In the Age of Comfort, Why Are So Many Americans Losing Sleep?

2025

In an era when technology has helped solve many of the problems that once disrupted sleep — cold nights, dangerous fires, disease-carrying pests, and the lack of light or climate control — a significant number of Americans are still struggling to get a good night’s rest.

Modern households often come equipped with central heating, air conditioning, and comfortable mattresses. Over-the-counter medications and advanced sleep diagnostics are widely available. Yet, data from the National Health Interview Survey and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine show that sleep problems remain widespread and unevenly distributed.

In 2020, 14.5% of U.S. adults reported difficulty falling asleep most days or every day. Nearly 18% had trouble staying asleep. These figures reveal that despite improvements in the conditions surrounding sleep, many people continue to wrestle with insomnia, poor sleep quality, and inconsistent sleep duration.

The Historical Contrast
Looking to the past, sleep conditions were far more challenging. Before the Industrial Revolution, families often shared beds in small, poorly insulated homes. Nighttime brought risks not only from the elements but from fire, insects, and crime. According to historian A. Roger Ekirch, nighttime insecurity shaped both how people slept and how they prayed. A full, uninterrupted night of rest was rare.

Today, most Americans no longer sleep beside livestock or fight off lice in their beds. But the problems keeping people awake have changed, not disappeared.

A Modern Sleep Crisis
Despite comfortable bedrooms and quieter streets, many people find themselves unable to sleep well — or enough. One significant factor is lifestyle.

Many people delay sleep in what psychologists refer to as revenge bedtime procrastination — the decision to stay up late for personal time after a long day of work or caregiving. Others scroll through distressing or attention-grabbing content on their phones late into the night, despite widespread awareness that screen exposure near bedtime interferes with the brain’s natural preparation for sleep.

Caffeine, alcohol, and erratic sleep schedules further compound the problem. Even those who try to “optimize” their sleep may end up making things worse. The use of sleep-tracking devices, strict nighttime routines, and supplements can sometimes foster anxiety and overattention to sleep metrics — a cycle that leads to more, not less, insomnia.

“We’re trying to have our cake and eat it, too,” says Ekirch. “The less time we accord to sleep, the more perfect we want it to be for when we do nod off.”

Behavioral and Biological Challenges
Some people are biologically inclined to need more sleep than others. These “long sleepers” may require up to ten hours of rest per night — a difficult goal to achieve in a culture that rewards productivity and constant availability. For shift workers, whose schedules may require alternating day and night shifts, sleep is often broken, inconsistent, and insufficient.

About 20% of American workers fall into this category. According to sleep psychologist Dr. Jade Wu, people in this group may suffer from shift-work sleep disorder, which is marked by excessive sleepiness, insomnia, or both. The condition is more common among people of color, who are overrepresented in lower-wage and overnight work.

Sleep Disparities by Race and Income
Sleep problems are not evenly spread across the population. People living in poverty, working irregular shifts, or residing in noisy, unsafe, or poorly ventilated environments are more likely to experience sleep disruptions. In 2020, 21.9% of people with family incomes below the federal poverty level had trouble falling asleep. That number dropped to 12.6% among households with incomes twice the poverty level or higher.

Race also plays a role. Non-Hispanic White adults were more likely to have trouble staying asleep (21%) than their non-Hispanic Black (15.4%), Hispanic (10.6%), or non-Hispanic Asian (8.7%) counterparts. However, Black adults were more likely to work alternating shifts and experience sleep disruptions tied to job demands.

Stress from discrimination has also been linked to poor sleep outcomes. The same groups facing housing instability, noise pollution, and environmental hazards also tend to experience greater health and sleep disparities.

Women consistently report more sleep issues than men. In 2020, 17.1% of women said they had trouble falling asleep most days, compared to 11.7% of men. Women were also more likely to have trouble staying asleep.

The Role of Environment
Where a person lives can directly impact how well they sleep. People in rural or nonmetropolitan areas — often with limited access to healthcare, fewer housing options, and more environmental noise — tend to report more trouble falling and staying asleep.

In 2020, 17.1% of adults in rural areas had trouble falling asleep, compared to 12.7% of adults in large metropolitan areas. Likewise, 22.4% of rural residents had difficulty staying asleep, compared to 14.4% in central cities.

Environmental factors such as bright streetlights, high temperatures, loud traffic, or a general lack of security can all impact one’s ability to fall and stay asleep.

Beyond Advice: Limits of Standard Sleep Tips
The standard sleep hygiene tips — keeping a room cool, dark, and quiet; avoiding screens; and sticking to a bedtime routine — can be helpful. But for many people, particularly those with unstable work schedules or caregiving responsibilities, such advice may seem unrealistic.

“Stress, anxiety, weird work schedules,” says clinical social worker Jessi Pettigrew, “can lead to the development of sleep disorders like insomnia or circadian rhythm disorders.”

For people living with babies, long commutes, or irregular hours, behavioral suggestions can feel out of touch. Even those with ideal conditions may find themselves lying awake, mentally checking off their sleep hygiene steps — a habit that can make things worse.

“What you see in people with insomnia is that they’re trying too hard,” says Wu. “They’re tracking their sleep too closely. They are perfectionistic about their sleep hygiene… trying to achieve a certain number of hours or a certain score on their sleep tracker.”

What Can Be Done?
Experts suggest focusing less on perfection and more on creating a sustainable routine. People in noisy or hot environments can try fans, blackout curtains, or earplugs. For others, especially those with ongoing issues, seeing a sleep specialist may help identify treatable conditions such as insomnia or sleep apnea.

But the most important step, Wu says, may be letting go of the obsession with ideal sleep. “One thing that can help,” Pettigrew adds, “is just saying, I’m going to trust my body to take care of this.”

Sleep has never been free from challenge. But while the threats of fire and pestilence have faded, a new set of modern, social, and systemic factors has emerged to take their place. Some of these barriers are deeply embedded in society — income inequality, racial discrimination, demanding work hours — and cannot be solved by weighted blankets or better alarms.

Still, the human body remains built for rest. The science is clear: sleep is essential to mental, emotional, and physical health. And while our tools have advanced, the solution may be simpler than we think — to allow ourselves the time, space, and trust to sleep