More than two-thirds of American adults report being exhausted on a regular basis, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month.
About 71.5 percent of U.S. adults surveyed by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics in 2024 said they experienced fatigue at least several times within a three-month period.
Nearly 55 percent reported feeling fatigue, or “very tired or exhausted,” on “some days,” 10.7 percent reported fatigue on “most days,” and nearly 6 percent reported daily fatigue.
It also found that 28.5 percent of adults had no fatigue symptoms, meaning “they never felt very tired or exhausted,” according to the report published on Sept. 3.
Women were more likely than men to report frequent tiredness, and younger adults were more likely to than older adults. Twenty percent of women reported fatigue, while 13 percent of men reported it, the paper said.
According to the report, 19.5 percent of adults ages 18 to 34 and 12.9 percent of adults aged 65 and older reported fatigue. Tiredness was also more common in adults with lower incomes and among individuals living in the Midwest, the South, and less urbanized areas.
When evaluating the figures by demographics, American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic adults were the group that had the largest share that reported experiencing frequent fatigue, 25.5 percent. Asian non-Hispanic adults were the least likely to report fatigue, at 9.1 percent.
“Duration and intensity of fatigue symptoms varied within the population reporting frequent fatigue,” the CDC researchers said. “Adults with frequent fatigue were more likely to report co-occurring functioning difficulties than other adults.”
About half of adults who experienced frequent fatigue saw difficulties in at least three functioning domains—which include the senses, communicating, and mobility—compared with about 16.9 percent of people who did not experience frequent fatigue, it said.
Adults who reported frequent fatigue also said they had limits on partaking in social and work activities; 29 percent said they had issues with social events, and 36 percent reported work-related problems, according to the report.
The CDC report did not evaluate the underlying causes of constant fatigue. It also noted that the researchers did not say whether the rate is worse than in previous years.
Sociologist Natalie A.E. Young, lead author of the CDC report, told NBC News that fatigue, which is defined as tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest, is “one of the most frequently reported health concerns in primary care visits” across the country.
“[People with frequent fatigue] are at higher risk of activity limitations and disability, including permanent work disability,” she said. “Yet there hadn’t been much attention to the frequency of general fatigue symptoms in the U.S. adult population.”
The paper notes that fatigue is linked to “both poorer health outcomes and a heightened risk of mortality in the general population” but states that it’s “an underexplored topic” among health researchers.