Turtle data
Nearly half of women average under 7 hours of sleep a night
Key findings
48% of about 590 women tracking sleep with Turtle averaged under seven hours a night (March to September 2026). Women aged 45 to 54 were the most likely to fall short, at 57%. Source: Turtle Method member data, turtlemethod.com/data/sleep-hours-by-age/.
of women average under 7 hours of sleep a night
Nearly half of women tracking their sleep with Turtle average less than seven hours a night. Of about 590 women with at least two weeks of sleep data synced from a watch or phone, 48% averaged under seven hours, and 48% of all their nights came in under seven. The typical woman averaged 7 h 02 min asleep.
Share of women whose tracked sleep averaged under 7 hours, by age, Mar to Sep 2026
Source: Turtle Method member sleep data · CC BY 4.0
Women aged 45 to 54 are the most likely to fall short
The share rises with age across the groups we can report. Among women aged 45 to 54, 57% averaged under seven hours, the highest of any group. These are the years of perimenopause for many women, but our data doesn't say why sleep is shorter, and other things change in midlife too: work, caring and teenagers among them.
| Age | Under 7 hours | Average sleep | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 to 34 | 43% | 7 h 03 min | about 200 |
| 35 to 44 | 48% | 7 h 03 min | about 240 |
| 45 to 54 | 57% | 6 h 59 min | about 100 |
| All women | 48% | 7 h 02 min | about 590 |
What the research says
Sleep experts agreed that adults should regularly sleep seven or more hours a night.
Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, et al. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: a joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep. doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716
A US survey of women at midlife found reported sleep difficulty was more common later in the menopausal transition.
Kravitz HM, Ganz PA, Bromberger J, et al. (2003). Sleep difficulty in women at midlife: a community survey of sleep and the menopausal transition. Menopause. doi.org/10.1097/00042192-200301000-00005
Questions people ask
How much sleep do women get?
Women tracking sleep with Turtle averaged 7 h 02 min a night, and 48% averaged under seven hours.
Do women sleep less in midlife?
In our data, the share averaging under seven hours rose with age, from 43% at 25 to 34 to 57% at 45 to 54. The data doesn't show why.
Method
Sleep synced from Apple Health or Health Connect, 7 March to 30 September 2026: the longest sleep per morning, kept if 3 to 14 hours. Women needed 14 or more nights; age groups with under 50 women are not shown. Women only, staff accounts excluded; every group shown has 50 or more women and sizes are rounded. This shows a pattern, not a cause. Full methodology.
Cite this
Free to use with credit and a link to the source page. The figures and chart on this page are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Journalists: for another cut of the data (aggregates only, same rules), contact scott@turtlemethod.com. More data on the Turtle data hub.
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