A Majority of American Homes Now Have Only Wireless Phones, No Landline [Chart]

The National Center for Health Statistics in the United States is reporting that for the first time a majority of American homes now have only wireless phones. The news comes via an early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July–December 2016.

The second 6 months of 2016 was the first time that a majority of American homes had only wireless telephones. Preliminary results from the July – December 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that 50.8% of American homes did not have a landline telephone but did have at least one wireless telephone (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones)—an increase of 2.5 percentage points since the second 6 months of 2015. More than
70% of all adults aged 25-34 and of adults renting their homes were living in wireless-only households. This report presents the most up-to-date estimates available from the federal government concerning the size and characteristics of this population.


The number of wireless only households has been progressing steadily since 2003. Have you ditched your landline for just a cellphone? Let us know if you have and how long did so in the comments!

Take a look at the chart below for more details...

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