A Decade of Tech Adoption

Pew Research Center has been tracking internet use and technology adoption for more than two decades. Its latest survey was fielded in February 2021. Here's a look at how much things have changed during the past 10 years...

Percent of adults who use, subscribe, or own the technology, 2011 and 2021

	2021	2011
Internet	93%	79%
Smartphone	85	35
Broadband at home	77	62
Desktop/laptop computer	77	75
Tablet computer	53	10

Use of the internet increased from an already high level in 2011 (79 percent) to nearly universal adoption in 2021 (93 percent). Broadband (high speed internet) appears to be headed in the same direction—especially if the American Jobs Plan becomes law, with funds for the expansion of broadband into rural America. 

Only 35 percent of adults owned a smartphone in 2011. Over the past decade, smartphone ownership soared, rising 50 percentage points to the 85 percent of today. 

Tablet ownership increased from just 10 percent in 2011 to the 51 percent majority of adults by 2016. Since then, however, ownership of tablet computers has stabilized. For desktop/laptop computers, little has changed over the entire decade.

The percentage of adults who now own a smartphone ranges from a high of 95 to 96 percent among those under age 50 to a low of 61 percent among people aged 65 or older. Use of the internet is close to 100 percent among adults under age 65, but is a smaller 75 percent among those aged 65-plus. 

Source: Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet, and Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet

Where Americans Get Their News

Digital devices are the news source for the great majority of Americans. Fully 86 percent of the public "sometimes" or "often" gets news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The 60 percent majority "often" gets news from these digital devices. 

Percent getting news sometimes/often from...

Digital devices: 86%

Television: 68%

Radio: 50%

Print: 32%

Not only is digital the primary platform for getting news, but people prefer it that way. When asked which platform they prefer as a news source, 52 percent say digital devices, 35 percent say television, 7 percent radio, and 5 percent print.

Source: Pew Research Center, More than Eight-in-Ten Americans Get News from Digital Devices

When Should Children Have Their Own Smartphone?

Today's parents are concerned about their children's screen time. Fully 71 percent of parents with children under age 12 are worried about their child spending too much time in front of a screen, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Two out of three parents say parenting is harder today than it used to be, with many citing technology as the reason. Despite these concerns, the great majority of parents with a child aged 5 to 11 say their child uses tablet computers and smartphones, as do nearly half of parents with a child under age 5...

Parents with a child aged 5 to 11
80% say their child uses/interacts with a tablet computer
63% say their child uses/interacts with a smartphone

Parents with a child under age 5
48% say their child uses/interacts with a tablet computer
55% say their child uses/interacts with a smartphone

What is the appropriate age for children to have their own device? When it comes to smartphones, 73 percent of parents think a child should be 12 or older, with 45 percent giving the nod to children aged 12 to 14 and another 28 percent wanting to wait until a child is aged 15 to 17. Parents are more lax when it comes to tablet computers. Fully 65 percent think children can have their own tablet computer before the age of 12, while 31 percent say the child should be 12 or older.

Source: Pew Research Center, Parenting Children in the Age of Screens

Online Banking Is the Norm

The use of online banking is nearly universal in the United States today, according to FINRA's latest National Financial Capability Study. Fully 84 percent of Americans with bank accounts use online, computer-based (laptop or desktop) banking at least sometimes. The 59 percent majority uses online, computer-based banking frequently.

Mobile banking is also now the norm. Fully 65 percent of Americans with bank accounts say they use their phone to bank at least sometimes, and 42 percent do so frequently.

Online banking using a laptop or desktop computer does not vary much by age, while mobile banking is much more common among young adults...

Use online banking via a laptop or desktop computer
Aged 18 to 34: 87%
Aged 35 to 54: 85%
Aged 55-plus: 81%

Use mobile banking via a smartphone
Aged 18 to 34: 87%
Aged 35 to 54: 74%
Aged 55-plus: 42%

A substantial portion of the population uses smartphones to pay at point of sale, with 35 percent doing so at least sometimes. About the same percentage (37 percent) use their phones at least sometimes to transfer money to another person—such as through the Venmo or Zelle apps. Younger adults are most likely to do these things. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, 53 percent have used their mobile phone to pay at point of sale, and 60 percent have transferred money to another person using their phone. Among people aged 55 or older, the figures are just 17 and 15 percent, respectively.

Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, The State of U.S. Financial Capability: The 2018 National Financial Capability Study

Fewer Are Reading Because of Smartphones and TV

Reading for personal interest continues to decline as a leisure activity. The percentage of Americans who read on an average day fell from 24.9 percent in 2007 (prior to the Great Recession and before smartphones became a thing) to just 17.5 percent in 2018. During those years, the number of people who read for personal interest on an average day fell from 57 million to 46 million—a loss of more than 10 million daily participants despite a growing U.S. population.

