Happy Read Across America Day — 40% of US adults didn’t read a single book last year
A YouGov survey finds that the top 4% of American readers accounted for nearly half of all books consumed in 2025.
Today is Read Across America Day, an event launched by the National Education Association almost three decades ago to encourage reading on Dr. Seuss’ birthday every year.
However, it’s now much more likely that you’ll find Americans sitting on their own with a phone than snuggled in a nook with a book. Literacy rates among US students are still on the decline, with test scores released by the NAEP last year finding that 33% of eighth graders and 40% of fourth graders were reading at a “below basic” level — the highest shares seen since 1992 and 2000, respectively, as detailed by The Atlantic.
Hardback to crack
A recent YouGov survey suggests that American adults might also have turned the page on reading, with 40% of respondents saying that they didn’t read a single book in 2025. Though the poll found that the median American read two books, the average number of books read per person was eight... largely owing to the top 4% of readers, who got through 46% of all books consumed.
But of the remaining Americans that dabble in literature at all, which genres have them hooked?
The YouGov figures show that the most popular genre overall — with physical, digital, and audiobook formats taken into account — was mystery and crime, with 35% of American adults saying they read something from the category.
Still, no cohort enjoyed a genre as much as male respondents did history books, with 42% of male readers reporting leafing through the genre in 2025, which is at least 13% more than the share of men who said they read any other style.
It turns out having a “roman empire” could actually be a greater force for forging bookworms than romance-heavy trends on #BookTok. According to data from the American Time Use Survey, even as reading for pleasure has dropped more than 40% across the last 20 years, the time that men spent reading increased by ~25% in 2024, while women’s reading rates slumped — though women still out-read men by some 36 minutes per day.
