New York City Does In Fact Sleep

Brian Wilt, a data scientist at Jawbone, the company behind many fitness trackers, aggregated sleeping patterns of people across the world to see how people's sleeping cycles compare.

1 minute read

August 22, 2014, 6:00 AM PDT

By Maayan Dembo @DJ_Mayjahn


Using data from tens of thousands of UP fitness trackers, Wilt compiled tens of thousands of people's sleeping habits and exercise patterns in each major city in the United States (and around 5,000 in every international city). Among large cities, New York City, a city known for never sleeping, is actually the first to go to sleep. In addition, the most sleep deprived residents live in Tokyo, where UP wearers get an average of 5 hours and 44 minutes.

When expanding the data set to small cities though, the earliest sleepers are residents of Brisbane, Australia, with an average bed time around 10:57 pm, but the latest to bed are still Muscovites, with an average bed time around 12:46pm.

The data is a bit skewed though, as most average person do not care to wear an $80 fitness tracking device. Wilt's analysis can also be considered in comparison to analysis by Nate Silver in April on sleeping patterns (that study relied on data from the American Community Survey). 

Wednesday, August 20, 2014 in Vox

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

2 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

4 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

6 hours ago - InTransition Magazine