We wanted to know how many mobile phones versus landline telephones in the United States and found that this information was difficult to track down.  So we did a bit of digging (ok, a couple of hours worth) and are sharing with you what we’ve found:

Number of Cell (Mobile) Phone Subscribers in 2006 (Source): 
233,041,000 (109,478,000 in 2000).
Number of Landline Phones (Access Lines) in 2004 (Source): 
146,000,000 (173,000,000 in 2000).
* This number includes business and residential access lines and excludes “special” access lines which may include mobile phones.

It is clear that the number of cell phones surpasses the number of landlines, a trend that has been the case since 2003.  The number of landline telephone lines has dropped roughly 16.5% since the year 2000 while cell phones have increased nearly 212% from 2000-2006.

Other Interesting Information

  • Number of Cell Sites (2006) - 195,613
  • Average Monthly Cell Bill (2006) - $50.56 (up 11.6% from 2000)
  • Average Length of Cell Call (2006)- 3.03 minutes (up 18.3% from 2000)
  • Number of Local Calls from Landlines (2004) - 420 Billion (down 22% from 2000)
  • Number of Toll Calls from Landlines (2004) - 92 Billion (down 13% from 2000)

Additionally, according to a Harris Poll Survey the number of cell phone only households is on the rise, with almost 14% of Americans using only a cell phone.  The 18-29 year old demographic accounts for nearly half of those users.  The Harris Poll report can be found here.