Fewer than One-Third of Adults Have a Landline Phone

Only 31 percent of American adults live in a household with a landline phone, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) survey fielded July-December 2021. Among children, the proportion who live in a household with a landline is an even smaller 20 percent. 

NCHS has been asking the public about its telephone status since 2003. The reason for doing so is to provide health researchers who conduct RDD (random-digit-dial) telephone surveys with information about how the cell phone population differs from the landline population. With this information, "survey research organizations can evaluate whether they have appropriately included this [cell phone] population in their telephone surveys," explains NCHS.

The 31 percent of adults who live in a household with a landline phone in 2021 was less than half of the 66 percent who had a landline phone in their household a decade ago. The figure fell below 50 percent for the first time in 2015.

Percent of adults who live in a household with a landline phone

2021: 31%

2016: 46%

2011: 66%

2007: 84%

2003: 95%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July-December 2021 (PDF) and Early Release Reports on Wireless Substitution