I accumulated a database of 240 completing NOBO thru-hikers logging very thorough journals at trailjournals.com for the Hiking Rates article I wrote here at Whiteblaze. I've looked through them again and found that I can use most of them to figure out exactly where these hikers are spending each night on their thru-hikes (using the "stats" section embedded in their journals). Here is a brief summary of what I found:
The mean number for each category of accommodation:
Shelters: 62 nights
Tents or hammocks: 53 nights
Motels: 23 nights
Hostels: 21 nights
Private homes: 9 nights
As you can see, on average these thru-hikers paid for lodging a mean 44 times. There is a pretty broad range, however. Even if you throw out the extremes (the 15% using the most and 15% using the least) the range is still 26 to 62 nights and is directly related to how many zero days hikers take. It seems like this would be useful information for those trying to plan a budget for their hikes.
55% of hikers spend more nights out on the trail in shelters than in tents or hammocks, but this varies in some groups of hikers. Couples hiking the trail are much more likely to tent than non-couples. Solo women and those under 30 are a little more likely to prefer sleeping in shelters than the "average" hiker. Also, in this study (from the year 2001 through 2010) hikers from the later years (2007-2010) were spending slightly fewer nights in shelters than hikers in the earlier years (2001 to 2004).
Some groups varied when it came to off-trail lodging as well. Couples spent close to 10 more nights in motels (and definitely preferred motels to hostels) than non-couples. Couples and folks aged 30 and over spent a greater percentage of nights in town (versus out on the trail) than average. Under 30s used paid lodging (motels or hostels) for close to 10 fewer nights than those 30 and over. Solo men and solo women, on the other hand, were very similar to each other when it came to the percentage of nights in town and the lodging they chose when they were there.
If you want more details just go to the last couple comments that I posted in the comments section for this article:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?44
Or read the article itself if you have questions about the data collection or are just interested in some statistical information about fairly typical completing NOBO thru-hikers.