Percent reading for personal interest on an average day, 2018 (and 2007)
Aged 15 to 19:   8.3% (  9.4%)
Aged 20 to 24:   6.9% (  9.0%)
Aged 25 to 34:   8.4% (13.3%)
Aged 35 to 44: 13.3% (18.6%)
Aged 45 to 54: 13.6% (27.5%)
Aged 55 to 64: 21.4% (35.4%)
Aged 65-plus:  36.9% (50.3%)

While the lure of the smartphone screen and video gaming are the probable reasons for the reading decline among younger adults, television is the likely culprit among people aged 65 or older. The amount of time people aged 65-plus watch television on an average day grew from 3.98 to 4.51 hours between 2007 and 2018.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2018 American Time Use Survey

81% of Americans Own a Smartphone

It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only eight years ago when Pew Research Center first asked Americans whether they owned a smartphone. In 2011, just 35 percent had one. Today, 81 percent of adults own a smartphone. Those most likely to own a smartphone are 18-to-29-year-olds...

Smartphone ownership by age, 2019
Aged 18 to 29: 96%
Aged 30 to 49: 92%
Aged 50 to 64: 79%
Aged 65-plus: 53%

One in five adults is "smartphone dependent." These smartphone owners do not have traditional broadband service at home, making the smartphone their primary means of accessing the internet, says Pew. Here are the demographic segments most likely to be smartphone dependent...

22% of 18-to-29-year-olds
25% of Hispanics
26% of those with a household income below $30,000
32% of those without a high school diploma

Source: Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet

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

Smartphone-Only Internet Access

Providing customers with a seamless mobile interface is critical to the success of businesses today. For proof, look no further than the findings of a recent Pew survey of household internet access. Fully one in five Americans does not have broadband service at home and relies on a smartphone to access the internet. This is especially true for Hispanics and younger adults...

Smartphone-only internet access at home by race/Hispanic origin
Whites: 14%
Blacks: 24%
Hispanics: 35%

Smartphone-only internet access at home by age
Aged 18 to 29: 28%
Aged 30 to 49: 24%
Aged 50 to 64: 16%
Aged 65-plus: 10%

Many older adults have neither broadband nor smartphone access to the internet at home—17 percent of the 50-to-64 age group and 40 percent of people aged 65-plus.

Source: Pew Research Center, Declining Majority of Online Adults Say the Internet Has Been Good for Society

Smartphone Ownership, 2018

More than three-quarters of American adults (77 percent) own a smartphone, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey. Smartphone ownership does not vary much by race, Hispanic origin, or sex. But big differences persist by age and education...

Smartphone ownership by age
Aged 18 to 29: 94%
Aged 30 to 49: 89%
Aged 50 to 64: 73%
Aged 65-plus: 46%

Smartphone ownership by education
Not a HS grad: 57%
HS grad only: 69%
Some college: 80%
College grad: 91%

Source: Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet

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

The Decline of First Class Mail

First-class mail is in a steep decline, not surprisingly. The number of pieces of first class mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service peaked in 2001 at nearly 104 billion. By 2016, the number had slipped to 61 billion—a 41 percent decline and about what it was in 1981.

The biggest decline in first-class mail volume occurred after the introduction of the smartphone in 2007. Between 2007 and 2011, first-class mail fell by nearly 24 billion pieces—a decline of more than 5 billion pieces a year. Those years account for 56 percent of the overall decline in first-class mail volume since the 2001 peak. In more recent years, the decline in first-class mail volume has slowed to about 1.3 billion pieces a year.

Volume of first-class mail (in billions)
2016: 61.2
2015: 62.6
2011: 72.5
2007: 96.2
2001: 103.7 (peak year)

Source: USPS, Postage Rates and Historical Statistics

42% of Older Americans Own a Smartphone

The percentage of Americans aged 65 or older who own a smartphone has more than doubled in three years—rising from just 18 percent in 2013 to 42 percent in 2016, according to Pew Research Center. One factor behind the increase is the aging of the baby-boom generation into the 65-plus age group. Here is the percentage of Americans aged 65 or older who owned a smartphone in 2016, by age...

Own a smartphone, 2016
Aged 65 to 69: 59%
Aged 70 to 74: 49%
Aged 75 to 79: 31%
Aged 80-plus: 17%

Source: Pew Research Center, Tech Adoption Climbs among Older Adults

Younger Adults Have More Smartphones

Households headed by people under age 25 own more than two smartphones on average, or 0.83 smartphones per household member. This is a greater concentration of smartphones than in any other age group, according to the Energy Information Administration's 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Not far behind are households headed by 25-to-34-year-olds, with 0.80 smartphones per household member. Smartphone ownership is lowest among householders aged 75 or older, just 0.30 per household member.

The Residential Energy Consumption Survey examines household ownership of a variety of electronic devices including televisions and computers.

Smartphones per household member (and per household) by age, 2015
Under age 25:  0.83 (2.4)
Aged 25 to 34: 0.80 (2.3)
Aged 35 to 44: 0.69 (2.4)
Aged 45 to 54: 0.75 (2.1)
Aged 55 to 64: 0.64 (1.4)
Aged 65 to 74: 0.52 (1.0)
Aged 75-plus:  0.30 (0.5)

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Average Number of Televisions in U.S. Homes Declining

Smartphone Ownership by Age, 2016

More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) own a smartphone, reports Pew Research Center. Smartphone ownership is the norm in all but one demographic segment. Only among people aged 65 or older is smartphone ownership below 50 percent...

Smartphone ownership by age
Aged 18 to 29: 92%
Aged 30 to 49: 88%
Aged 50 to 64: 74%
Aged 65-plus: 42%

Source: Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet