3 in 10 US Households Have Abandoned Their Landlines

According to the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, about 3 in 10 households either only use mobile phones or rarely take calls on their landlines.

During the second half of last year, 16% of households only had mobiles, while 13% had mobiles and landlines but took nearly all calls on their mobiles. Wireless-only houses grew 2% between the first and second half of 2007. In early 2004, only 5% of households only had mobile phones.

We've written about the decline in landline use before, and these numbers are not surprising at all. I have been pushing hard with my wife to give up our landline but haven't broken through yet. My guess is that it'll happen in the next 12-18 months in our household.

The survey had other interesting data including:

-Low-income people are likelier than the more affluent to have only cell phones.

-Those with only cells tend to be living with unrelated roommates, renters rather than homeowners, and Hispanics and blacks rather than whites.

-About a third of those under age 30 only have cell phones.

-Households with both cell and landline phones who rarely or never get calls on their landlines tend to be better educated and have higher incomes.

-About 2% of households reported having no telephones.

The National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the CDC, involved in-person interviews with people in 13,083 households done from July through December of last year.