35% of American Adults, 42% of Mobile Phone Owners Own a Smart Phone

Some 35 percent of U.S. consumers own smart phones., according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew's May 2011 survey found that 83 percent of U.S. adults have a cell phone of some kind, and that 42 percent of them own a smart phone. That translates into 35 percent of all adults.

Several groups have higher than average levels of smart phone adoption, including the financially well-off and well-educated, Pew notes. Some 59 percent of adults living in a household earning income of $75,000 or more are smartphone owners, while 48 percent of those with a college degree own smart phones.

Some 58 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 now own a smart phone as do 49 percent of those ages 18 to 24 and 44 percent of those ages 35 to 44. Even among those with a household income of $30,000 or less, smart phone ownership rates for those ages 18 to 29 are equal to the national average.

Also, 44 percent of blacks and Latinos are smart phone users. Urban and suburban residents are roughly twice as likely to own a smartphone as those living in rural areas, and employment status is also strongly correlated with smartphone ownership.

>35% of American Adults Own a Smartphone