Screen time is widespread among U.S. children and teens, but its measurement depends on the population, activity and definition used. The figures below distinguish entertainment media, recreational weekday use, smartphone access, perceptions, household rules and health-outcome evidence across studies and survey periods.
Key Screen Time Statistics
The most broadly useful screen time statistics include:
- In 2021, 95% of U.S. children ages 8–12 used entertainment screen media on the target day, compared with 92% in 2019.
- In 2021, 97% of U.S. teens ages 13–18 used entertainment screen media on the target day, compared with 96% in 2019.
- In 2021, U.S. tweens averaged 5 hours 33 minutes of entertainment screen media per day, excluding schoolwork and homework.
- In 2021, U.S. teens averaged 8 hours 39 minutes of entertainment screen media per day, excluding schoolwork and homework.
- In 2021, 87% of U.S. tweens used television or videos on the target day, averaging 2 hours 40 minutes across all tweens.
- In 2021, 92% of U.S. teens used television or videos on the target day, averaging 3 hours 16 minutes across all teens.
- In 2021, 59% of U.S. tweens and 59% of U.S. teens played entertainment games on the target day.
- In 2021, 67% of U.S. teens used social media on the target day, averaging 1 hour 27 minutes across all teens.
- From 2019 to 2021, daily online-video viewing rose from 56% to 64% among U.S. tweens.
- From 2019 to 2021, daily online-video viewing rose from 69% to 77% among U.S. teens.
- In Pew Research Center’s September–October 2023 survey, 95% of U.S. teens ages 13–17 had smartphone access.
- In the same 2023 survey, 44% of teen girls and 33% of teen boys said they spent too much smartphone time.
- In 2023, 38% of U.S. parents and 38% of teens said they at least sometimes argued about the teen’s phone time.
- In 2023, 47% of parents said they limited their teen’s phone time, while 48% said they did not.
- In the 2020 U.S. NHIS, 80.2% of children ages 12–17 exceeded two hours of recreational screen time per weekday, excluding schoolwork.
- A meta-analysis through February 2019 found screen-time interventions reduced children’s screen use by 33 minutes per day.
- The same intervention meta-analysis found mean sleep duration increased by 11 minutes per day.
- A meta-analysis of adolescent studies found the highest screen-time category had 1.273 times the odds of overweight or obesity versus the lowest category.
Contents
- Key Screen Time Statistics
- Screen Time Statistics for Children and Teens
- Entertainment Screen Time Trends by Age and Activity
- Teen Smartphone and Social Media Screen Time Perceptions
- Parents, Phone Limits and Screen Time Conflicts
- Screen Time Statistics and Sleep Outcomes
- Screen Time, Weight and Health Outcome Evidence
Screen Time Statistics for Children and Teens
The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021 measured entertainment screen media on a target day. Its averages include all respondents, including those who did not use a given medium, and exclude schoolwork and homework.
| Population and period | Used screen media on target day | Average entertainment screen media per day |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. ages 8–12, 2019 | 92% | 4 hours 44 minutes |
| U.S. ages 8–12, 2021 | 95% | 5 hours 33 minutes |
| U.S. ages 13–18, 2019 | 96% | 7 hours 22 minutes |
| U.S. ages 13–18, 2021 | 97% | 8 hours 39 minutes |
Source: The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021.
Among tweens in 2021, television or videos were used by 87% on the target day, with an all-tween average of 2 hours 40 minutes. Among teens, the corresponding figures were 92% and 3 hours 16 minutes.
Gaming was used by 59% of both tweens and teens on the 2021 target day. The all-respondent averages were 1 hour 27 minutes for tweens and 1 hour 46 minutes for teens.
The same survey found social media use among 22% of tweens and 67% of teens, with averages of 18 minutes and 1 hour 27 minutes, respectively. These are entertainment or social-media diary measures, not total device time.
The CDC’s 2020 National Health Interview Survey used a different definition: parent-reported screen time per weekday outside schoolwork. It found 65.7% of boys ages 2–17 and 64.6% of girls ages 2–17 exceeded two hours, while the estimate was 47.5% for children ages 2–5 and 80.2% for ages 12–17.
Source: QuickStats: Percentage of Children Aged 2–17 Years With >2 Hours of Screen Time Per Weekday.
Entertainment Screen Time Trends by Age and Activity
The 2019-to-2021 comparison shows that changes differed by activity and age group. The measures below are self-reported daily activity or target-day use, so they should not be read as a single continuous device-time series.
- Daily online-video viewing among tweens rose from 56% in 2019 to 64% in 2021; among teens, it rose from 69% to 77%.
