Hatch’s State of Sleep Report Finds America Needs to Go to Bed

Key Takeaways:

• Sleep is an essential part of taking care of your physical and mental health, but it can be hard to prioritize.
• Hatch’s new Sleep Report reveals common insights about American sleepers, and the factors that impact how and when we go to bed and wake up.
• Hatch Restore can help you take care of yourself with consistent sleep habits that help regulate your nervous system.

What time did you actually go to bed last night? If the answer is somewhere between "when I meant to" and "much later than that," you're in good company. Hatch just released its inaugural “State of Sleep” report — a wide-ranging look at the real bedtime habits, morning rituals, and sleep behaviors revealing how Americans actually wind-down and wake up.

While most of us know sleep is an important part of nervous regulation, mental health, and overall well-being, a whopping 37% of U.S adults don’t get the recommended seven hours of sleep per night. We created the “State of Sleep” report to better understand how modern life has shaped real-world sleep behavior, and what habits actually help people rest more consistently. 

Drawn from millions of anonymized usage patterns on Hatch Restore devices over the past year, the report reveals a striking national pattern: Americans are highly disciplined about waking up, but surprisingly inconsistent about going to bed. Read on to learn more about America's sleep habits, and how Hatch can help you take better care of yourself — one great night of sleep at a time.

Table of Contents

1. How Americans Wind Down, Sleep, and Wake Up
2. Take Care of Yourself With Hatch
3. Frequently Asked Questions

How Americans Wind Down, Sleep, and Wake Up

From wind-down rituals to wake-up times, the data paints a clear picture of how Americans really sleep. Here’s what the latest patterns reveal about our nights and our mornings.

We Plan Our Mornings, But Not Our Nights

The report’s most telling find is the growing gap between structured mornings and unstructured evenings. Americans are remarkably regimented about their alarm times, but when it comes to actually getting into bed, all bets are off.

Americans are:

• 2x more consistent with wake times than bedtimes
• 30.2% of US Restore users have no consistent bedtime
• Nearly half (43.2%) have bedtimes that swing by 2+ hours across a given week

The pattern makes intuitive sense: We wake up when we have to, but we go to sleep when we get around to it. Americans are incredibly good at planning their mornings, but bedtime is still the first thing that gets sacrificed. 

We live in a culture that tells us when to start working, when to answer messages, and when to be available, but almost never when we’re allowed to stop. Sleep isn’t a discipline problem. It’s a permission problem. When people create a real wind-down ritual, mornings get easier because the nervous system finally has a chance to power down. 

The Snooze Button Still Wins Most Mornings

If there’s one habit that unites the country, it’s the snooze button. Hatch data shows snoozing is widespread — and in many cases, surprisingly consistent.

Key snooze trends:

• About 1 in 5 Hatch Restore users (20.6%) hit snooze on any given day
• The average user delays their alarm by 11 minutes per alarm day
• That adds up to roughly 13.8 hours of snoozing per year, or nearly two full workdays
• Monday and Tuesday tie as the nation’s peak snooze days

Top snoozing cities:

• Springfield, MO
• Astoria, NY
• Medford, MA
• Cambridge, MA
• Somerville, MA

Boston-area sleepers clearly love their extra few minutes, with three nearby cities landing on top. Coincidence? Maybe, or perhaps the promise of a Dunkin’ run makes it a little too easy to hit snooze. 

Sleeping past your alarm isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Experts note that snoozing itself isn’t inherently harmful and often reflects waking during lighter sleep stages, particularly when bedtimes are inconsistent.

Geography Drives Bedtime (and Wake-Up)

Beyond the snooze button, Hatch data shows geography plays a clear role in when Americans wake and wind down. While the national average alarm rings at 6:30 AM, several cities consistently rise earlier.

