Number of Landline-Free Households Up 10 Percent in US

It’s that time of year again, when the National Center for Health Statistics publishes its biannual study of U.S. consumers’ new penchant for cutting landlines in favor of cellphone service. The latest news echoes the trend we’ve seen from past studies: Wireless-only individuals and households are on the rise.

This latest study spanned from January to June 2008 and included responses from 30,150 adults and 11,238 children less than 18 years of age from 16,070 households, making for a 19 percent increase in respondents from last fall’s study. Overall, NCHS found nearly a 10 percent increase in wireless-only homes to 17.5 percent—that’s more than one in six households. Approximately 16.1 percent of U.S. adults–or 36 million–live in wireless-only households, while 17 percent (12 million) children live in households with nothing but a cellphone.

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