E-book statistics at a glance
E-book reading still matters in 2026 because it sits inside a broader reading habit, not outside it. The latest numbers show a format that is smaller than print, but still deeply established, device-flexible, and uneven across age, gender, and education groups.
Fast facts
- 31% of U.S. adults said they read an e-book in the past 12 months in October 2025 (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- 64% said they read a print book in the same period (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- 26% said they listened to an audiobook (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- 75% said they read at least one book in any format (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- E-book revenue reached $2.1 billion in 2024 (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Digital audio revenue reached $2.4 billion in 2024, the largest digital format by revenue in the AAP data (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
Table of contents
- What the latest e-book statistics say
- Who reads e-books most often
- How e-books compare with print and audio
- What the publishing market data shows
- How e-book reading changed over time
- Library access and device habits
- Why the numbers matter for readers and publishers
What the latest e-book statistics say
The strongest single signal in the dataset is simple: e-book reading is still a mainstream behavior for a large minority of U.S. adults, but it is not the dominant reading format.
31% of U.S. adults said they read an e-book in the past 12 months in October 2025 (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025). That is well below print reading at 64%, yet it is high enough to show that digital reading has become a durable part of the reading landscape rather than a niche experiment.
A useful way to frame the market is to separate format reach from format dominance:
- Print has the broadest reach among the listed formats at 64% (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- E-books sit at 31% (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- Audiobooks sit at 26% (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
- Any-format book reading reaches 75% (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
That spread matters. It shows that many people read more than one format, and e-books often function as part of a mixed reading routine instead of replacing print.
Big number: 75% of U.S. adults said they read at least one book in any format in the past 12 months (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
At a glance comparison
| Measure | Share of U.S. adults | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Read at least one book in any format | 75% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Read a print book | 64% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Read an e-book | 31% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Listened to an audiobook | 26% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
The table makes the hierarchy clear: print remains the leading format, but e-books are still a major part of modern reading behavior.
Who reads e-books most often
The e-book statistics become more interesting when the data is split by demographic group. The gaps are not random; they point to age, education, and identity differences in digital reading habits.
Gender differences
Women were slightly more likely than men to report reading an e-book in the past 12 months in October 2025:
- 33% of women (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 28% of men (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
That is a modest gap, but it suggests e-book adoption is not uniform across genders. For content planners, that means format preference can vary even when overall reading interest is similar.
Race and ethnicity
The same survey shows different e-book reading rates across racial and ethnic groups:
- 42% of Asian adults said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 30% of White adults said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 29% of Hispanic adults said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 27% of Black adults said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
The spread is wide enough to matter, especially because the highest and lowest values are separated by 15 percentage points.
Age differences
Age is one of the clearest predictors in the dataset. Younger adults are more likely to read e-books than older adults.
- 41% of adults ages 18-29 said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 33% of adults ages 30-49 said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 26% of adults ages 50-64 said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 23% of adults ages 65+ said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
This is a clean downward pattern by age. Younger adults are the most likely to be reading digitally, while the 65+ group is the least likely among the listed age bands.
Education differences
The education split is equally revealing:
- 20% of adults with a high school education or less said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 30% of adults with some college education said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 42% of college graduates said they read an e-book (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
That means e-book reading rises with education in this dataset. The jump from high school or less to college graduates is especially large at 22 percentage points.
Demographic snapshot table
| Group | E-book readers | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 28% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Women | 33% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Ages 18-29 | 41% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Ages 30-49 | 33% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Ages 50-64 | 26% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Ages 65+ | 23% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| High school or less | 20% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| Some college | 30% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
| College graduates | 42% | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
How e-books compare with print and audio
E-book statistics make more sense when placed next to print and audiobook behavior. The format is important, but it is not the only way people consume books.
The October 2025 Pew data shows:
- 64% read print books (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 31% read e-books (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
- 26% listened to audiobooks (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025)
That ranking suggests print still dominates the reading market, while e-books and audiobooks serve sizable but smaller audiences.
The same dataset also says 75% read at least one book in any format (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025). That means digital reading is best understood as a slice of a broader book market, not as a standalone media category.
Why format overlap matters
The historical data in the dataset also shows that many readers move across formats:
- 83% of readers of both print books and e-books said e-books were quicker to acquire in April 2012 (Pew Research Center, April 2012).
- 73% of readers of both formats said e-books were better for traveling or commuting in April 2012 (Pew Research Center, April 2012).
- 81% of readers of both formats said printed books were better for reading to a child in April 2012 (Pew Research Center, April 2012).
Those responses help explain why format choices are not absolute. Many readers see e-books and print as useful for different situations.
What the publishing market data shows
Reader behavior and publishing revenue tell related but not identical stories. The e-book revenue data suggests a format that remains economically important even when it is not the largest reading format.
2024 publishing revenue breakdown
| Category | Revenue | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total U.S. publishing industry | $32.5 billion | +4.1% | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
| Trade (consumer books) | $21.2 billion | +4.4% | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
| E-book revenue | $2.1 billion | +1.5% | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
| Digital audio revenue | $2.4 billion | +22.5% | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
| Print formats share of overall revenue | 50.5% | n/a | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
| Digital formats share of overall revenue | 14% | n/a | AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025 |
The publishing market data shows three important points:
- Print still makes up the majority of overall publishing revenue at 50.5% (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Digital formats are sizable at 14% of overall publishing revenue (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- E-books are meaningful, but digital audio is growing faster and generated slightly more revenue in 2024 at $2.4 billion versus $2.1 billion for e-books (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
Trade revenue and channel mix
The trade segment is especially useful for understanding consumer behavior. In 2024:
- Trade revenue reached $21.2 billion (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Digital formats accounted for 21.2% of Trade revenue (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Online Retail publisher sales totaled $12 billion (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Digital formats were 34.5% of Online Retail revenue (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Trade Online Retail revenue reached nearly $11 billion (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Trade Physical Retail revenue reached $4.7 billion (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
The channel data suggests that digital formats are more prominent in online retail than in the overall trade mix. That is a strong signal that e-books fit naturally into digital purchasing behavior.