Earliest-rising cities:

• Murfreesboro, TN: 5:58 AM
• Chesapeake, VA: 5:59 AM
• Rochester, MN: 5:59 AM
• Bakersfield, CA: 6:01 AM
• Reno, NV: 6:01 AM
• Sioux Falls, SD: 6:03 AM
• Arvada, CO: 6:03 AM
• Colorado Springs, CO: 6:03 AM
• Chandler, AZ: 6:04 AM
• Phoenix, AZ: 6:04 AM

Latest-to-bed cities:

• Staten Island, NY: 11:13 PM
• Brooklyn, NY: 11:01 PM
• New York, NY: 11:00 PM
• Athens, GA: 10:59 PM
• Chapel Hill, NC: 10:58 PM
• Cleveland, OH: 10:56 PM
• Frisco, TX: 10:56 PM
• College Station, TX: 10:56 PM
• Washington, DC: 10:55 PM
• Miami, FL: 10:53 PM

The pattern is clear: Early-risers tend to cluster around military and healthcare hubs, where early mornings are part of the culture. In cities fueled by ambition, academics, and nightlife, the lights tend to stay on longer.

Two Audio Favorites Dominate Night and Morning

When it comes to alarms and overnight sound, two tracks stand in a category of their own. The most popular Hatch alarm in the U.S. — by a wide margin — is “Meditative Flute,” a whimsical blend of flute and gentle strings. On the other end of the night, “Light Rain” dominates as the nation’s top sleep sound. In both cases, the #1 track has more than double the reach of the runner-up — clear favorites in a country that otherwise shows wide variation in sleep behavior.

Bedtime itself is more eclectic. Unlike alarms and sleep sounds, unwind preferences are more evenly distributed, suggesting that winding down is both personal and exploratory. The top Unwind Channel nationwide is “Meditations for a Racing Mind,” designed to calm overactive thoughts before sleep. Other leading channels include immersive “Reading Soundscapes” and “Sunset Sound Baths,” a warm blend of singing bowls and layered textures.

Take Care of Yourself With Hatch 

Americans are navigating sleep the same way they navigate most things: doing their best in a culture that rarely slows down. The Hatch “State of Sleep” report makes one thing clear: the real opportunity isn’t more discipline in the morning — it’s more intention at night. We plan our mornings, but we rarely plan our rest. 

Closing the nation’s growing “Bedtime Gap” may be less about willpower and more about building a consistent wind-down routine that gives the body permission to power down. Tools like Hatch Restore are designed to support that transition with gentle light, soothing sound, and customizable routines that help signal to the brain and body that it’s time to shift out of daytime mode. By making the wind-down process more automatic and predictable, Hatch helps turn good sleep intentions into habits that actually stick.

Learn more about how Hatch can help you take care of yourself with sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is a consistent bedtime important for sleep quality?

A consistent bedtime helps regulate your circadian rhythm, the internal clock that controls when you feel alert and sleepy. When you go to bed at roughly the same time each night, your body learns when to release melatonin and prepare for rest, which can make it easier to fall asleep and wake refreshed.

How long does it take to build a healthy sleep routine?

Most people start to notice improvements in sleep within one to two weeks of following a consistent routine. However, fully stabilizing your circadian rhythm can take several weeks, especially if your schedule has been highly irregular. Small, repeatable habits tend to work better than dramatic overnight changes.

What makes a good wind-down routine before bed?

An effective wind-down routine helps your nervous system gradually shift from daytime alertness into nighttime calm. This often includes lowering lights, reducing stimulating activities, and repeating a predictable sequence of relaxing cues each evening. The key is consistency. Your brain responds best when the same signals happen in the same order night after night.

References 

1. Chaput, J.-P., Dutil, C., Featherstone, R., Ross, R., Giangregorio, L., Saunders, T. J., Janssen, I., Poitras, V. J., Kho, M. E., & Ross-White, A. (2020). Sleep timing, sleep consistency, and health in adults: A systematic review. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10), S232-S247. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2020-0032
2. Roenneberg, T., Wirz-Justice, A., & Merrow, M. (2003). Life between clocks: Daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 18(1), 80–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730402239679