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April 30

Data update

Who do Americans spend time with over their lives?

Tuna Acisu

Who Americans spend their time with changes a lot over the course of their lives.

In their teens, Americans spend a lot of time with friends and family.

In their 20s, time with friends and family starts to drop off. Instead, Americans begin to spend more time with partners and children.

Throughout their 30s, 40s, and 50s, Americans spend much of their time with coworkers.

As they get older, Americans spend more time alone, but surveys show this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re lonely.

This data comes from the American Time Use Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I recently updated our charts with the latest data release.

Explore the updated data in our interactive charts
Line chart of average hours per day Americans spend with different people across ages 15 to 80, based on US surveys from 2010 to 2024, where time spent alone rises steadily into older age while time with children and coworkers peaks in early to mid-adulthood then declines, and time with partners increases later in adulthood. Data source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). License: CC BY.