# Pew Research Center tracks Americans’ mobile device use [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/pew-research-center-tracks-americans-mobile-device-use-a1fa2cbd) Pew Research Center published this fact sheet on October 19, 2026, describing cellphone and smartphone ownership and smartphone-based internet access in the United States. The Center reports that 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone. It also reports that 16% are “smartphone-only” internet users: they own a smartphone but do not subscribe to home broadband. Pew says smartphone ownership differences appear particularly by age, household income and education. It also says reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among adults with lower household incomes and less formal education. The retrieved text does not include subgroup percentages for these patterns. How large are the differences in smartphone-only internet use by household income and education? Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Pew Research Center · Article Original source date: Oct 19, 2026 (2026-10-19T18:04:03.000Z). Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-10-30T05:48:57.845Z. First observed: 2026-10-19T18:13:21.515Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-29T18:05:47.163Z. - [Americans’ Use of Mobile Devices in 2026](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 29, 2026; originally published October 19, 2026. The retrieved text does not provide subgroup percentages for smartphone ownership or smartphone-only internet use by income and education. Pew notes that survey response methods changed over time, including in 2023 and 2024; comparisons across years should be read with that methodological context. ## Open question How large are the differences in smartphone-only internet use by household income and education? ## Source-stated Pew Research Center dates the fact sheet October 19, 2026. > October 19, 2026 > Americans’ Use of Mobile Devices in 2026 - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center reports that 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone. > The vast majority of U.S. adults (98%) own a cellphone of some kind. About nine-in-ten (91%) own a smartphone - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center reports that 16% of U.S. adults are smartphone-only internet users, defined as owning a smartphone without subscribing to home broadband. > Today, 16% of U.S. adults are “smartphone-only” internet users, meaning they own a smartphone but do not subscribe to a home broadband service. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center says smartphone ownership differences appear particularly by age, household income and education. > The same is true for smartphone ownership – though some differences do emerge, particularly by age, household income and education. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center says reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among Americans with lower household incomes and less formal education. > Reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among Americans with lower household incomes and those with less formal education. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source and contributor context Pew Research Center · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Pew Research Center Pew Research Center studies public attitudes and social change through surveys and other empirical research. - [Explore this context](/entities/pew-research-center) - [Reference](https://www.pewresearch.org/) - [Reference](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/03/how-the-us-public-and-ai-experts-view-artificial-intelligence/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 3ec52200-4a67-5cb2-793e-90968d78313e. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-10-30T05:48:54.787Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 82e64823ac99de8a04bc7cb15218490e22f17b3f9b9c1e9ebf3cdc1d8d8f386d. Source text hash: 09d750480b8692cb37bc1f002a882d076375c8c5cc47c6bfcad70ae188893605. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-10-30T05:48:57.845Z Pew Research Center published this fact sheet on October 19, 2026, describing cellphone and smartphone ownership and smartphone-based internet access in the United States. The Center reports that 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone. It also reports that 16% are “smartphone-only” internet users: they own a smartphone but do not subscribe to home broadband. Pew says smartphone ownership differences appear particularly by age, household income and education. It also says reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among adults with lower household incomes and less formal education. The retrieved text does not include subgroup percentages for these patterns. How large are the differences in smartphone-only internet use by household income and education? ## Original source Pew Research Center · Article Original source date: Oct 19, 2026 (2026-10-19T18:04:03.000Z). Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-10-30T05:48:57.845Z. First observed: 2026-10-19T18:13:21.515Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-29T18:05:47.163Z. - [Americans’ Use of Mobile Devices in 2026](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 29, 2026; originally published October 19, 2026. The retrieved text does not provide subgroup percentages for smartphone ownership or smartphone-only internet use by income and education. Pew notes that survey response methods changed over time, including in 2023 and 2024; comparisons across years should be read with that methodological context. ## Open question How large are the differences in smartphone-only internet use by household income and education? ## Source-stated Pew Research Center dates the fact sheet October 19, 2026. > October 19, 2026 > Americans’ Use of Mobile Devices in 2026 - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center reports that 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone. > The vast majority of U.S. adults (98%) own a cellphone of some kind. About nine-in-ten (91%) own a smartphone - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center reports that 16% of U.S. adults are smartphone-only internet users, defined as owning a smartphone without subscribing to home broadband. > Today, 16% of U.S. adults are “smartphone-only” internet users, meaning they own a smartphone but do not subscribe to a home broadband service. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center says smartphone ownership differences appear particularly by age, household income and education. > The same is true for smartphone ownership – though some differences do emerge, particularly by age, household income and education. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source-stated Pew Research Center says reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among Americans with lower household incomes and less formal education. > Reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among Americans with lower household incomes and those with less formal education. - [Supporting source](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/) ## Source and contributor context Pew Research Center · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Pew Research Center Pew Research Center studies public attitudes and social change through surveys and other empirical research. - [Explore this context](/entities/pew-research-center) - [Reference](https://www.pewresearch.org/) - [Reference](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/03/how-the-us-public-and-ai-experts-view-artificial-intelligence/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 3ec52200-4a67-5cb2-793e-90968d78313e. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-10-30T05:48:54.787Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 82e64823ac99de8a04bc7cb15218490e22f17b3f9b9c1e9ebf3cdc1d8d8f386d. Source text hash: 09d750480b8692cb37bc1f002a882d076375c8c5cc47c6bfcad70ae188893605. ### passed — 2026-10-30T05:48:54.787Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: 3ec52200-4a67-5cb2-793e-90968d78313e attribution — pass: The reading correctly attributes the fact sheet and all of its figures and characterizations to Pew Research Center, which publishes the page. Each claim is framed as what Pew reports or says. > This fact sheet was compiled by Research Analyst Olivia Sidoti. summary — pass: The summary accurately reports the headline ownership figures, defines 'smartphone-only' in plain language and conveys Pew's qualitative subgroup patterns. It also notes that subgroup percentages are absent from the retrieved text. The question follows from that gap rather than leading. The reading is understandable without specialist background and does not invent significance. > Today, 16% of U.S. adults are “smartphone-only” internet users, meaning they own a smartphone but do not subscribe to a home broadband service. date — pass: evidence.originalPublished is 2026-10-19T18:04Z, and its UTC day matches the source dateline of October 19, 2026. The modified time equals the publication time. This is a publisher page, so no archive disclosure is needed. The reading presents no later events or hindsight. The survey dates and stated precision are consistent with the source. > Fact Sheet | October 19, 2026 support — pass: Every claim is backed by a verbatim excerpt from the source. The limitation about changes in survey mode in 2023 and 2024 is source-stated. The reading implies no unsupported benefits, costs or causal conclusions. > The ways we’ve allowed people to respond to these surveys have evolved over the years, including in 2023 and again in 2024. media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied, so the media choice is consistent with the evidence. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/a1fa2cbd4536155297997c067694779f534ef2dc716ef43b28b223808ae327f0/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/pew-research-center-tracks-americans-mobile-device-use-a1fa2cbd.json)