Thanksgiving’s Measurable Impact on US Internet Traffic

Thanksgiving remains one of the rare days when a significant portion of the US population steps away from their usual routines—including their online habits. Cloudflare Radar data from November 23, 2023, shows that the holiday produced a 10% decrease in daily Internet traffic across the US compared to the previous week. That number matches the drop observed in 2022 almost exactly, suggesting that holiday behavior, at least in terms of network activity, is remarkably stable year over year.

When the Nation Logs Off

The daily average hides a more pronounced dip when viewed hour by hour. Internet activity began to taper off noticeably after 12:00 EST and remained at least 15% below the prior week's levels until 19:00 EST. The deepest nationwide trough occurred around 21:00 UTC (16:00 EST / 13:00 PST), when traffic fell 22% compared to the same hour the week before—again, matching 2022’s peak drop.

A state-by-state analysis of local time reveals that the biggest traffic reduction in most states occurred at 15:00, a bit earlier than the commonly cited 4 PM Thanksgiving hour. But significant regional divergences exist:

  • Central states—Kansas, Iowa, Alabama, Mississippi—saw their steepest declines earlier, around 13:00 local time.
  • Coastal states such as Washington, California, Florida, Maryland, and Delaware hit their lowest point later, near 17:00, with Hawaii’s drop coming latest of all at approximately 18:00.

These patterns closely mirrored 2022's data, reinforcing the notion that Thanksgiving scheduling is a deeply ingrained habit.

Regional Traffic Declines: Interior States Hit Hardest

Comparing traffic during the 13:00–18:00 local window against the previous week exposes a clear geographic split. Central US states generally recorded more substantial traffic drops relative to the prior week, while coastal states were less affected. Massachusetts stands out as an exception on the East Coast, with a 31% decline. Overall, East Coast states tended to see larger reductions than those on the West Coast.

For a complete ranking of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, ordered by traffic decline, the data is available for direct exploration.

Mobile’s Growing Share

The holiday also accelerated an ongoing shift toward mobile devices. On Thanksgiving Day 2023, mobile traffic represented 54.5% of all US Internet traffic, up from 53.8% the prior year and following a similar trend in 2021. Over a broader window, mobile’s slice of US traffic averaged 47% during the first week of November but climbed to 51% during Thanksgiving week, with the holiday itself exceeding even typical weekend mobile usage levels.

Recovery Ahead: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Just as traffic suffered a holiday slump, expect a rebound in the coming days. Early Black Friday morning already saw traffic run as much as 18% higher than the same time the previous week. Historical patterns from 2022 show US HTTP request volumes peaking for the year on November 28—Cyber Monday—while Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day were the year’s largest dips.

Food Delivery and Grocery Orders: The Day Of Is Quiet

Food-related online services saw a predictable pattern leading into the holiday. DNS traffic to food delivery sites from Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 resolver was higher on Tuesday and Wednesday (November 21 and 22) than the week before, only to fall sharply in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning.

Aggregate DNS traffic to food delivery platforms climbed steadily through November up to Thanksgiving, then dropped 12% on the day itself. Online grocery services followed a similar curve, with Tuesday above the prior week’s level, a decline on Wednesday, and a distinct downturn on Thanksgiving.

Do Cyber Threats Take a Holiday?

An analysis of DDoS attack traffic targeting US-based Internet properties found that Thanksgiving in November 2023 had the lowest percentage of traffic classified as attacks for the entire month. It appears that even malicious actors largely paused for the occasion.

Email Volume Slips, Spam Ratio Rises

Cloudflare Area 1 data shows email messages sent from the US fell 43% on Thanksgiving compared to the preceding week. Spam, however, accounted for 4% of all outgoing US email on the holiday—twice the 2% measured on the same day in 2022. The percentage of messages flagged as malicious held steady relative to overall volume.

“The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” — Norman Vincent Peale

Thanksgiving 2023 confirmed its role as a nationwide pause, with reduced Internet activity, fewer food delivery orders, and a quieter threat landscape. But the lull looks brief: Black Friday and Cyber Monday activity suggests the return to—and beyond—normal traffic levels is already underway.