Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hit hard as more and more Americans consume news digitally. The industry’s financial fortunes and subscriber base have been in decline since the mid-2000s, and their website audience traffic has begun to decline as well. Explore the patterns and longitudinal data of U.S. newspapers below.

Audience

In 2022, estimated total U.S. daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) was 20.9 million for both weekday and Sunday, down 8% and 10% respectively from 2021.


Total estimated circulation of U.S. daily newspapers
Total circulation of U.S. daily newspapers
YearWeekdaySundayWeekday (estimated)Sunday (estimated)
194041,132,00032,371,000  
194548,384,00039,860,000  
194650,928,00043,665,000  
194751,673,00045,151,000  
194852,285,00046,308,000  
194952,846,00046,399,000  
195053,829,00046,582,000  
195154,018,00046,279,000  
195253,951,00046,210,000  
195354,472,00045,949,000  
195455,072,00046,176,000  
195556,147,00046,448,000  
195657,102,00047,162,000  
195757,805,00047,044,000  
195857,418,00046,955,000  
195958,300,00047,848,000  
196058,882,00047,699,000  
196159,261,00048,216,000  
196259,849,00048,888,000  
196358,905,00046,830,000  
196460,412,00048,383,000  
196560,358,00048,600,000  
196661,397,00049,282,000  
196761,561,00049,224,000  
196862,535,00049,693,000  
196962,060,00049,675,000  
197062,108,00049,217,000  
197162,231,00049,665,000  
197262,510,00050,001,000  
197363,147,00051,717,000  
197461,877,00051,679,000  
197560,655,00051,096,000  
197660,977,00051,565,000  
197761,495,00052,429,000  
197861,990,00053,990,000  
197962,223,00054,380,000  
198062,202,00054,676,000  
198161,431,00055,180,000  
198262,487,00056,261,000  
198362,645,00056,747,000  
198463,340,00057,574,000  
198562,766,00058,826,000  
198662,502,00058,925,000  
198762,826,00060,112,000  
198862,695,00061,474,000  
198962,649,00062,008,000  
199062,328,00062,635,000  
199160,687,00062,068,000  
199260,164,00062,160,000  
199359,812,00062,566,000  
199459,305,00062,295,000  
199558,193,00061,229,000  
199656,983,00060,798,000  
199756,728,00060,486,000  
199856,182,00060,066,000  
199955,979,00059,894,000  
200055,773,00059,421,000  
200155,578,00059,090,000  
200255,186,00058,780,000  
200355,185,00058,495,000  
200454,626,00057,754,000  
200553,345,00055,270,000  
200652,329,00053,179,000  
200750,742,00051,246,000  
200848,597,00049,115,000  
200945,653,00046,164,000  
2010  
201144,421,00048,510,000  
201243,433,00044,821,000  
201340,712,00043,292,000  
201440,420,00042,751,000  
2015  37,711,86040,955,458
2016  34,657,19937,801,888
2017  30,948,41933,971,695
2018  28,554,13730,817,351
2019  25,952,58427,389,866
2020  24,299,33325,785,036
202122,697,24323,351,326
202220,943,02320,943,889

Note: To determine totals for 2015 onward, researchers analyzed the year-over-year change in total weekday and Sunday circulation using AAM data and applied these percent changes to the previous year’s total. Only those daily U.S. newspapers that report to AAM are included. Affiliated publications are not included in the analysis. Weekday circulation only includes those publications reporting a Monday-Friday average. Comparisons are either between the three-month averages for the period ending Dec. 31 of the given year and the same period of the previous year (2015-2019), the six-month period ending Sept. 30 and the three-month period ending Sept. 30 of the previous year (2020), or the six-month period ending Sept. 30 of the given year and the same period of the previous year (2021-2022).

Source: Editor & Publisher (through 2014); estimate based on Pew Research Center analysis of Alliance for Audited Media data (2015-2022).

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

(Note that the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), the source of this circulation data and the group that audits the circulation figures of many of the largest North American newspapers and other publications, changed their reporting period in 2020 from a three-month period to a six-month period. Additional details about how the circulation estimate is calculated can be found in the methodological note below.)

Within this total circulation figure, weekday print circulation decreased 13% and Sunday print circulation decreased 16% from the previous year.

Digital circulation is more difficult to gauge. Using only the AAM data, digital circulation in 2022 is projected to have remained relatively stable. But three of the highest-circulation daily papers in the U.S. – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post – have in recent years not fully reported their digital circulation to AAM. The Times and the Journal provide data on digital subscriptions in publicly available reports, but since this is not the same as circulation and may not be counted under the same rules used by AAM, these independently produced figures cannot easily be merged with the AAM data. If these independently produced figures were included with the AAM data in both 2021 and 2022, weekday digital circulation would have risen sharply, by 22%.


