52%
of U.S. adults made art in 2022
The National Endowment for the Arts reports that 129 million adults created or performed art during the survey year.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the ArtsA reference for the creative paper world
Journaling & paper craft statistics
A carefully sourced U.S. snapshot of the reading, writing, art-making and craft activity that surrounds the pages we keep.
Last updated October 5, 2026. Figures are from 2022, the latest available source year for the data cited here.
The short version
A quiet hobby with a wide creative world around it.
Journaling itself is not tracked as a stand-alone category in the national sources below. This page brings together the closest reliable measures: creative writing, reading, personal art making and the craft-supply businesses that help people turn small ideas into something they can hold onto.
6.9%
of U.S. adults did creative writing in 2022
The federal survey defines this as fiction, nonfiction, poetry or plays. Journaling is not measured as its own category, so this is a useful adjacent measure, not a count of journal keepers.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts48.5%
of U.S. adults read at least one book in 2022
That figure includes print and electronic books, according to the National Endowment for the Arts’ national survey.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts37.6%
of U.S. adults read a novel or short story in 2022
The share was the lowest recorded by this survey for novels and short stories, which the NEA tracks as part of literary reading.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts2,839
craft-supply establishments were counted in the U.S. in 2022
Those establishments belonged to 676 employer firms in the Census Bureau’s craft supplies category.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census$17.57B
in 2022 revenue for U.S. hobby, toy and game stores
This broader retail category includes hobby and craft supplies, alongside toys and games, so it is context for the paper-craft market rather than a craft-only total.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic CensusWhat the figures can, and cannot, say
Useful context, without pretending the numbers are more exact than they are.
These figures describe broad U.S. activity, not the number of people who own a journal or buy handmade paper goods. The national arts survey asks adults about creative writing and art making, while the Census figures describe employer businesses in defined retail categories. Together, they offer a dependable view of the creative landscape around journaling and paper craft.
Explore handmade junk journals from DD CreationsMethodology & sources
Where these statistics come from.
Every figure above links to the original public source. The National Endowment for the Arts data comes from its 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted with the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Economic Census. DD Creations will refresh this reference when key source data is updated.
- National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
- National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 arts participation findings
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 craft supplies establishments and firms
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 hobby, toy and game retail revenue
Cite this page
DD Creations. “Journaling & Paper Craft Statistics: U.S. Snapshot.” Updated October 5, 2026. https://ddcreations.biz/journal-statistics