Average Amount of Screen Time for Children and Young Adults

Question: How much time do children and young adults spend on digital media by age?

Answer: Thank you for the great question! Before we dive into the average time spent on digital media, we want to point out that digital media use is much more than just the minutes or hours spent on a device. Screen time is only one dimension of a child’s relationship with digital media. Other dimensions that are worth considering are: 

• Content of the media being consumed. High quality or educational content is better for child development. For older children, consider how the content makes them feel.  
• What is screen time displacing or crowding out? Is time spent on screens getting in the way of opportunities for human connection or other essential activities (e.g., physical activity, homework, reading, etc.)? 
• Is the time on screens well spent? In other words, is it meaningful, fascinating, joyful? Or is it compulsive, repetitive, or being used frequently as a calming or distraction tool?  

Below, we have provided some statistics on the average amount of media use for different age groups. 

Infancy (0 – 2 year olds) 

According to a survey from Common Sense Media, children under the age of 2 years old average 1 hour and 3 minutes of media use per day. Included in that hour plus, children 0 to 2 spend an average of 3 minutes per day playing video games (console or smartphone/tablet games) and an average of 4 minutes a day watching short-form videos like those on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.  

Early Childhood (2-8 years old) 

Based on the same survey mentioned above, children ages 2- to 4-years-old average 2 hours and 8 minutes of media use per day, while 5 to 8 year olds average 3 hours and 38 minutes. The most common types of media used in this age range are TV/video viewing (60%) and gaming (26%), followed by video-chatting (4%), reading (electronic) (4%), and social networking (2%). 

Media use also differs between boys and girls. Boys tend to spend 30 more minutes than girls do on screen media each day (2:38 vs 2:07). They also spend more time watching TV and videos and playing video games (1:36 vs 1:19 and 0:45 vs 0:29, respectively). Additionally, children aged 2 to 4 average 21 minutes of gaming per day, whereas those ages 5 to 8 average 1 hour and 4 minutes.  

Tweens (8 - 13 years old)  

Media use habits shift noticeably as children get older. A 2021 report by Common Sense Media shows that tweens ages 8 to 12, average 5 and a half (5:33) hours of screen media per day. In 2021, 65% of tweens watched TV daily, 64% played online video games, and 43% played mobile games. Social media use starts to grow during this age range. 38% of tweens have used social media and 18% state they use it daily. They report spending around 18 minutes a day on social media on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and Pinterest. Again, media use differs by gender in this age range. Tween boys are averaging 6 hours and 11 minutes a day, while girls average 4 hours and 55 minutes.  

Teens (14 - 17 years old) 

From 2015 to 2021, teens ages 13 to 18 years old averaged 8 hours and 39 minutes of media use per day. Another report from the CDC shows that 55% of teenagers aged 15-17 were more likely than their younger peers (12-14) to have 4 or more hours of daily media use. 79% of the teens surveyed stated that they are regular users of social media. Teens are spending an hour and a half on social media, most frequently using Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Discord, and Twitter/X. Additionally, teen boys are averaging 9 hours and 16 minutes of media use while girls are averaging 8 hours and 2 minutes. Teens are also starting to explore podcasts during this age range with 22% of them saying they enjoy listening to podcasts.  

Young Adults (18 - 24 years old) 

Although there is limited data on media use among young adults, available findings show that the most commonly used social media platforms among U.S. adults are YouTube (84%), Facebook (71%), Instagram (50%), TikTok (37%), WhatsApp (32%), and some are using Reddit, Snapchat, and Twitter/X. Specifically, adults under 30 are more likely than older adults to use platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit with 80% of 18-29 year olds saying they use Instagram. Roughly half of that same age group (18-29 years old) state they go on TikTok at least once a day. In comparison, most (80%) older adults, ages 30 to 49, say they most commonly use Facebook. 

If you would like to learn more about screen time guidelines for children and teens, check out our past portal responses:

• Screen Time Guidelines
• Screen Time for Teenagers
• Screen Time for Infants
• Screen Time Limits for Young Children
• Preferred Method of Screen Time/Selecting Best Shows/Games for Toddlers 

References 

• Gottfried, J., & Park, E. (2025, November 20). Americans' Social Media Use 2025. Pew Research Center. Retrieved December 11, 2025.   
• Mann, S., Calvin, A., Lenhart, A., and Robb, M.B. (2025). The Common Sense census: Media use by kids zero to eight, 2025. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.  
• Rideout, V., Peebles, A., Mann, S., & Robb, M. B. (2022). Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens, 2021. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense. 
• Zablotsky B, Arockiaraj B, Haile G, Ng AE. Daily screen time among teenagers: United States, July 2021–December 2023. NCHS Data Brief, no 513. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2024.