Estimated newspaper circulation using two different data sources
Total weekday circulation of U.S. daily newspapers using data from …
DateAAM onlyNYT/WSJ subscriptions plus AAM
201634,657,19934,657,199
201730,948,41933,291,558
201828,554,13732,961,320
201925,952,58432,359,455
202024,299,33335,644,533
202122,697,24338,216,679
202220,943,02342,972,898

Note: Researchers analyzed the year-over-year change in total weekday circulation using AAM data and applied these percent changes to the previous year’s total. Only those daily U.S. newspapers that report to AAM are included. Affiliated publications are not included in the analysis. Weekday circulation only includes those publications reporting a Monday-Friday average. Comparisons are either between the three-month averages for the period ending Dec. 31 of the given year and the same period of the previous year (2016-2019), the six-month period ending Sept. 30 and the three-month period ending Sept. 30 of the previous year (2020), or the six-month period ending Sept. 30 of the given year and the same period of the previous year (2021-2022).

Source: Estimate based on Pew Research Center analysis of Alliance for Audited Media data and subscription data from SEC filings and audited reports.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

The addition of these figures also changes the overall picture for combined print and digital circulation. Before 2020, including these subscription numbers with the AAM circulation data would not have changed the overall circulation picture, as total circulation would still decline. From 2020 onward, however, including the Times’ and the Journal’s digital subscribers reverses the trend. In 2022, total weekday circulation would rise by 12% – not fall by 8%, as is the case when looking strictly at the AAM data. For comparison, the chart above shows estimated total weekday circulation using just the AAM data and when the digital subscriber numbers from the Times and Journal are included over the past seven years. For more details on how this affects our estimates and conclusions, read this post from 2020 on our Decoded blog.


Unique visitors of newspaper websites
Average monthly unique visitors to the top 50 U.S. newspapers by circulation
Year (Q4)Average monthly unique visitors
20148,233,544
20159,709,071
201611,734,536
201711,527,744
201811,600,124
201912,149,197
202013,866,542
202111,119,111
20228,839,848

Note: For each year, the average traffic for each website for October/November/December was calculated; the data point represents the overall average of those numbers. Analysis is of the top 49 newspapers by average Sunday circulation for Q3 2015-2019 and the six-month period ending Sept. 30 for 2020 onward, according to Alliance for Audited Media data, with the addition of The Wall Street Journal. For each newspaper, the Comscore entity matching its homepage URL was analyzed.

Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, US, Unique Visitors, October-December 2014-2022.

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Gauging digital audience for the entire newspaper industry is difficult since many daily newspapers do not receive enough traffic to their websites to be measured by Comscore, the data source relied on here. Thus, the figures offered above reflect the top 50 U.S. daily newspapers based on circulation. In the fourth quarter of 2022, there were an average 8.8 million monthly unique visitors (across all devices) for these top 50 newspapers. This is down 20% from 2021, which itself was a 20% decrease from 2020.

(The list of top 50 papers is based on Sunday circulation but includes The Wall Street Journal, which does not report Sunday circulation to AAM. It also includes The Washington Post and The New York Times, which make the top 50 even though they do not fully report their digital circulation to AAM. For more details and the full list of newspapers, read our methodology.)


Visit duration of newspaper websites
Average minutes per visit for the top 50 U.S. newspapers by circulation
Year (Q4)Average minutes per visit
20142.59
20152.59
20162.45
20172.44
20182.32
20192.10
20201.82
20211.56
20221.48

Note: For each year, the average minutes per visit for each website for October/November/December was calculated; the data point represents the overall average of those numbers. Analysis is of the top 49 newspapers by average Sunday circulation for Q3 2015-2019 and the six-month period ending Sept. 30 for 2020 onward, according to Alliance for Audited Media data, with the addition of The Wall Street Journal. For each newspaper, the Comscore entity matching its homepage URL was analyzed.

Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, US, Average Minutes Per Visit, October-December 2014-2022.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Average minutes per visit for the top 50 U.S. daily newspapers, based on circulation, was just under 1 minute and 30 seconds in Q4 2022. This represents a 43% decline from when we first began tracking this in Q4 2014, when the average minutes per visit was just over 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Economics

The total estimated advertising revenue for the newspaper industry in 2022 was $9.8 billion, based on the Center’s analysis of financial statements for publicly traded newspaper companies. This is down 5% from 2021, a slight drop. Total estimated circulation revenue was $11.6 billion, compared with $11.5 billion in 2020.


