Cell Phone Only Use Hits New High of 24.5% in U.S.

"Preliminary results from the July–December 2009 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones continues to grow. One of every four American homes (24.5%) had only wireless telephones (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones) during the last half of 2009—an increase of 1.8 percentage points since the first half of 2009.

The percentage of adults living in wireless-only households has also been increasing steadily (see chart above). During the last 6 months of 2009, more than two of every nine adults lived in wireless-only households. One year before that (during the last 6 months of 2008), 2 of every 11 adults lived in wireless-only households. And 2 years before that (during the last 6 months of 2006), only 2 of every 17 adults lived in wireless-only households.

The percentage of children living in wireless-only households is also growing. In fact, for this population, the 4.6-percentage-point increase from the first 6 months of 2009 is the largest 6-month increase observed since 2003, when NHIS began collecting data on children living in wireless-only households."