Landline Phone Spending by Generation, 2017

The iPhone changed everything. After its release in 2007, average household spending on cell phone service surged ahead of residential (landline) phone service for the first time. From 48 percent of total telephone service spending in 2006, the cell phone service share jumped to 55 percent in 2007. Ten years later, cell phone service accounted for 82 percent of telephone service spending, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Are most Americans cutting the cord on landlines?

Yes, they are. During the average quarter of 2017, only 37 percent of households reported spending on landline phone service. Here are the percentages by generation...

Percent of households spending on landline phone service, 2017
Millennials: 12%
Gen Xers: 31%
Boomers: 48%
Silent: 69%
WWII: 74%

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2017 Consumer Expenditure Survey

Wireless-Only Now the Majority in 45-to-64 Age Group

The 55 percent majority of Americans aged 18 or older live in a wireless-only household, according to January-June 2018 estimates by the National Center for Health Statistics. Another 37 percent have both cell phones and a landline phone in their household. Just 5 percent are landline-only, and 3 percent are phoneless.

The percentage of adults who live in a wireless-only household became the majority in 2016. The wireless-only share grows each year as older age groups abandon landlines through generational replacement and/or technological surrender. Here are the percentages of adults by age who lived in a wireless-only household in the first half of 2018 (and 2015)...

Adults who live in a wireless-only household, January-June 2018 (and 2015)
Total, 18-plus: 55.2% (46.7%)
Aged 18 to 24: 65.0% (59.4%)
Aged 25 to 29: 77.3% (71.3%)
Aged 30 to 34: 77.3% (67.8%)
Aged 35 to 44: 65.7% (56.6%)
Aged 45 to 64: 50.7% (40.8%)
Aged 65-plus: 29.2% (19.3%)

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January—June 2018

When it Comes to Technology, Never Say Never

Technological change turns the novel into the essential. Such is the case with cell phones, according to a Gallup analysis of cell phone adoption over time.

Way back in 2000, Gallup surveyed the public to determine cell phone ownership. Fifty percent of people aged 18 or older owned a cell phone in 2000 and another 25 percent planned to get one. But a substantial 23 percent of Americans reported that they would never get a cell phone—17 to 21 percent of people under age 65 and fully 50 percent of people aged 65 or older.

"Many in the 2000 poll misjudged themselves or the technology—or both," notes Gallup in its report, linking to the results of a 2018 Pew Research Center survey of cell phone ownership...

Percent owning a cell phone in 2018
Total adults: 95%
Aged 18 to 29: 100%
Aged 30 to 49: 98%
Aged 50 to 64: 94%
Aged 65-plus: 85%

Demographic change contributed to the rise of cell phone ownership, Gallup acknowledges. "Many older Americans who may have accurately predicted their non-adoption of cellphones have passed away since 2000." But demographic change doesn't account for the entire rise in adoption, Gallup says. The introduction of the smartphone in 2007 turned cell phones into an essential tool of modern life.

Source: Gallup, Gallup Vault: Misjudging Cellphone Adoption

Cell-Phone Only Households, January–June 2017

The 52.5 percent majority of the nation's households have cell phones and no landline phone, according to the latest National Center for Health Statistics report. Among adults, 52 percent live in a wireless-only household. Among children, an even larger 62 percent are in a wireless-only household. Here is the percentage of adults in wireless-only households by age...

Percent in wireless-only household
Aged 18 to 24: 64%
Aged 25 to 29: 73%
Aged 30 to 34: 74%
Aged 35 to 44: 64%
Aged 45 to 64: 47%
Aged 65-plus: 24%

Forty percent of households have both a landline phone and cell phones, and just 6 percent have only a landline phone.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January–June 2017

51% Majority of Households Are Wireless-Only

Most American households are now wireless-only, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The 50-percent threshold was crossed in the last half of 2016, when 50.8 percent of households reported having only wireless telephone service and no landline, up from 49.3 percent in the first half of 2016. 

Most adults are now wireless only as well. In the last half of 2016, 50.5 percent of people aged 18 or older reported having cell phone service and no landline service, up from 49.0 percent in the first half of 2016. The nation's children have been majority wireless-only since 2014. 

Percentage of adults who are wireless-only by age, July-December 2016

Aged 18 to 24: 61.7%

Aged 25 to 29: 72.7%

Aged 30 to 34: 71.0%

Aged 35 to 44: 62.5%

Aged 45 to 64: 45.2%

Aged 65-plus: 23.5%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July-December 2016

Wireless-Only the Majority in Three Regions

Nationally, 49 percent of adults live in wireless-only households, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In three of four regions, adults who live in wireless-only households are in the majority. Only in the Northeast are they a minority.

Percentage of adults in wireless-only households
Northeast: 32.4%
Midwest: 51.7%
South: 52.3%
West: 54.4%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January–June 2016