Modern life, measured.
How we actually spend our time, money, and meals — on average. No judgment, just data. Patterns vary widely by age, household, and region, but these snapshots help answer: "Is this normal?"
What we love to eat (and admit to loving)
4 of the top 5 are fried or cheese-based. We know what we like.
Sources: YouGov Food Popularity Rankings, The Shelby Report (n=2,000)
How often families actually eat together
The Norman Rockwell family dinner? Only 1 in 3 families actually do it regularly.
Sources: The Family Dinner Project, PMC Population Survey
The gap between recipe aspirations and dinner reality
We search for comfort baking but eat for convenience. The Pinterest dream vs the Tuesday reality.
Sources: Recipe search trends, consumer meal preference surveys
Compiled from multiple public sources; patterns are directional
America's relationship with delivery & dining out
Food = 13% of household spending — and $4,266/yr goes to restaurants
Sources: US Foods, BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2023
Dining frequency figures are survey-based estimates
Average U.S. household annual spending
Housing + Transportation = 50% of all spending
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey 2023
How much we pay for stuff we barely use
Streaming fatigue is real: 28% feel overwhelmed by the number of apps. People are cutting back.
Sources: Reviews.org 2024, CNET 2025, Self Financial
The average American's 24 hours
We spend more time sleeping than working, eating, and shopping combined
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey
Working days vs. days off
37% of Americans used vacation days just to sleep last year
On days off, we gain +2.8 hrs leisure but also sleep 2 hrs longer
Compiled from multiple sources. Main Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey.
Peak ages for major transitions (and how they're shifting)
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, NAR 2025, BLS, CDC, APPA, NIRS, Gallup Well-Being Index
Personal pressures vs. societal anxieties
APA Stress in America 2024
APA Stress in America 2025
76% stressed about the nation's future — the top stressor across all categories
Normal Human Stats compiles and visualizes publicly available research and survey data to answer a simple question: "Am I normal?"
Sources may include:
All data shown represents aggregated, high-level findings intended to reflect broad patterns — not individual behavior or predictions. Figures are drawn from multiple public sources and may represent different samples and years. These datasets vary in methodology and sampling; they are shown side-by-side for context, not for strict statistical comparison.
Visuals are simplified and contextualized to make complex data easier to understand, compare, and question.
This page is about reality checks, not prescriptions.
Last updated: December 2025