One-fourth of American homes now has no traditional landline even though they do have mobile phone service, while only 15% have a landline with no cell phone.
The Centers for Disease Control have been tracking the statistic since 2006. Back then, it found that 11% of homes only had a mobile number. In just 3 years, that number more than doubled to 23% in 2009.
Today’s report shows that the trend is increasing, and people are indeed continuing to ditch traditional phone service. Most homes that already had a landline are not getting rid of it, though. The number is increasing due to young adults and poor people moving into new homes for the first time.
![](https://images.assettype.com/tgdaily/2016-09/828845f8-7c78-4fc4-b767-7a7aa4df065c/xpphone.jpg)
The CDC reported that 60% of households still had both landline and mobile service, a statistic that has not budged since it began tracking such numbers.
The number of people who exclusively have mobile service is directly proportional to their poverty level. 36% of those below the federal poverty line of $22,000 a year for a family of 4 have a cell phone line but no home phone. Even at higher incomes, though (over $44,000), the number is 20%.
And for those between 25 and 29, 50% did not have a landline number, while people over 65 are still relying heavily on the traditional service – only 5% of them have decided to go cell-only.
Even for those with home phone service, though, the majority are now connected through digital signals through cable or satellite providers, or a voice-over IP service. The days of the old-fashioned phone company oligopoly are certainly nearing an end.