Estimated advertising and circulation revenue of the newspaper industry
Total revenue of U.S. newspapers (in U.S. dollars)
YearAdvertising ($)Circulation ($)Advertising ($, estimated)Circulation ($, estimated)
19563,223,000,0001,344,492,000  
19573,268,000,0001,373,464,000  
19583,176,000,0001,459,013,000  
19593,526,000,0001,549,576,000  
19603,681,000,0001,604,228,000  
19613,601,000,0001,684,319,000  
19623,659,000,0001,819,840,000  
19633,780,000,0001,901,820,000  
19644,120,000,0001,983,809,000  
19654,426,000,0002,023,090,000  
19664,865,000,0002,109,050,000  
19674,910,000,0002,180,242,000  
19685,232,000,0002,288,215,000  
19695,714,000,0002,425,446,000  
19705,704,000,0002,634,402,000  
19716,167,000,0002,833,320,000  
19726,939,000,0002,929,233,000  
19737,481,000,0003,037,820,000  
19747,842,000,0003,581,733,000  
19758,234,000,0003,921,515,000  
19769,618,000,0004,087,303,000  
197710,751,000,0004,310,236,000  
197812,213,000,0004,534,779,000  
197913,863,000,0004,950,542,000  
198014,794,000,0005,469,589,000  
198116,527,000,0006,206,141,000  
198217,694,000,0006,656,661,000  
198320,581,000,0007,044,098,000  
198423,522,000,0007,368,158,000  
198525,170,000,0007,659,297,000  
198626,990,000,0008,052,148,000  
198729,412,000,0008,399,032,000  
198831,197,000,0008,046,287,000  
198932,368,000,0008,370,324,000  
199032,280,000,000   
199130,349,000,0008,697,679,000  
199230,639,000,0009,163,534,000  
199331,869,000,0009,193,802,000  
199434,109,000,0009,443,217,000  
199536,092,000,0009,720,186,000  
199638,075,000,0009,969,240,000  
199741,330,000,00010,065,642,000  
199843,925,000,00010,266,955,000  
199946,289,000,00010,472,294,000  
200048,670,000,00010,540,643,000  
200144,305,000,00010,783,078,000  
200244,102,000,00011,025,896,000  
200346,156,000,00011,224,362,000  
200448,244,000,00010,988,651,000  
200549,435,000,00010,746,901,000  
200649,275,402,57210,548,344,000  
200745,375,000,00010,294,920,096  
200837,848,257,63010,086,956,940  
200927,564,000,00010,066,783,026  
201025,837,698,82210,049,360,689  
201127,078,473,8649,989,064,525  
201225,316,461,21510,448,561,493  
2013  23,587,097,43510,641,662,892
2014  22,077,809,95110,744,324,061
2015  20,362,238,29310,870,292,720
2016  18,274,943,56710,910,460,499
2017  16,476,453,08411,211,011,020
2018  14,346,024,18210,995,341,920
2019  12,864,064,24111,016,643,128
2020  9,601,389,15511,053,729,516
202110,264,430,20511,524,949,565
20229,760,830,02411,606,129,049

Source: News Media Alliance, formerly Newspaper Association of America (through 2012); Pew Research Center analysis of year-end SEC filings of publicly traded newspaper companies (2013-2022).

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

In the chart above, data through 2012 comes from the trade group formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), now known as the News Media Alliance (NMA). Data from 2013 onward is based on the Center’s analysis of financial statements from publicly traded U.S. newspaper companies, which in 2022 numbered four and accounted for about 300 U.S. daily newspapers, from large national papers to midsize metro dailies and local papers.

From 2013 onward, the year-over-year percentage change in advertising and circulation revenue for these companies is calculated and then applied to the previous year’s revenue totals as reported by the NMA/NAA. In testing this method, changes from 2006 through 2012 generally matched those as reported by the NMA/NAA; for more details, read our 2016 report.


Share of newspaper advertising revenue coming from digital advertising
% of newspaper companies’ advertising revenue coming from digital advertising
YearAdvertising revenue coming from digital advertising
201117%
201219%
201320%
201421%
201525%
201629%
201731%
201835%
201935%
202039%
202145%
202248%

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of year-end SEC filings for publicly traded newspaper companies that break out digital advertising revenue for each year.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Digital advertising accounted for 48% of newspaper advertising revenue in 2022, based on this analysis of publicly traded newspaper companies. This follows a steady increase from 17% in 2011, the first year it was possible to perform this analysis.

Methodological note

In this fact sheet, circulation data through 2014 is from Editor & Publisher, which was published on the website of the News Media Alliance (NMA), known at the time as the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). The NMA no longer supplies this data, so the Center determined the year-over-year change in total circulation for those daily U.S. newspapers that report to the Alliance for Audited Media and meet certain criteria. This percentage change was then applied to the total circulation from the prior year – thus the use of the term “estimated total circulation.” This technique is also used to create the revenue estimates, using the financial statements of publicly traded newspaper companies as the data source.

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistants Sarah Naseer and Christopher St. Aubin.

Read the methodology.

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest report in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Find more in-depth explorations of U.S. newspapers by following the links below: