Creative hobby time is widely shared, although the available surveys usually record whether people took part at least once rather than how many minutes they spent. In the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), 52% of U.S. adults personally created or performed art during the 12-month reference period—about 129 million people. The same survey found that 53%, or about 131 million adults, read books or literature. Eurostat’s 2022 cultural-participation data shows similarly wide variation across Europe, from 65.8% of adults practicing an artistic activity in Finland to 17.3% in Italy.
On this page
- How many adults make time for creative hobbies
- Hands-on making and visual art
- Music, dance, and performance
- Reading and arts media
- How people learn creative skills
- Where active artistic leisure is most common
How many adults make time for creative hobbies
The broadest U.S. measure is participation in creating or performing art. The NEA reports that 52% of adults did this at least once during the 12-month period covered by the 2022 SPPA, representing about 129 million people. This is a participation estimate, not a measure of regular weekly practice or total time spent. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Reading was just as prominent in the same reference period. Books and/or literature reached 53% of adults, or about 131 million people. The report also places electronic or digital media at 75% of adults, the largest of its broad participation modes. Digital participation can include experiencing art through media, so it should be read alongside—not as a replacement for—the figures on making and performing. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Several other leisure activities show how broadly people define a creative or personally meaningful hobby. Interior, architectural, fashion-design, or landscaping activities were reported by 17% of U.S. adults in 2022, up from 14% in 2017. Nearly 40% gardened indoors or outdoors in 2022, compared with 37% in 2017. Around 35% played video or computer games, roughly unchanged from 2017, while roughly 31% took part in outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, or canoeing. These figures are all based on the SPPA’s 12-month participation measures. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
| U.S. adult activity | 2022 participation | Reference point |
|---|---|---|
| Created and/or performed art | 52% | About 129 million adults |
| Read books and/or literature | 53% | About 131 million adults |
| Arts participation through electronic or digital media | 75% | Largest broad participation mode |
| Learned an art form or subject | 29% | About 71 million adults |
| Gardening indoors or outdoors | Nearly 40% | 37% in 2017 |
The NEA also estimated that 29% of U.S. adults—about 71 million people—learned an art form or subject during the 2022 reference period. Learning is therefore a substantial part of creative life, even when it is separate from reporting a finished creative work. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Hands-on making and visual art
Crafts and visual activities cover a wide range of entry points. In 2022, 11.7% of U.S. adults reported weaving, crocheting, quilting, needlepoint, knitting, or sewing. Leatherwork, metalwork, or woodwork involved 9.0%. Pottery, ceramics, or jewelry involved 4.4%. These categories describe personal arts activities reported during the year, not the number of projects completed or hours invested. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Photography was reported by 13.3% of adults when counted as an artistic activity. Other visual art—including painting, sculpture, graphic design, or digital art—reached 10.7%. Creative writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or plays, was reported by 6.9%. Designing, coding, or creating games, software, or tools was reported by 2.0%, while creating a performance or visual-art work with a computer or mobile device reached 4.5%. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
These numbers should not be added together: a person may have photographed, sewn, written, and gardened in the same year. Instead, they show the variety of ways creative time can be used, from tactile making to digital production and writing.
