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State of CSS 2024

CSS Usage

No matter how you use CSS, the data shows that making sure your code works across all browsers is still a concern, especially for newer features such as :has().

Testing Environments

An encouraging sign of accessibility's growing importance, screen reader testing has gone up from 16.6% to 19% year-over-year.

0%
20%
40%
60%
79%
99%
1

Desktop

7,133
2

Smartphone

4,820
3

Tablet

3,108
4

Desktop with keyboard only

2,027
5

Testing Tools (Axe, Lighthouse, etc.)

1,907
6

Feature phone

1,800
7

Screen reader

1,330
8

Print

685
9

Altered Vision Simulator (color blindness, etc.)

398
10

TV

138
11

Smartwatch

34
12

Gaming console

28
13

Other Answers

56
0%
20%
40%
60%
79%
99%
% of question respondents
7,185
74%
Which form factors or environments do you test on?
💡
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What do you mainly use CSS for?

While this data is unsurprising, it's a nice reminder that CSS can do a lot more than format webpages.

0%
17%
34%
51%
68%
85%
1

Web apps

6,036
2

Blogs or other text-heavy sites

3,394
3

Marketing sites & landing pages

3,221
4

Design systems

2,792
5

Desktop apps

1,862
6

Mobile apps

1,665
7

Emails

1,202
8

CSS art & illustrations

581
9

Printed documents

572
10

E-Commerce sites

11

Other Answers

118
0%
17%
34%
51%
68%
85%
% of question respondents
7,114
73%
What kind of project do you usually use CSS for?
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

My 2024 Pick: linear()

The linear() easing function has enabled phenomenal finishing touches to interactions.
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

Adam Argyle

Google

Industry Sector

Did you know you can filter this survey's data by Industry Sector? Just click "Add Filters…" on any other chart!

0%
8%
16%
23%
31%
39%
1

Programming & Technical Tools

2,447
2

Consulting & Services

1,394
3

Ecommerce & Retail

1,235
4

Marketing/Sales/Analytics Tools

846
5

Education

842
6

Finance

731
7

Entertainment

613
8

News, Media, & Blogging

583
9

Healthcare

468
10

Government

444
0%
8%
16%
23%
31%
39%
% of question respondents
6,310
65%
Which industry sector(s) do you work in?

CSS Usage

Whether you build websites profesionally or just dabble, there's no wrong way to use CSS!

0%
18%
36%
54%
72%
90%
1

Professionally

6,384
2

As a student

186
3

As a hobby

501
4

Other Answers

34
0%
18%
36%
54%
72%
90%
% of question respondents
7,061
73%
In what context do you primarily use CSS?

Design Methodology

While a large majority of respondents use CSS to implement pre-existing designs, it'll be interesting to see if this changes as design apps evolve, and AI tools become capable of going straight from idea to code.

0%
12%
24%
36%
48%
60%
1

I implement other people's designs

4,216
2

I create my own designs in design apps, and then implement them in CSS

1,004
3

I implement my own designs directly in CSS

1,765
4

Other Answers

129
0%
12%
24%
36%
48%
60%
% of question respondents
6,985
72%
Which of these best describes how you primarily design with CSS?

CSS vs JavaScript Balance

Even in the context of a CSS survey, it turns out a majority of respondents still spend most of their time in the JavaScript ecosystem. Only time will tell if this too will shift now that CSS is becoming more capable.

0%
5%
11%
16%
21%
27%
1

100% CSS

107
2

|

568
3

|

958
4

|

616
5

50%–50%

1,127
6

|

882
7

|

1,913
8

|

914
9

100% JS

40
0%
5%
11%
16%
21%
27%
% of question respondents
7,125
73%
4.4
5
How do you divide your time between writing CSS (including HTML markup) and JavaScript code?

Browser Incompatibilities

There are few worse feelings that knowing a new feature will solve your issue perfectly, yet not being able to use it because of poor browser support.

This is the case with Anchor Positioning, a promising new feature that is sadly not yet broadly supported.

Container Queries on the other hand are available at a baseline level and ready to be used, despite showing up in many respondent's answers!

0%
15%
29%
44%
59%
73%
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Scrollbar styling

9

Browser support

10

Animate on Scroll

0%
15%
29%
44%
59%
73%
% of question respondents
1,549
16%
Are there any existing CSS features that you have difficulties using (or avoid altogether) because of lack of support, or differences between browsers?
(freeform question)
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

My 2024 Pick: Getting Stuck: All the Ways position:sticky Can Fail

In all my years in CSS, position: sticky has to be one of the most frustrating capabilities, but it’s also extremely useful. I always wanted to write a guide to help people with that but luckily I don’t need to because Kilian nailed this one.
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

Andy Bell

Designer, developer and founder of Piccalilli and Set Studio.

Missing Features

In the absence of a magic wand that lets us conjure up any CSS feature we can dream of, the best we can hope for is that this data can help push browser vendors in the right direction!

The good news: conditional logic, mixins, and masonry layouts are all currently being worked on in some form or another!

0%
20%
39%
59%
78%
98%
1

Mixins

2

Conditional Logic

3

Masonry Layout

4

Parent Selector

5

6

CSS Functions

7

Better Animations

8

For Loops

9

Browser Support

10

Scrollbar Styling

0%
20%
39%
59%
78%
98%
% of question respondents
1,223
13%
What features do you feel are currently missing from CSS altogether?
(freeform question)

Other CSS Pain Points

While browser support remains the eternal CSS pain point, Tailwind CSS is also proving to be a source of frustration for some – while others complain that it's not used enough!

0%
19%
38%
56%
75%
94%
1

Browser support

2

3

Excessive complexity

4

Safari

5

6

7

Conditional Logic

8

Debugging

9

Animations

10

Layout & positioning

0%
19%
38%
56%
75%
94%
% of question respondents
1,090
11%
Any other pain points related to writing CSS?
(freeform question)

Favorite New Feature

Long-awaited feature, sensible implementation, good browser support: :has() has it all, and tops the rankings of the best new CSS feature of 2024!

0%
9%
19%
28%
37%
47%
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0%
9%
19%
28%
37%
47%
% of question respondents
2,431
25%
What are your favorite new CSS features that you started using this year?
(freeform question)
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

My 2024 Pick: Scroll-driven Animations

This is a game changer that will soon be supported in all major browsers. It's incredible that what once required a lot of JavaScript is now achievable with just a few lines of CSS.
We asked members of the CSS community to share their “pick of the year”

Ahmad Shadeed

Design Engineer and author of Debugging CSS

State of Web Technologies

While we do love to complain about the state of thigns, it turns out happiness levels have remained surprisingly constent over the years.

0
1
2
3
4
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
0
1
2
3
4
Average {axis}
7,099
73%
2.9
3
How happy are you with the general state of web technologies?

State of CSS

We are even seeing a slight uptick when it comes to CSS specifically, proof that the hard work by browser vendors, working groups, and the CSS community at large is not going unnoticed!

0
1
2
3
4
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
0
1
2
3
4
Average {axis}
7,106
73%
3.1
3
How happy are you with the general state of CSS?

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