Weird facts about Americans
From eating acres of pizza each year to owning more guns than there are people in the country, there is a myriad of American facts that probably won’t surprise you, but are a good glimpse into what makes up American culture.
So, if you’re curious about how many Americans believe UFOs have landed on Earth or how much Netflix content Americans have watched during quarantine, keep reading.
1. A lot of Americans are homebodies
More than 40% of Americans have never left the country.
2. Some Americans are very grounded
13% of Americans have never flown in a plane.
3. Americans love their cheese
The average American consumes 40 pounds of cheese every year.
4. Americans are mostly meat lovers
Just 3.4% of Americans are vegetarian.
5. Americans love their pets
67% of American households have at least one pet.
6. We love our movies …
As of 2019, about 32% of adults see one movie in theaters each month.
7. … and our pizza …
More than nine in every 10 Americans eat pizza every month. Some estimates found that Americans eat about 100 acres of pizza daily.
8. … and fast food in general
The CDC found that about 84.8 million adult Americans eat fast food on any given day. That’s about 37% of the U.S. adult population.
9. We love to drive
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration found that the average American drives roughly 13,500 miles every year.
10. We have more guns than citizens
USA Today found that, in the U.S., there are more guns than people. For every 100 people, there are about 101 guns.
11. A lot of us have German ancestors
About 43 million Americans identify as ancestrally German. That makes German the top nationality in the U.S.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
12. Selfies didn’t start in America, but we love them
82% of U.S. adults who are 18 to 34 years old have posted a selfie to social media.
13. We don’t read a lot of books
Americans read an average of 12 books per year. As such, the average American read four books in the past year.
14. Not very many of us own cryptocurrencies
10% of Americans own cryptocurrencies, which equals about 33 million Americans.
15. We all scream for ice cream
The average American eats more than 23 pounds of ice cream each year.
16. Nearly half of us are believers … in UFOs
Just under half of Americans believe UFOs exist and have landed on the Earth at some point.
17. We don’t travel a lot in our own country
54% of surveyed Americans have visited 10 states or fewer in the lifetimes.
18. A majority do not have a passport
Over half of surveyed Americans said they don’t have a passport and never have had one.
19. We believe in ourselves
According to a Pew Research Center study, 57% of Americans believe that individuals control their own success. That’s more than any other county surveyed.
20. Only about a quarter have recently moved states
According to a Gallup poll, 24% of American adults have moved states within the last five years.
21. Nearly 1 million people have a heart attack every year
About 805,000 Americans have a heart attack every year. An estimated 605,000 of those have experienced a heart attack for the first time, and 200,000 have had one previously.
22. Two-thirds of us didn’t graduate college
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than one-third of America’s adult population has a bachelor’s degree.
23. We love our snack chips …
According to Statista, the U.S. snack food market surpassed $53 billion in revenue in 2025. Chips rank as the second most popular snack in America, behind cookies, with regular consumption by over half of the U.S. population. Lay’s leads as the top-selling brand with over $4.2 billion in annual sales.
24. … and our booze
Americans drink an average of 2.3 gallons of alcohol per year. That includes beer, wine, and mixed beverages.
Recent 2025 data from Gallup News shows self-reported drinking rates among Americans dropped to a new low of 54% amid growing health concerns
25. A large majority of Americans identify as straight
According to the latest 2025 Gallup data, 9.0% of adult Americans identified as LGBT+, with 10.5% of women identifying as LGBT+ compared to 5.6% of men.
26. We spend a lot of time online
The average American phone user spends 4 hours and 25 minutes daily on their phones, and most mobile phone users check their phones up to 58 times daily.
27. More than half of Americans are Amazon Prime members
In 2025, approximately 180 to 200 million Americans held an Amazon Prime membership, with the vast majority making multiple online product purchases through the platform throughout the year.
28. Some of us are addicted to the internet
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults (roughly 40%) say that they are “almost constantly” online, according to data from the Pew Research Center surveys
29. YouTube isn’t just for the kids
73% of American adults say they use YouTube, according to a 2019 survey. 90% of 18- 24-year-olds reported that number as 90%.
30. Cell phones are ubiquitous
96% of Americans now own a cellphone.
31. Chicken is king in America
According to data from the National Chicken Council based on U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, Americans consumed an average of 104.3 pounds of chicken per capita in 2025.
32. Meat candy can’t even compare to chicken
The typical American consumes 18 pounds of bacon each year.
33. We also love our waffles
The broader North American frozen and commercial waffle market was valued at over $1.4 billion, with frozen varieties making up roughly 66% of total U.S. consumption and over 61% of households reporting regular intake
34. Frozen fried chicken is a thing
Approximately 62% of U.S. households, over 80 million households and roughly 160–170 million individual consumers, purchased and consumed frozen breaded or fried chicken products at least once a month in 2025, according to retail market analysis
35. Americans tend to carry a lot of debt
In 2025, the average American’s credit card debt per person ranged from about $6,500 to $6,735 across major credit bureaus like TransUnion and Experian. For households actively carrying an unpaid revolving balance, the average climbed higher to roughly $7,800 to $11,000.
36. American student loan debt is crushing
The average student loan debt in America is between $37,000 and $42,000 per borrower, with total national student debt at approximately $1.77 trillion. About 42.5 million Americans hold federal student loan debt, and average monthly payments typically range between $200 and $299.
37. There are still a lot of ‘underwater’ homeowners
At the end of 2025, approximately 1.1 million American homeowners were “underwater” on their mortgages. This figure accounts for 2.1% of all mortgage borrowers in the United States.
38. There are a LOT of McDonald’s employees (and former employees)
Some studies found that 1 out of every 8 Americans has worked at McDonald’s.
39. We love our television time …
The typical American adult (over the age of 18) watches three to four hours of TV a day.
40. We have quite a bit of free time …
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey, Americans aged 15 and older have an average of 5.16 hours of leisure and sports time per day.
41. …but little of it is spent on exercise
Americans spend an average of 30 minutes per day on sports, exercise, and recreation.
42. Few of us are bi- or multi-lingual
About 20% of Americans can speak two or more languages fluently.
43. We don’t see our doctors very frequently
The average American visits their doctor four times a year. That compares to 13 times a year in Japan.
44. Most of us have at least one cavity
91% of Americans over 20 have had at least one cavity.
45. Most of us live near where we were born
58.5% of Americans live in their home state.
46. Nearly half of us are married
Slightly less than half of U.S. households (47%) were married couples in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
47. Divorces are on the decline
Approximately 673,000 to 674,000 divorces are finalized annually in the United States, reflecting a crude divorce rate of about 2.3 to 2.4 per 1,000 people. Estimates indicate that roughly 41% of first marriages end in divorce, continuing a steady multi-decade decline from peaks seen in the 1980s.
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