Cell phones have become so ubiquitous that half of the United States now receives all or nearly all phone calls through this wireless form of communication.

About 36% of American homes only had wireless telephones as of June 2012, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. This percentage was 1.8 points higher than the rate recorded for the second half of 2011.

Another 16% of homes received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones despite owning a landline telephone.

That means that almost 52% of households are now relying on cell phones for their day-to-day communications.

Demographic groups most likely to use cell phones only included Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 (60.1%), renters (58.2%), Americans between the ages of 30 and 34 (55.1%), adults living in poverty (51.8%) and Hispanic adults (46.5%).

An estimated 1.9% of adults have no phone at all.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January–June 2012 (by Stephen J. Blumberg, and Julian V. Luke, National Center for Health Statistics) (pdf)

Letting Go of Landlines, Cell Phone Only (by Jenny Kim, AllGov)