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How many times does the average person hit snooze?

Last updated: May 26, 2026

The average snoozer presses the button 2.4 times each morning, for a total of about 11 extra minutes in bed. Roughly 57 percent of adults snooze at least once on any given morning.

The numbers in detail

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame analyzed wake-up data from 21,000+ wearable users in 2022. They found:

• 57 percent of mornings end with at least one snooze press.
• The average snoozer presses the button 2.4 times per morning.
• Interval between presses averaged 10 minutes 48 seconds.
• Total extra time gained: roughly 26 minutes spread across light fragmented sleep.
• Only 6 to 7 of those minutes were actual additional sleep. The rest was lying awake between alarms.

Heavy snoozers vs occasional snoozers

The 57 percent average hides two distinct populations:

• Occasional snoozers (~55 percent of users): Snooze a few mornings a week, usually after short sleep nights. Average 1 to 2 presses.
• Heavy snoozers (~45 percent of snoozers, or about 26 percent of all users): Snooze on more than 80 percent of mornings. Average 3 to 5 presses. This pattern is behaviorally compulsive, not stress-driven.

Patterns by day of week

Snoozing is more common on weekdays than weekends, by about 35 percent. This reflects the gap between desired wake time (when you feel rested) and required wake time (when work or commute demands). On weekends, those collapse to the same time, and the snooze impulse drops.

Patterns by demographics

• Women snooze about 50 percent more often than men. This reflects differences in sleep duration, schedule pressure, and chronotype.
• Younger adults (18 to 34) snooze more than older adults. Chronotype shifts earlier with age, making mornings easier.
• Shift workers and parents of young children snooze the most. Both populations are chronically sleep-deprived.

Why so many people snooze

The snooze button gives an immediate sense of control over waking up. It feels productive, even though Sundelin et al. (2024) showed the extra time produces no meaningful recovery. The behavior is reinforced because:

• The reward (more time in bed) is immediate.
• The cost (worse grogginess, lateness) is delayed and easy to attribute to other causes.
• Most alarms make snoozing the easiest possible response.
• The half-asleep brain cannot evaluate trade-offs accurately.

Is your snooze pattern normal?

• 0 snoozes most mornings: Top 43 percent of wakers. Likely sleeping enough and well-anchored to your wake time.
• 1 to 2 snoozes most mornings: Median pattern. Not optimal, not pathological.
• 3 to 5 snoozes most mornings: Heavy snoozer. Worth addressing. Either sleep more, fix sleep quality, or install an alarm that removes the option.
• 6+ snoozes regularly: The alarm is not the problem. Get a sleep evaluation.

The compound cost

If you snooze 2.4 times per morning, every weekday, for a year:

• 624 snooze presses per year.
• 9.3 hours per month of fragmented "extra" sleep that does nothing.
• An average of 23 minutes per day of compounded lateness (Notre Dame data).
• About 90 hours per year of being late or rushed.

Most of this cost is invisible because it is distributed across many tiny daily losses. Summed, it is significant.

Sources

1. Mason et al., University of Notre Dame, 2022. Hitting the snooze button? You're far from alone (wearable study of 21,000+ users).
2. Sundelin et al., Journal of Sleep Research, 2024. Is snoozing losing?
3. Trotti, Nature and Science of Sleep, 2017. Sleep inertia: current insights.