51% 25-29 Year-Olds, Wireless-Only, 26.6% Wireless-Only American Homes, Says NHIS

cutcord.jpgMore Americans than ever before are cutting the cord and giving up their landlines or never getting a landline at all, reports the latest National Center for Health Statistics' National Health Interview Survey.  More than half of adults aged 25-29 years (51.3%) lived in
households with only wireless telephones.  This is the first time that
the number of adults in wireless-only households has exceeded the
number of adults in landline households in any age range examined.

More than one of every four American homes (26.6%) had only wireless
telephones (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile
phones) during the first half of 2010--an increase of 2.1 percentage
points since the second half of 2009.  In addition, nearly one of every
six American homes (15.9%) received all or almost all calls on wireless
telephones despite having a landline.

Approximately 24.9% of all adults (approximately 57 million adults)
lived in households with only wireless telephones; 29% of all
children (more than 21 million children) lived in households with only
wireless telephones.

  • Two in five adults aged 18-24 years (39.9%) and aged 30-34 years
    (40.4%) lived in households with only wireless telephones.  As age
    increased from 35 years, the percentage of adults living in households
    with only wireless telephones decreased: 27% for adults aged 35-44,
    16.9% for adults aged 45-64, and 5.4% for adults aged 65 and over.
  • More than two in three adults living only with unrelated adult
    roommates (69.4%) were in households with only wireless telephones. 
    This is the highest prevalence rate for the population subgroups
    examined.
  • Men (26.2%) were more likely than women (23.7%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones..
  • Hispanic adults (34.7%) were more likely than non-Hispanic white
    adults (22.7%) or non-Hispanic black adults (28.5%) to be living in
    households with only wireless telephones.
  • The prevalence of having five or more alcoholic drinks in 1 day during
    the past year among wireless-only adults (33.1%) was substantially
    higher than the prevalence among adults living in landline households
    (19.4%).  Wireless-only adults were also more likely to be current
    smokers than were adults living in landline households.

More information is available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.