As the Oscars approach, a recent survey reveals how Americans are going back to the movies – or if they are at all. The Pew Research Center discovered that a little over half of adults in the U.S. – 53% – saw a movie in a theater at least once in 2025. Interestingly, 7% reported they’ve never been to a movie theater.
The movie industry is slowly bouncing back after significant losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ticket sales plummeted 81% in 2020 when theaters were closed. While sales reached 769.2 million in the U.S. and Canada by 2025 – according to Nash Information Services – that’s still far below the peak of 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002. Box office revenue has improved, reaching $9 billion in the U.S. last year (as reported by Comscore), but hasn’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
A recent study from August 2025 by NRG/National Research Group showed that a large majority – 77% – of Americans aged 12 to 74 saw at least one movie in a movie theater that year.
The survey showed that how often people go to the movies depends on their age and how much money they make. Two-thirds of young adults (ages 18-29) went to a movie theater, but only 39% of those 65 and older did. Movie attendance was highest among wealthier Americans (64%), while those with lower incomes were the least likely to go, at 43%.
As a movie fan, I always find it interesting to see who’s going to the movies. The numbers show that Hispanic adults are the biggest moviegoers, with almost 60% heading to theaters. White adults aren’t far behind at 53%, and Black adults come in around 49%. Interestingly, there wasn’t a huge difference between men and women – both groups went at pretty similar rates, around 53-54%. But politics did seem to play a small role – Democrats and those leaning that way went to movies more often, about 58%, compared to around 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning folks.
The data shows people are starting to go back to movie theaters, but numbers aren’t back to normal yet. The recovery is mainly being led by young adults and those with higher incomes, while older adults and those with lower incomes haven’t returned at the same rate.
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2026-03-12 11:14