Smartphone ownership by income statistics
Published October 25, 2026 · StatsGalore
U.S. adults with household income less than $30,000 who say they own a smartphone [1]
Pew Research Center’s 2026 mobile-device fact sheet shows that smartphone ownership is widespread across income groups, but not identical across them. The clearest income pattern appears in the share of U.S. adults who say they own a smartphone: 80% for adults with household income less than $30,000, 91% for $30,000-$69,999, 96% for $70,000-$99,999 and 98% for $100,000+. The same source reports cellphone ownership of some kind at 94%, 99%, 99% and 99% for those same income groups, showing that the income gradient is more visible for smartphone ownership than for having any cellphone. [1]
The numbers
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Smartphone ownership, household income less than $30,000 | 80% | [1] |
| Smartphone ownership, household income $30,000-$69,999 | 91% | [1] |
| Smartphone ownership, household income $70,000-$99,999 | 96% | [1] |
| Smartphone ownership, household income $100,000+ | 98% | [1] |
| Cellphone ownership, household income less than $30,000 | 94% | [1] |
| Cellphone ownership, household income $30,000-$69,999 | 99% | [1] |
| Cellphone ownership, household income $70,000-$99,999 | 99% | [1] |
| Cellphone ownership, household income $100,000+ | 99% | [1] |
| Cellphone, but not a smartphone, household income less than $30,000 | 12% | [1] |
| Cellphone, but not a smartphone, household income $30,000-$69,999 | 7% | [1] |
| Cellphone, but not a smartphone, household income $70,000-$99,999 | 3% | [1] |
| Cellphone, but not a smartphone, household income $100,000+ | 1% | [1] |
| Smartphone dependent, household income less than $30,000 | 29% | [1] |
| Smartphone dependent, household income $30,000-$69,999 | 18% | [1] |
| Smartphone dependent, household income $70,000-$99,999 | 12% | [1] |
| Smartphone dependent, household income $100,000+ | 7% | [1] |
Smartphone ownership rises across income categories
In the 2026 Pew data, smartphone ownership is already common in the lowest income category, at 80% among U.S. adults with household income less than $30,000. It is higher in each of the higher income categories shown: 91% for $30,000-$69,999, 96% for $70,000-$99,999 and 98% for $100,000+.
This article treats these as people-based survey percentages: the denominator is U.S. adults in each household-income group, not devices, accounts, visits or households. The figures describe whether respondents say they own a smartphone, not how often they use it or what kind of smartphone they have.
[1]Any-cellphone ownership is nearly universal at higher incomes
The same Pew table reports ownership of a cellphone of any kind. For the income categories shown, cellphone ownership is 94% for adults under $30,000 and 99% for each of the three higher groups: $30,000-$69,999, $70,000-$99,999 and $100,000+.
The difference between cellphone and smartphone figures matters because some adults own a cellphone that is not a smartphone. Pew reports 12% in the less than $30,000 category as having a cellphone but not a smartphone, compared with 7%, 3% and 1% in the higher income categories shown.
[1]Smartphone-only internet access is also income-linked
Pew separately measures smartphone dependency, defined as U.S. adults who own a smartphone but do not subscribe to home broadband service. Overall, the 2026 fact sheet says 16% of U.S. adults are smartphone-only internet users under that definition.
By income, the 2026 smartphone-dependency figures are 29% for adults under $30,000, 18% for $30,000-$69,999, 12% for $70,000-$99,999 and 7% for $100,000+. This is a different measure from smartphone ownership: it is conditional on both owning a smartphone and not having home broadband.
[1]Trend context and cautions
The 2026 fact sheet also gives broad trend context: 91% of U.S. adults own a smartphone, up from 35% in Pew’s first smartphone-ownership survey in 2011. However, the income table here should not be read as a device count or market-sales estimate; it is a survey of adults and excludes respondents who did not answer.
Comparisons over time require care. Pew notes changes in survey mode: polls from 2002-2021 were conducted by phone, the 2023 poll by web and mail, and 2024 through 2026 by web, mail and phone. Pew also notes that income categories in the smartphone-dependency table are labeled with NPORS categories for recent years, so this reference emphasizes the 2026 categories and values rather than calculating long-run income-group changes.
[1]Sources & notes
Source is Pew Research Center’s mobile fact sheet fetched in the supplied data. The 2026 ownership figures are from a survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 30-June 18, 2026. Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown. Smartphone dependency means owning a smartphone but not subscribing to home broadband service. Mode changes over time limit direct trend comparisons.
Source review: 2026-10-25. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction