News
Print Books Still Lead in America, But Audiobooks Continue to Gain Ground
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that most U.S. adults still read books, with print remaining the most popular format — even as digital and audio reading continue their long-term rise.
Print may have been declared “dead” many times over the past two decades, but American readers appear not to have received the message.
A new analysis from Pew Research Center has found that 75% of U.S. adults read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months, with print books still comfortably ahead of e-books and audiobooks. Pew’s survey, conducted from October 6 to 16, 2025, asked 8,046 U.S. adults about their reading habits and book formats.
The headline finding is reassuring for lovers of physical books: 64% of U.S. adults said they had read a print book in the past year, making it the only format used by a majority of Americans. By comparison, 31% said they had read an e-book, while 26% said they had listened to an audiobook.
But the longer-term trend is more nuanced. In 2011, 72% of U.S. adults said they had read a print book in the previous year. By 2025, that figure had fallen to 64%. Over the same period, e-book reading rose from 17% to 31%, while audiobook listening more than doubled, from 11% to 26%.
In other words, print remains dominant, but the reading landscape has clearly widened. More readers now move between formats depending on where they are and how they want to read — a paperback at home, an e-book while travelling, or an audiobook while driving, walking, or doing household chores.
The Pew figures also suggest that reading remains a common part of American life, though not everyone reads at the same pace. Pew found that 38% of U.S. adults read between one and five books in the past year, while 13% read six to 10 books, 10% read 11 to 20, and 14% read more than 20. A quarter of adults said they had not read a book in the past year.
Education remains one of the clearest dividing lines. Pew found that 88% of adults with a college degree had read a book in the past year, compared with 78% of those with some college experience and 60% of adults with a high school education or less. College graduates were also more likely to have read in each format: print, e-book, and audiobook.
Age also matters, especially for digital formats. Adults under 50 were more likely than older adults to read e-books and listen to audiobooks. Among adults aged 18 to 29, 41% said they had read an e-book in the past year, while 32% said they had listened to an audiobook. Among adults aged 65 and older, those figures were 23% and 13% respectively.
One of the more interesting findings is how few readers are part of a formal book club. Despite the visibility of celebrity book clubs, online reading communities, and social media book recommendations, Pew found that only 7% of U.S. adults had participated in a book club in the past 12 months. Women were twice as likely as men to have taken part, at 10% compared with 5%.
For publishers, booksellers, libraries, and reading communities, the results point to a familiar but important lesson: print still matters enormously, but book discovery and reading habits are no longer tied to a single format. The modern reader may still love the feel of a physical book, but they are increasingly comfortable letting stories reach them through screens and headphones too.
The survival of print, then, is not really a story about digital formats failing. It is a story about books adapting. The printed book remains central, but it now shares the stage with formats that make reading possible in more places, at more times, and for more kinds of readers.
Source / Attribution
This article is based on findings from:
“Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions; few are in book clubs.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. April 9, 2026.
Print may have been declared “dead” many times over the past two decades, but American readers appear not to have received the message.
A new analysis from Pew Research Center has found that 75% of U.S. adults read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months, with print books still comfortably ahead of e-books and audiobooks. Pew’s survey, conducted from October 6 to 16, 2025, asked 8,046 U.S. adults about their reading habits and book formats.
The headline finding is reassuring for lovers of physical books: 64% of U.S. adults said they had read a print book in the past year, making it the only format used by a majority of Americans. By comparison, 31% said they had read an e-book, while 26% said they had listened to an audiobook.
But the longer-term trend is more nuanced. In 2011, 72% of U.S. adults said they had read a print book in the previous year. By 2025, that figure had fallen to 64%. Over the same period, e-book reading rose from 17% to 31%, while audiobook listening more than doubled, from 11% to 26%.
In other words, print remains dominant, but the reading landscape has clearly widened. More readers now move between formats depending on where they are and how they want to read — a paperback at home, an e-book while travelling, or an audiobook while driving, walking, or doing household chores.
The Pew figures also suggest that reading remains a common part of American life, though not everyone reads at the same pace. Pew found that 38% of U.S. adults read between one and five books in the past year, while 13% read six to 10 books, 10% read 11 to 20, and 14% read more than 20. A quarter of adults said they had not read a book in the past year.
Education remains one of the clearest dividing lines. Pew found that 88% of adults with a college degree had read a book in the past year, compared with 78% of those with some college experience and 60% of adults with a high school education or less. College graduates were also more likely to have read in each format: print, e-book, and audiobook.
Age also matters, especially for digital formats. Adults under 50 were more likely than older adults to read e-books and listen to audiobooks. Among adults aged 18 to 29, 41% said they had read an e-book in the past year, while 32% said they had listened to an audiobook. Among adults aged 65 and older, those figures were 23% and 13% respectively.
One of the more interesting findings is how few readers are part of a formal book club. Despite the visibility of celebrity book clubs, online reading communities, and social media book recommendations, Pew found that only 7% of U.S. adults had participated in a book club in the past 12 months. Women were twice as likely as men to have taken part, at 10% compared with 5%.
For publishers, booksellers, libraries, and reading communities, the results point to a familiar but important lesson: print still matters enormously, but book discovery and reading habits are no longer tied to a single format. The modern reader may still love the feel of a physical book, but they are increasingly comfortable letting stories reach them through screens and headphones too.
The survival of print, then, is not really a story about digital formats failing. It is a story about books adapting. The printed book remains central, but it now shares the stage with formats that make reading possible in more places, at more times, and for more kinds of readers.
Source / Attribution
This article is based on findings from:
“Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions; few are in book clubs.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. April 9, 2026.