68% | 33% | 27% |
The practical takeaway is simple: women lead men on every reading format in this dataset, but the differences are larger for total reading and print than they are for digital formats (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Race and ethnicity
The race and ethnicity figures show that book reading is widespread across groups, with the highest total share among White adults in this chart.
In the 2025 Pew Research Center book reading chart, 77% of White adults read a book in any format in the past year, compared with 69% of Black adults, 70% of Hispanic adults, and 70% of Asian adults (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
The format mix differs by group. White adults reported 67% print reading, 30% e-book reading, and 27% audiobook listening. Black adults reported 57% print, 27% e-book, and 25% audiobook. Hispanic adults reported 57% print, 29% e-book, and 24% audiobook. Asian adults reported 53% print, 42% e-book, and 24% audiobook (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Race and ethnicity by format
| Group | Any format | E-book | Audiobook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White adults | 77% | 67% | 30% | 27% |
| Black adults | 69% | 57% | 27% | 25% |
| Hispanic adults | 70% | 57% | 29% | 24% |
| Asian adults | 70% | 53% | 42% | 24% |
One figure stands out: Asian adults had the highest e-book share in the chart, at 42%, well above the other groups listed here (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart). That makes e-books especially important if you are trying to understand the digital reading mix rather than just the overall book-reader count.
Age differences
Age is where the format story becomes much more pronounced.
Adults ages 18-29 had the highest overall reading rate in the chart at 78%, tied with adults who have some college education, while adults ages 30-49 were close behind at 76% (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart). Adults ages 65+ still showed a strong 73% overall reading rate, which matters because older adults are often assumed to be less engaged with books than the data suggests.
The biggest change is in format preference. Adults ages 18-29 had the highest e-book share at 41% and the highest audiobook share at 32% among the age groups shown here (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart). Adults ages 30-49 were also active on digital formats, with 33% e-book reading and 33% audiobook listening (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Older adults skew more toward print. Adults ages 50-64 reported 61% print reading, while adults ages 65+ reported 65% print reading, but only 23% e-book reading and 13% audiobook listening among the oldest group (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Age by format
| Age group | Any format | E-book | Audiobook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 78% | 66% | 41% | 32% |
| 30-49 | 76% | 64% | 33% | 33% |
| 50-64 | 71% | 61% | 26% | 23% |
| 65+ | 73% | 65% | 23% | 13% |
If you are looking for the most digitally flexible book audience, the 18-29 and 30-49 groups are the clearest answer in this dataset. If you are looking for the strongest print audience, adults 65+ and adults 50-64 remain especially relevant (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Education differences
Education is one of the sharpest separators in the chart.
Among adults with a college degree or higher, 88% read a book in any format in the past year, compared with 78% of adults with some college, 60% of adults with a high school education or less, and 78% of adults with some college in the same Pew chart (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
The pattern is even more pronounced in the format breakdown. Adults with a college degree or higher reported 76% print reading, 42% e-book reading, and 35% audiobook listening. Adults with some college reported 67% print, 30% e-book, and 27% audiobook. Adults with a high school education or less reported 50% print, 20% e-book, and 17% audiobook (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Education by format
| Education group | Any format | E-book | Audiobook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High school or less | 60% | 50% | 20% | 17% |
| Some college | 78% | 67% | 30% | 27% |
| College degree or higher | 88% | 76% | 42% | 35% |
This is the largest gap in the dataset. The difference between 60% and 88% for overall reading is large enough to matter for audience sizing, content strategy, and product positioning (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
A compact interpretation
- More education corresponds to higher reading participation across every format in the chart (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- The jump is especially visible in e-books and audiobooks, where the college-degree group reaches 42% and 35% respectively (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- Print remains the anchor format even among the most digital-heavy groups (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
How the picture changed over time
The 2025 figures look strong, but the longer view shows that reading behavior has been evolving for years.
In January 2014, 76% of American adults said they read at least one book in the past year, 69% said they read a print book, 28% said they read an e-book, and 14% said they listened to an audiobook (Pew Research Center 2014 reading snapshot).
Compare that with the 2025 chart: 75% read a book in any format, 64% read a print book, 31% read an e-book, and 26% listened to an audiobook (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
The story is not that book reading collapsed or surged in a simple line. Rather, the format mix shifted. E-book reading moved from 28% in 2014 to 31% in 2025, while audiobook listening nearly doubled from 14% to 26% over the same broad period (Pew Research Center 2014 reading snapshot; Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
Earlier baseline checks
The older Pew data help show that the market for books was already fairly mature before the recent chart.
- In late 2012, 75% of Americans ages 16 and older said they had read a book in any platform in the previous 12 months (Pew Research Center 2012 e-book reading report).
- In the same 2012 report, 23% had read an e-book and 13% had listened to an audiobook in the previous 12 months (Pew Research Center 2012 e-book reading report).
- The report also found that book readers consumed a mean of 15 books and a median of 6 books in the previous 12 months (Pew Research Center 2012 e-book reading report).
Those earlier figures make the modern chart easier to interpret. They show a long-running base of readers, plus a gradual expansion of digital formats rather than a complete replacement of print (Pew Research Center 2012 e-book reading report).
What the numbers suggest
The 2025 Pew Research Center book reading chart is useful because it separates the idea of “reading” into several overlapping behaviors instead of treating all readers as one group (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
A few patterns are consistent across the dataset:
- Print remains the largest single format overall at 64% of adults (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- Younger adults are more likely to use e-books and audiobooks than older adults (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- Higher education levels line up with higher reading rates across every format in the chart (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- Women report slightly higher reading participation than men in every format shown (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
- Reading remains broad across racial and ethnic groups, with differences mainly appearing in format choice rather than in whether people read at all (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).
If you are using these book reader demographics for content planning, the most useful question is not just “who reads books?” It is “which format does each audience segment prefer, and how wide is the gap between total readership and digital readership?” The answer depends on age, education, and format, not on a single national average (Pew Research Center 2025 book reading chart).