Music, dance, and performance
Music and movement were among the more common active arts activities in the 2022 U.S. survey. Singing alone, socially, or in a group or choir was reported by 20.2% of adults. Playing a musical instrument reached 11.4%, while playing with partners, a band, orchestra, or another music group reached 3.0%. Acting was reported by 1.6% of adults. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Dance appeared in both social and performance forms. Social dancing—including at weddings, clubs, or other social settings—involved 21.8% of adults. Performing or practicing dance was reported by 2.0%. The difference reflects the survey’s separate treatment of broad social participation and active dance practice. Creating films or videos as an artistic activity was reported by 4.0%. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
| Active creative activity | U.S. adults in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Social dancing | 21.8% |
| Singing alone, socially, or in a group or choir | 20.2% |
| Playing a musical instrument | 11.4% |
| Playing an instrument with a music group | 3.0% |
| Performing or practicing dance | 2.0% |
| Acting | 1.6% |
Reading and arts media
Reading statistics show a strong place for creative and cultural media in everyday leisure. The NEA found that 48.5% of U.S. adults read books in print or electronically in 2022. Audiobooks reached 18.5%, and the combined measure of reading books and/or listening to audiobooks reached 51.9%. Novels or short stories were read by 37.6% of adults, poetry by 9.2%, and plays by 2.4%. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Music listening through media was even more widespread. Listening to music other than jazz, Latin/Spanish/salsa, classical music, or opera was reported by 63.0% of adults. Latin, Spanish, or salsa music reached 16.8%, while classical music or opera reached 14.3%. The categories may overlap because they identify different music types rather than mutually exclusive audiences. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
Other mediated arts activities included watching or listening to theater productions, reported by 11.0%, and watching or listening to dance performances, reported by 9.9%. Documentaries of any kind through electronic or digital media reached 37.0%. These are ways of engaging with arts and culture through media, distinct from personally creating or performing. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
How people learn creative skills
Creative learning often happens outside formal instruction. In 2022, 11.8% of U.S. adults took classes or lessons in any arts subject. Learning through friends, family, or self-teaching reached 25.5%. The combined measure—learning through classes or lessons or through other means—was 29.1%. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
The subject-level figures show the same pattern. For music, 3.8% learned through classes or lessons and 12.1% through other means such as friends, family tradition, or self-teaching. For photography or filmmaking, the figures were 1.8% and 6.6%. Other visual arts reached 2.6% through classes or lessons and 6.4% through other means. Creative writing reached 1.9% through classes or lessons and 3.6% through other means. National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
The categories are not a time-use diary. They indicate how adults learned during the 2022 reference period, and a learner can use more than one route. Still, the comparison makes informal learning visible alongside paid or organized instruction.
Where active artistic leisure is most common
Eurostat’s 2022 cultural-participation data covers people aged 16 and over in EU countries. Its artistic-practice measure includes active forms such as music, dance, photography, visual arts or handcrafts, and creative writing. Finland had the highest rate of practicing an artistic activity, at 65.8%, while Italy had the lowest, at 17.3%. More than half of adults practiced an artistic activity in Denmark, Austria, and Slovakia. Eurostat, Culture statistics — cultural participation
The broader aggregate of at least one listed cultural activity—including cinema, live performances, and cultural sites—also varied substantially. Participation reached 77.7% in Luxembourg and 77.3% in Denmark, compared with 22.2% in Romania and 19.7% in Bulgaria. Because this aggregate includes attending or consuming culture as well as active artistic practice, it should not be treated as an equivalent to the Finnish and Italian artistic-practice figures. Eurostat, Culture statistics — cultural participation
| Eurostat 2022 measure | Highest or selected rate |
|---|---|
| Artistic activity practice: Finland | 65.8% |
| Artistic activity practice: Italy | 17.3% |
| At least one listed cultural activity: Luxembourg | 77.7% |
| At least one listed cultural activity: Denmark | 77.3% |
| At least one listed cultural activity: Romania | 22.2% |
| At least one listed cultural activity: Bulgaria | 19.7% |
Age and frequency add further context. Among EU residents aged 16–29, cultural participation reached 89.0% in Luxembourg and 86.9% in the Netherlands. Participation in listed cultural activities at least four times a year reached 33.6% in Denmark and 30.1% in the Netherlands. Women’s participation in the listed cultural activities reached 79.6% in Denmark, while men’s participation reached 77.5% in Luxembourg. Eurostat, Culture statistics — cultural participation
Taken together, the U.S. and European figures describe broad access to creative life, but they do not establish a universal daily time budget. They count participation during defined reference periods, and the measures include overlapping activities. The clearest pattern is breadth: adults create, perform, learn, read, listen, watch, garden, and make in many different combinations.