- Online-video use on the target day rose from 54% to 58% among tweens, with a 2021 all-tween average of 57 minutes. Among teens, it rose from 61% to 77%, while the all-teen average increased from 59 minutes to 1 hour 22 minutes.
- Daily television viewing among tweens increased from 63% in 2019 to 65% in 2021, while teen daily television viewing fell from 57% to 49%.
- Browsing websites on the target day rose from 17% to 30% among tweens and from 47% to 60% among teens.
- Video-chatting rose from 10% to 18% among tweens and from 20% to 26% among teens.
- Daily mobile-game play fell from 46% to 43% among tweens and from 46% to 40% among teens.
For gaming categories measured in 2021, console or portable gaming was used by 30% of tweens and 35% of teens, averaging 40 and 55 minutes across each age group. Computer games were used by 15% of tweens and 18% of teens, averaging 13 and 26 minutes; mobile games were used by 37% and 33%, averaging 33 and 25 minutes.
Source for these entertainment measures: The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021. The report’s figures concern entertainment use and may include simultaneous use.
Teen Smartphone and Social Media Screen Time Perceptions
Pew Research Center’s survey conducted September 26–October 23, 2023 measured access and perceptions rather than directly measured duration. Smartphone access was reported by 95% of U.S. teens ages 13–17.
Perceptions differed by gender. Forty-four percent of teen girls said they spent too much smartphone time, compared with 33% of boys; for social media, the corresponding figures were 32% and 22%.
Behavior change was not universal. Thirty-nine percent of teens said they had cut back on social-media time, while 36% said they had cut back on phone time; 63% had not limited smartphone use and 60% had not limited social-media use.
Among teens who said they used social media too much, 57% said they had cut back. That compared with 32% among teens who said their use was too little or about right, an associational subgroup comparison rather than a causal result.
Source: How Teens and Parents Approach Screen Time.
Parents, Phone Limits and Screen Time Conflicts
Pew’s 2023 survey also measured household rules and disagreements between parents and teens. Thirty-eight percent of parents and 38% of teens said they at least sometimes argued about the teen’s phone time, including 10% in each group who said this happened often.
Phone limits were reported by 47% of parents, while 48% said they did not limit their teen’s phone time. Limits were more common for younger teens: 62% of parents of 13- to 14-year-olds reported them, compared with 37% of parents of 15- to 17-year-olds.
About four in ten parents said managing their teen’s phone time was hard, while 26% said it was easy. Parents’ own perceptions also mattered: 47% said they spent too much time on their smartphone, 45% said the amount was right and 5% said too little.
Phone distraction was reported differently by the two groups. Forty-six percent of teens said their parent was at least sometimes distracted by a phone when the teen was trying to talk, compared with 31% of parents reporting this regularly; the question wording and frequency thresholds differed.
Source: How Teens and Parents Approach Screen Time.
Screen Time Statistics and Sleep Outcomes
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 controlled studies involving 4,656 children ages 2–13, covering studies through February 2019, evaluated interventions intended to control children’s screen use. It found a mean reduction of 0.56 hours, or 33 minutes, of screen time per day.
The pooled mean sleep-duration increase was 0.19 hours, or 11 minutes, per day. Weekday bedtime advanced by 0.16 hours, approximately 10 minutes, while weekend bedtime advanced by 1.0 hour.
These are pooled intervention results, not population prevalence estimates. The interventions were heterogeneous, and co-interventions and study-quality limitations mean the effect on sleep cannot be isolated as a clean screen-time-only causal estimate.
Screen Time, Weight and Health Outcome Evidence
A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of 44 studies involving 112,489 adolescents found that the highest screen-time category had pooled odds of overweight or obesity of 1.273 times those in the lowest category, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.166–1.390.
For overweight alone, the pooled odds ratio was 1.567, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.282–1.916. For obesity alone, it was 1.109, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.964–1.275; the subgroup result was not statistically significant because the interval crossed 1.
Screen type and study setting produced different estimates. Television had a pooled odds ratio of 1.813 for overweight or obesity, while school-based studies had a pooled odds ratio of 1.405; both are observational subgroup estimates with varying definitions and remaining confounding or heterogeneity.
A separate meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials involving 1,894 children and adolescents, with trials published through December 2020, found interventions reduced total screen time by 6.90 hours per week, with a 95% confidence interval of −9.19 to −4.60 hours. Television time fell by 6.17 hours per week, with a 95% confidence interval of −10.70 to −1.65 hours.
The randomized-trial meta-analysis did not find a significant change in BMI. Together, these results show that reducing exposure and changing a health outcome are separate questions, and pooled observational associations do not establish causation.