Homes with only Wireless Telephones Continues to Grow

Two new reports on wireless telephones show that percentage of adults and children living in households that do not have a landline telephone but have at least one wireless telephone have gone up. 

The first report shows preliminary results from the January–June 2013 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on wireless telephones. The report found that two in every five American homes (39.4%) had only wireless telephones (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones) during the first half of 2013—an increase of 1.2 percentage points since the second half of 2012. In addition, nearly one of every six American homes (15.7%) received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones despite also having a landline telephone.

The second report shows state-level estimates from the 2012 NHIS on wireless telephones.  This report found the prevalence of wireless-only adults and children varied substantially across states. State-level estimates for 2012 ranged from 19.4% (New Jersey) to 52.3% (Idaho) of adults and from 20.6% (New Jersey) to 63.4% (Mississippi) of children.