Cities Where People Get the Best and Worst Sleep

By Sudoku Bliss Team
An illustration of a person sleeping and another person lying in bed awake

One of the most comforting places for many people is their bed. After a long, hard day, crawling under the covers and dozing off can be all we need to feel refreshed and ready to take on the next day. Unfortunately, while some people are cozied up and dreaming away, others are tossing and turning, wishing they could fall asleep.

At Sudoku Bliss, we believe small daily habits can make a big difference. By choosing a quick game of Sudoku rather than mindless scrolling on social media before bed, you can slow your breathing, focus your thoughts, and create a consistent wind-down ritual.

To gain more insight into Americans’ sleep habits, we surveyed residents in 40 major cities and asked a variety of questions including how often they wake feeling well rested, what habits they utilize to help improve sleep, and more. We then awarded points to responses that represented good sleep and calculated average scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the best sleep. Read on to learn where Americans are waking up the most well-rested.

Key Takeaways

  • San Diego, CA, Houston, TX, and San Francisco, CA, residents get the best sleep.
  • San Antonio, TX, New Orleans, LA, and Charlotte, NC, residents get the worst sleep.
  • 1 in 2 Americans typically get the ideal amount of sleep each night.
  • 1 in 3 Americans say stress, worries, or responsibilities frequently keep them from falling asleep or wake them up at night.
  • Keeping bedrooms cool and dark are the most common sleep habits among Americans.
  • 1 in 4 Americans frequently stay up later than they should to reclaim person time after work or responsibilities.
  • 2 in 5 Americans say they've tried a bunch of things to improve their sleep, but it hasn't helped.

Where Americans Are Getting the Best Sleep

A U.S. map plotting the top 10 cities where residents get the best sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is a sure way to start your morning off right. While some people struggle with a consistent sleep routine, others are quickly drifting off and staying asleep each night. Leading the way for the most restful sleep in the country are San Diego, CA, residents with a good sleep score of 96.36 out of 100.

For many Americans, screens are a part of just about every minute of our lives. Experts warn, however, that using your phone before bed can have a negative impact on your sleep. From an active mind delaying REM sleep to the blue light from your screen disrupting your circadian rhythm, putting your phone away before bed is best. Perhaps that’s partially why San Diego residents get the best sleep as nearly 1 in 4 residents say they rarely or never use their phone before falling asleep.

Coming in second place for the best sleep with a score of 95.18 out of 100 is Houston, TX. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, adults should get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. When asked about their typical length of sleep, 54.6% of Houston residents report they are within this recommended range.

Up next for the best sleep in the country are San Francisco, CA, residents with a good sleep score of 94.06 out of 100. Getting consistently good sleep means waking up feeling well rested regularly, not just one or two times a week. Overall, a third of San Francisco residents report they wake up feeling well rested 5 or more times every week.

Regardless of how tired you are or how comfortable your bed is, sometimes falling asleep is just difficult. When it comes to where Americans are getting the worst sleep, San Antonio, TX, tops the list, as residents of the city are most likely to say their typical sleep quality is very bad. Similarly, San Antonio residents are the most likely to report they rarely wake up feeling well rested.

Coming in second place for the worst sleep is New Orleans, LA, where 51.9% of residents report they’ve tried a bunch of things to improve their sleep, but it hasn't helped. Following closely behind is Charlotte, NC, as nearly 2 in 5 residents say stress, worries, or responsibilities frequently keep them from falling asleep.

Overall, we found that 1 in 2 Americans typically get the ideal amount of sleep each night. Similarly, those who go to sleep between 10 and 11 p.m. and wake up between 6 and 7 a.m. get the best sleep on average.

Top Sleep Improvement Methods

A bar chart showing Americans’ most common sleep habits

Each night Americans all across the country go through their evening routine to ensure they get a good night’s sleep. With habits varying from one person to another, we wanted to learn which are most popular across the country. Up first is simply keeping the bedroom cool, which 61.4% of people say they do.

According to experts, this habit isn’t just a preference, it can actually benefit sleep quality. From stimulating melatonin production to lowering your body temperature to signal it’s time to sleep, cooler rooms carry several benefits to ensure you fall asleep quickly and stay asleep.

Cool temperatures aren’t the only thing that triggers melatonin production, however, which brings us to the second most common habit, keeping the bedroom dark and/or using eyewear (60.8%).

For 56.0% of Americans, limiting caffeine consumption early in the afternoon is key to getting a good night’s sleep. This is followed by regular exercise throughout the week (43.6%), maintaining a consistent bed and wake time (43.4%), and avoiding alcohol close to bedtime (42.8%), which are the fourth, fifth, and sixth most popular habits.

Overall, 1 in 3 Americans say stress, worries, or responsibilities frequently keep them from falling asleep or wake them up at night. While certain methods like hanging blackout curtains in your room or taking a melatonin supplement before bed can help some, we found that 2 in 5 people say the methods they’ve tried simply haven’t helped.

Unwind with a Game of Sudoku

Whether you fall fast asleep the moment your head hits the pillow or you require melatonin or other sleep methods to help you rest, sleep is a crucial part of our lives. From enhancing brain function to boosting our immune system, a good night’s sleep is sometimes what we truly need to tackle all that life throws at us.

At Sudoku Bliss, we know that unwinding is easier said than done. From endless notifications to late-night scrolling, our phones can sometimes make it hard for us to disconnect. If you struggle to put your phone away once in bed, perhaps the solution is finding quiet, focused activities like Sudoku to gently engage your brain without the noise, giving your mind something steady to focus on as the day winds down. Next time you find yourself staring at the ceiling at night, try lulling yourself to sleep with a peaceful game of killer Sudoku or a easy Sudoku puzzle.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn where Americans are getting the most restful sleep each night. To do this, we surveyed residents in 40 U.S. cities and asked a variety of questions including how many hours they sleep on average, what time they typically go to sleep and wake up, the healthy sleep habits people utilize, and more. We then awarded points to responses that represented good sleep and calculated the average score by city. We then adjusted those scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the best sleep on average.