Related format revenue
The broader format picture helps put e-books in context:
- Hardback revenue reached $7.9 billion in 2024 (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Paperback revenue reached $7.8 billion in 2024 (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- Digital Audio revenue reached $2.4 billion in 2024 (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
- E-book revenue reached $2.1 billion in 2024 (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025).
That is a useful comparison because it shows e-books are neither marginal nor dominant. They occupy a middle position in the modern book economy.
How e-book reading changed over time
The long-run trend is one of growth followed by stabilization. The data does not show a straight line to dominance; instead, it shows e-book reading becoming established and then leveling into a predictable part of the market.
Historical adoption milestones
| Year or period | E-book reading or ownership metric | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-December 2011 | 17% of American adults said they had read an e-book in the previous year | Pew Research Center, April 2012 |
| February 2012 | 21% of all American adults had read an e-book in the past year | Pew Research Center, April 2012 |
| Late 2012 | 23% of Americans ages 16+ had read an e-book in the previous 12 months | Pew Research Center, Dec. 2012 |
| January 2014 | 28% of American adults had read an e-book in the previous 12 months | Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014 |
| October 2025 | 31% of U.S. adults said they read an e-book in the past 12 months | Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025 |
Even using only these points, the direction is clear: e-book reading increased from 17% in late 2011 to 31% in October 2025 (Pew Research Center, April 2012; Pew Research Center, Oct. 2025).
Device ownership and reading access
Device ownership also changed the shape of e-book access:
- 29% of Americans ages 18 and older owned at least one specialized e-reading device or tablet in early 2012 (Pew Research Center, April 2012).
- 33% of Americans ages 16 and older owned either a tablet computer or an e-book reader in late 2012 (Pew Research Center, Dec. 2012).
- 43% of Americans ages 16 and older owned either a tablet or an e-book reader in mid-2013 (Pew Research Center, Oct. 2013).
- 42% of U.S. adults owned a tablet in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 32% of U.S. adults owned an e-reader in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 23% of e-book readers overall read e-books on a tablet in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 32% of e-book readers overall read e-books on a cell phone in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 87% of e-book readers who owned a dedicated e-reader read e-books on that device in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 78% of e-book readers who owned a tablet read e-books on that device in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
That mix shows why e-book reading can grow without requiring a single dedicated device category to dominate. Readers moved between tablets, e-readers, phones, and computers.
Reading on devices
The data also captures where people actually read:
- 31% of desktop or laptop owners who read an e-book in the past year read e-books on their computer in January 2014, down from 45% in 2011 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
- 12% of e-book readers said they used their cell phone for e-book reading at least weekly in January 2014 (Pew Research Center, Jan. 2014).
That decline in computer-based reading and the spread across mobile devices suggest that e-books became less tied to one platform over time.
Library access and device habits
Libraries are an important part of the e-book ecosystem, and the dataset shows both access opportunities and awareness gaps.
Library lending and awareness
In 2012:
- 62% of the general public did not know whether their library offered e-book lending (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 22% of the general public knew their library did lend e-books (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 58% of library card holders did not know whether their library provided e-book lending services (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
That is an important finding. Access may exist, but awareness is uneven.
Borrowing behavior
The borrowing data is also informative:
- 29% of adults who borrow e-books from libraries said they read at least one e-book in the past year in 2012 (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- Those borrowers read an average of 29 books in the past year, with a median of 20 books (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 56% said they had tried to borrow a particular book and found the library did not carry it (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 52% said they encountered a waiting list for a desired title (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 18% said a desired e-book was incompatible with their reading device (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
Those numbers show that library e-book demand is real, but the experience can still be limited by availability and device compatibility.
Library card holders vs. non-card holders
The library card data also links reading habits to broader information access:
- 58% of adults ages 16 and older had a library card in 2012 (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 69% said the library was important to them and their family in 2012 (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- 72% of adults with at least a college degree had a library card, compared with 39% of adults who had not completed high school (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- Library card holders read an average of 20 books in the past year, compared with 13 books for non-card holders (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
- The median was 10 books for card holders versus 5 books for non-card holders (Pew Research Center, June 2012).
That does not prove causation, but it does show a strong association between library connection and reading volume.
Why the numbers matter for readers and publishers
The e-book statistics point to a market that is stable, segmented, and still changing in small but meaningful ways.
For readers, the practical takeaway is that e-books are now a standard option, especially for younger adults, college graduates, and readers who want flexible access across devices. The format is not universal, but it is clearly established.
For publishers, the bigger insight is that e-books should be evaluated in context, not isolation. The 2024 AAP data shows $2.1 billion in e-book revenue, but also $2.4 billion in digital audio revenue and $32.5 billion in total industry revenue (AAP StatShot Annual Report, Aug. 2025). That tells you the digital book economy is broader than one format.
For anyone tracking reading trends, the pattern is consistent:
- E-book reading is substantial but not dominant.
- Younger and more educated adults are more likely to read e-books.
- Print still leads overall reading.
- Device access and library systems shape how people use digital books.
- Revenue growth is stronger in some adjacent digital formats than in e-books themselves.
Those themes make e-book statistics useful not just as a snapshot, but as a lens on how book consumption has diversified across format, platform, and audience.