Reference desk
Current figures on how Americans move, train and meet federal activity guidelines. Every statistic links to its original public source, with the data year shown beside it.
What this covers
These figures are useful for reporters, students, health professionals and anyone looking for a clear starting point on physical activity in the United States. They are not a prescription for an individual training plan. Federal guidance for adults calls for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week, plus muscle-strengthening work on two or more days. Read the federal guidelines.
Adults, 2022
Among U.S. adults age 25 and over, 22.5% reported meeting both the aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines. The same report found a wide gap by education level, from 12.2% among adults with a high school education or less to 33.6% among adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
CDC MMWR, published 2024 ↗Adults, 2020
In the National Health Interview Survey, 46.3% of adults age 18 and over reported meeting neither benchmark. In that same survey, 46.9% met the aerobic guideline and 31.0% met the muscle-strengthening guideline, whether or not they met the other one.
CDC National Health Interview Survey data ↗Adults, 2024
Healthy People 2030 reports that 29.8% of adults age 18 and over reached the more extensive aerobic activity threshold in 2024: more than 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, more than 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination.
Healthy People 2030 objective data ↗People age 15+, 2024
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded an average of 0.31 hours per day in sports, exercise and recreation across all people age 15 and over. That figure is averaged over everyone, including people who did not take part on the diary day.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics time-use survey ↗Ages 12 to 17, 2021 to 2023
In the National Health Interview Survey-Teen, 61.1% of young people said they exercised, played a sport or did physical activity for at least 60 minutes most days or every day. The reported share was 70.4% among those with two or fewer hours of daily recreational screen time, compared with 54.4% among those with four or more hours.
CDC MMWR youth activity data ↗Methodology and sources
This page reports the figures as published by the original agencies. Survey-based measures reflect what respondents reported, and population, age range and definition vary by source. For a formal report or academic work, cite the original source linked with each statistic, not this summary alone.
Suggested citation
Cruz Fitness Systems. “U.S. Physical Activity Statistics.” Updated October 14, 2026. https://cruzfitnesssystems.com/physical-activity-statistics
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