Sleep statistics, with sources.
Every figure on this page links to its primary source — a government dataset, a consensus statement, or a peer-reviewed study. No orphaned numbers. Last reviewed: July 2026.
How common is insufficient sleep?
More than one in three US adults report sleeping less than seven hours per night — the threshold below which the CDC classifies sleep as "short duration."
An estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder — the landmark Institute of Medicine estimate that framed sleep loss as "an unmet public health problem."
Source: Institute of Medicine, Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation (2006)
Roughly one in ten adults meets the criteria for chronic insomnia disorder, while around a third experience occasional insomnia symptoms.
An estimated 936 million adults aged 30–69 worldwide have obstructive sleep apnea, most of them undiagnosed — the first global prevalence estimate of its kind.
Source: Benjafield et al., The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (2019)
About seven in ten US high-school students get less sleep than recommended on school nights.
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey
How much sleep do adults need?
The joint consensus of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society: adults should sleep seven or more hours per night on a regular basis for optimal health.
Source: Watson et al., SLEEP (2015), AASM/SRS consensus statement
What does short sleep do to health?
Habitually short sleep is associated with a 12% higher risk of death from all causes, in a meta-analysis of 16 prospective cohorts covering more than 1.3 million participants.
Source: Cappuccio et al., SLEEP (2010)
The CDC links habitual short sleep with elevated risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
Source: CDC, About Sleep
One in twenty-five adult drivers reports having fallen asleep at the wheel in the previous 30 days.
Source: CDC, Drowsy Driving
What does insufficient sleep cost?
Insufficient sleep costs the United States up to $411 billion a year — about 2.28% of GDP — through mortality and lost productivity, the largest share of any country studied.
Source: Hafner et al., RAND Corporation, Why Sleep Matters (2016)
How many people use sleep aids?
8.4% of US adults report taking sleep medication every day or most days in the past 30 days; use is higher among women and rises with age.
US adult melatonin use more than quintupled between 1999–2000 (0.4%) and 2017–2018 (2.1%).
Source: Li et al., JAMA (2022)
Citing this page
You're welcome to cite these figures. Please credit the primary source named on each statistic; if this compilation was useful, a link to mashsleep is appreciated but never required. Spot an error or a newer figure? Tell us — corrections are acted on and noted here.