Understanding American Time Use Survey Findings for the Midwest

Most arts data tracks how people spend their money. The American Time Use Survey tracks something harder to see: how people spend their hours.

Since 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has asked Americans to account for a single day, minute by minute. It picks up arts activity that doesn’t show up in ticket sales, from making reading to volunteering.

Doug Noonan, principal at I/O Research and professor at Indiana University Indianapolis, joined us to talk through the 2023-2024 American Time Use Survey findings and what they show about the Midwest.

Through a facilitated conversation and audience Q&A, he explored why Midwest creators settle in the way they do, what the urban-rural divide looks like here, and how much weight the state-level numbers can carry.

One clear takeaways is about depth. About the same share of Midwesterners make art on a given day as anyone else in the country. But when they do, they stay with it: 2 hours and 20 minutes, a full 31 minutes longer than creators elsewhere. In the Midwest, the arts are something people settle into.

Noonan also made a case for how to talk about this data. Small daily numbers hide big totals, and the totals are what land. As he put it, “Lead with almost 3 million hours per day across the Midwest is spent on this.”

What to Expect

• A conversation with the economist about the 2023-2024 American Time Use Survey and how it applies to the creative Midwest
• Why Midwest creators spend 31 more minutes per day creating, and what might explain it.
• Discussion of the urban-rural divide, screen time, and how much weight to put on state-level numbers.
• Honest talk about the data’s blind spots, including secondary activities and small-sample noise.
• Practical advice for using this data in grant applications, programming, and media outreach.
• The webinar is approximately 56 minutes and includes an audience Q&A.