First: I wanna clarify this. I know that loads of people read like 100 books a year, or read all the time. I know these people exist. I’m asking about people that are like… average. An average american who just… reads. Doesn’t track everything or sets goals of like 100, or never stops reading… Anyway, I’ve been searching this up, and i find answers like 15-50, even 100. I find this highly unlikely, especially for average US citizens. Half the people i know don’t even pick up 5 books a year, let alone 15! I just don’t believe these stats. I read somewhere that people read 8 a month on average? That can’t be right for an average person. That’s like 2 books a week… I know people do read this much, but still… For an average person? So be real… how many books do people actually read a year?
On goodreads, the average number of books pledged for this year’s reading challenge is 43.
There are people who overshoot their target, and there are people who fall short, but since the reading challenge is an “aspiration”, a goal, a challenge to yourself, I think it’s fair to assume that most people aim at a number that is pretty high for them. So the average participant in the reading challenge reads less than 43 books.
Now take into account that goodreads is a community of dedicated readers. So the average for a goodreads user is naturally significantly higher than just for the average person. And even on goodreads, only people who want to read more participate in reading challenges. My guess would be that the average participant in the reading challenge reads maybe 30 to 35 books per year, and that’s on the high end for a goodreads user. Now factor in the millions of people who don’t read at all. There’s plenty of people who just don’t read. So yeah, there’s no way the average is 50 books. I think even 15 is too high. If 30-35 is already high outlier range, I think the national average is probably in the single digits.