Are Americans getting enough sleep?

For the study, researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) analyzed data from the 2024 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NHIS collects data from roughly 27,000 adults through face-to-face interviews every year. In 2024, the survey included responses from 31,509 U.S. adults.

In the survey, respondents were asked about how much sleep they got on average in a 24-hour period, how frequently they had trouble falling or staying asleep, and how often they woke up feeling well-rested in the past 30 days.

Overall, 30.5% of respondents reported sleeping less than seven hours per night on average, an increase of roughly 28% who said the same in 2020. Currently, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep or more in a 24-hour period.

Only 54.8% of respondents said they woke up feeling well-rested most days or every day. When it came to difficulty sleeping, 15.4% said they had trouble falling asleep, and 18.1% said they had trouble staying asleep. Women were more likely to have trouble falling and staying asleep compared to men, and they were also less likely to wake up well-rested.

Across the different age groups, adults ages 50 to 64 were most likely to not get enough sleep, with over 34% saying they got less than seven hours per night. A similar number of adults ages 35 to 49 (33.4%) also reported not getting enough sleep. Younger adults ages 18 to 34 were also more likely to report difficulties falling asleep compared to adults ages 65 and older.

Separate NCHS research has also found that 12.9% of adults reported using sleep aids to help them fall or stay asleep in 2024. "Overall, 5.2% of adults used prescription medications, 5.7% used over-the-counter medications or supplements, and 3.7% used marijuana or cannabidiol products as sleep aids," the researchers of a new study published in NCHS E-Stats wrote.

Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, highlighted how integral sleep is for health.

"Our need for sleep parallels our need for air and water," Grandner said. "Yet, our society still often sees sleep as unproductive. This is a problem because sleep health is so important to cardiovascular health, metabolism and weight management, immune function, mental health, and our ability to think clearly and make healthy choices."

6 tips to get better sleep

To help people fall asleep faster and sleep better overall, experts who spoke with the Washington Post offered several tips:

1. Eat a healthy diet

Although people sometimes use certain foods like chamomile tea or warm milk to help them get to sleep, Erica Jansen, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said that "it’s more beneficial to focus on whole dietary pattern changes rather than trying to focus on one magic food."

Research suggests that certain diets, such as those that are rich in plants, can positively impact both sleep quality and duration. Certain foods — such as fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish, eggs, and milk — also contain melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle. Some of these foods, like fish, egg whites, nuts, seeds, and dairy, are also high in tryptophan, an amino acid that can be converted into melatonin in the body.

People should also avoid foods and beverages that can hinder sleep, such as ultra-processed foods or those that contain caffeine, alcohol, or large amounts of sugar.

2. Try breathing exercises before bed

Some studies suggest that breathing exercises can help promote sleep by slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and reducing anxiety.

One technique is called the 4-7-8 breathing method, where you inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, then exhale through your mouth for eight seconds. You can repeat these steps as many times as needed.

Breathing exercises can also help you get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night by activating your parasympathetic nervous system, which can relax your muscles and slow your heart rate, explained Michael Breus, a sleep doctor and clinical psychologist.

4. Wear socks to bed

Most people tend to sleep more easily when they're cooler, and while it may sound counterintuitive, experts say wearing socks to bed can help keep your body cooler while you sleep.

"When we warm up our feet by wearing socks, the blood vessels under the skin dilate not just in the feet but everywhere," said Indira Gurubhagavatula, an AASM spokesperson and a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "This vasodilation allows warm blood to come to the surface, and as it keeps circulating and coming to the skin, body heat is shed, and core body temperature eventually drops."

"It is the drop in core temperature that signals the brain to get ready for sleep," Gurubhagavatula added.

If you prefer to sleep barefoot, experts suggest trying a warm bath or shower or drinking a warm, nonalcoholic, noncaffeinated beverage before bedtime.

5. Use a fan at night

Fans are another way to keep cool at night, but they can also provide white noise.

Ceiling fans and oscillating fans are the best types of fans for cooling down while box fans are better for blocking outside noises. Box fans can "ask some of the lower-level fluctuations in background noise so that you're not alerted to those signals," said Norah Simpson, a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate director of the Sleep Health and Insomnia Program at Stanford Medicine.

6. Consider marijuana as a sleep aid

Currently, research on cannabis and sleep is still inconclusive, but Staci Gruber, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery Program at McLean Hospital and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, notes that some components of the cannabis plant "appear to be helpful for some people with regard to sleep."

Marijuana products used for sleep usually consist of mostly cannabidiol (CBD) with a low dose of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). CBD is a cannabis compound that does not cause a "high" while THC has mood-altering and mind-altering effects. Some products like oils and solutions placed under the tongue can work faster, but capsules, beverages, and edibles will usually have longer-lasting effects.

However, Deirdre Conroy, clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at Michigan Medicine, also noted that higher amounts of THC can lead to alertness and anxiety. Taking THC products long-term may also start to hinder sleep if the brain begins habituating to the drug's sedating effects.