Print books remain the dominant reading format in the United States, but the way Americans consume written content is quietly shifting around that stable center.
Overall, 75% of U.S. adults say they have read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 8,046 U.S. adults conducted from Oct. 6 to 16, 2025. The finding was published in April 2026.
Print leads, but its share has slipped
64% of U.S. adults had read a print book in the past 12 months, compared with 31% who had read an e-book and 26% who had listened to an audiobook.
Print is the only format a majority of Americans use. That share has declined since 2011, when it stood at 72%, while e-book and audiobook use have both grown substantially over the same period, audiobook listening has more than doubled.
During the same time span, the percentage of respondents who read an e-book rose to 31% from 17%, while audiobook usage jumped to 26% from 11%.
E-book growth has largely flatlined
There has been little movement in any of the three formats since Pew last asked the same questions in 2021.
E-books, once expected to displace physical volumes, have seen only a small increase since 2014, when the percentage of adults reading e-books first rose to 28%.
Audiobooks tell the opposite story, with stronger gains since 2014, when 14% of respondents said they had listened to one. That format now reaches more than a quarter of American adults. The gain tracks closely with the rise of smartphones as the primary listening device and the growth of subscription audio platforms, a market where pricing changes have repeatedly reshaped what consumers pay for on-demand audio content.
Who reads and in what format
75% of U.S. adults say they have read a book in the past 12 months in any format, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2011. That consistency is notable given the sweeping changes in how Americans otherwise consume content.
The survey also shows that participation in book clubs is much less common. Only 7% of adults say they have participated in a book club in the past 12 months, according to the October survey. Women are more likely than men to say they have done so, 10% vs. 5%.
The format divide also maps onto broader generational patterns in screen behavior. According to a separate Pew Research Center survey on moviegoing published in March 2026, younger U.S. adults were more likely than older ones to have been to a movie theater in the past year, two-thirds of those ages 18 to 29 had done so, compared with 39% of Americans ages 65 and older. That gap is a reminder that entertainment preferences within the same age cohort can cut in different directions depending on the medium.
Why print has held its ground
The resilience of the physical book in an era when screen time among younger Americans continues to rise has drawn attention from researchers. Some have suggested that print reading is one of the few consuming activities that occurs entirely outside the flow of digital notifications and alerts, offering an unmediated experience that digital formats do not replicate.
The Pew data does not measure why people choose one format over another, but the numbers make clear that convenience alone has not won the day for digital formats. Print continues to be the only book format used by a majority of Americans. Roughly two-thirds of adults say they have read a physical book in the past 12 months, according to the October survey. Despite e-readers becoming cheaper and libraries offering free digital lending, no digital format has come close to matching print’s reach.
The full survey methodology and topline results are available from the Pew Research Center.
