91 Percent of US Adults Own a Smartphone, Pew Research Finds

Pew Research Center published its 2026 mobile fact sheet on October 19. The survey covers 5,511 US adults and finds that 91 percent own a smartphone. That is up from 35 percent when Pew first measured smartphone ownership in 2011. Ownership has been 90 or 91 percent in each reading since 2023.

Phone only internet

About one in six US adults, or 16 percent, use a smartphone as their only internet connection, with no home broadband subscription. That share has stayed between 15 and 16 percent since 2023. In 2013 it was 8 percent.

Ownership by age

Smartphone ownership is 97 percent among adults aged 18 to 49. It falls to 91 percent among those aged 50 to 64 and 79 percent among those aged 65 and older. Among adults aged 65 and older, 14 percent have a cellphone but no smartphone.

How the survey was run

The data comes from the National Public Opinion Reference Survey. Fieldwork ran from January 30 to June 18, 2026, and the margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. Respondents could answer online, by mail or by phone. Pew notes that its survey method has changed over the years, which affects comparisons with earlier readings.

What it means

With most adults already owning a smartphone, the effect of rising phone prices falls mostly on people who replace their phones. It also falls on the one in six adults who depend on a phone for internet access. Our view is that cheaper models and data plans matter most for that group.