Americans exchange more than 67,000 text messages every second, and the annual total of almost 2.2 trillion is the highest since 2020. Messaging volume recovered rather than grew, which is the quieter half of the story. The louder half is data: consumption reached 132 trillion megabytes in 2024, a 32 trillion megabyte jump that CTIA calls the largest single-year increase in United States history. Meanwhile 5G passed 259 million connections, closing on half the installed base. The figures below come from CTIA’s annual wireless industry survey.
TL;DR
- Almost 2.2 trillion text and multimedia messages were exchanged in 2024 (CTIA)
- That was the highest total since 2020 (CTIA)
- Over 2.1 trillion were SMS and MMS specifically (CTIA)
- That equals more than 67,000 messages every second (CTIA)
- Wireless data use reached 132 trillion megabytes (CTIA)
- Up from the 100 trillion megabyte record set in 2023 (CTIA)
- The 32 trillion megabyte increase was the largest ever recorded (CTIA)
- Data demand has grown about 35% a year for three years (CTIA)
- There are 579 million wireless connections (CTIA)
- That is about 1.7 connections per person (CTIA)
- More than 259 million connections are 5G (CTIA)
- 5G reached nearly half of connections, up from 39% (CTIA)
- Americans spent more than 2.4 trillion minutes on voice calls (CTIA)
1. Message Volume Recovered
The headline messaging figure comes with an important qualifier attached. Americans exchanged almost 2.2 trillion text and multimedia messages during 2024, the highest total since 2020.
That framing means volume fell after 2020 and has now climbed back, rather than rising steadily throughout. The pandemic year produced an anomalous peak, messaging declined as behaviour normalised and as encrypted over-the-top apps absorbed conversational traffic, and 2024 marked the return to that level. What likely drove the recovery is not people texting friends more but the growth of application-to-person traffic: verification codes, delivery notifications, appointment reminders, and marketing. SMS has quietly become infrastructure for other systems rather than primarily a conversation medium, and infrastructure volume grows with the number of services using it.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Text and multimedia messages, 2024 | almost 2.2 trillion | CTIA |
| Historical position | highest since 2020 | CTIA |
| SMS and MMS specifically | over 2.1 trillion | CTIA |
| Implied daily volume | approx. 6 billion | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Implied per connection per day | approx. 10 messages | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Pattern since 2020 | decline then recovery | Derived |
| Likely growth driver | application-to-person traffic | Derived |
| Survey basis | carrier-reported operational data | CTIA |
Messaging-app comparison sits in our WhatsApp statistics. Source: CTIA 2025 annual survey highlights.
2. Sixty-Seven Thousand Per Second
Rate figures make large annual totals comprehensible, and this one is stark. More than 2.1 trillion SMS and MMS messages works out to over 67,000 messages every second, sustained across every second of the year.
Spread across the 579 million wireless connections in service, that is roughly 3,800 messages per connection per year, or about 10 a day. The per-connection average is the more useful figure for anyone reasoning about individual behaviour, and it is lower than most people would guess for a country that sends 67,000 messages a second. The reconciliation is that connections vastly outnumber active human texters, since the total includes tablets, wearables, connected vehicles, and machine-to-machine hardware that send few or no messages. Human texting volume per person is therefore meaningfully higher than 10 a day, though CTIA does not publish the split that would let you calculate it.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Messages per second | more than 67,000 | CTIA |
| Annual SMS and MMS base | over 2.1 trillion | CTIA |
| Wireless connections | 579 million | CTIA |
| Implied messages per connection per year | approx. 3,800 | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Implied messages per connection per day | approx. 10 | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Why the per-connection figure is low | connections include non-messaging devices | Derived |
| Human versus device split | not published | CTIA |
| Implication for per-person volume | higher than the per-connection average | Derived |
Source: Summary of CTIA’s annual wireless industry survey.
3. Data Growth Dwarfs Everything Else
Set against messaging’s recovery, data consumption is on a different curve entirely. Wireless data use reached 132 trillion megabytes in 2024, up from the 100 trillion megabyte record set in 2023, an increase of 32 trillion megabytes that CTIA identifies as the largest single-year jump in United States history.
CTIA characterises the multi-year pattern as roughly 35% annual growth sustained for three consecutive years. Compounding at that rate doubles consumption in just over two years, which is why each successive annual increase sets a new absolute record even when the percentage stays constant. Per connection, 132 trillion megabytes across 579 million connections works out to about 228,000 megabytes a year, or roughly 19 gigabytes a month. The contrast with messaging is the point: one medium is recovering to a five-year-old level while the other is doubling every two years, and they run over the same infrastructure.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wireless data use, 2024 | 132 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Prior record, 2023 | 100 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Year-over-year increase | 32 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Historical position of that increase | largest ever recorded in the US | CTIA |
| Multi-year growth rate | approx. 35% per year | CTIA |
| Years at that rate | 3 consecutive | CTIA |
| Implied per connection per year | approx. 228,000 megabytes | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Implied per connection per month | approx. 19 gigabytes | Derived from CTIA figures |
Network context sits in our 5G adoption statistics. Source: Americans use record 132 trillion MBs of wireless data.
4. Connections Outnumber People
The installed base figure is larger than the population, which is not an error. There are 579 million wireless connections in the United States, about 1.7 for every person.
That ratio implies a population base near 341 million and, more usefully, tells you what the count measures. CTIA counts connections rather than subscribers, so a household with three phones, two tablets, a connected car, and a smartwatch contributes seven. The figure has been pushed upward by device categories that did not exist as cellular endpoints a decade ago, particularly wearables and machine-to-machine hardware in logistics, utilities, and vehicles. This is why per-connection averages for messaging and voice look low while per-person behaviour has not declined: the denominator has been growing faster than human usage.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wireless connections | 579 million | CTIA |
| Connections per person | approx. 1.7 | CTIA |
| Implied population base | approx. 341 million | Derived from CTIA figures |
| What is counted | connections, not subscribers | CTIA |
| Included device types | phones, tablets, wearables, vehicles, machine-to-machine | Derived |
| Effect on per-connection averages | pushes them downward | Derived |
| Effect on total data demand | pushes it upward | Derived |
| Growth driver in the denominator | non-phone endpoints | Derived |
Device-market context sits in our smartphone market statistics. Source: Cellular by the numbers, CTIA’s 2025 survey.
5. 5G Approaches the Majority
Network generation transitions are slow, and this one has reached its inflection. More than 259 million connections were on 5G devices, close to half the 579 million total, up from 39% the year before.
A move from 39% to roughly 45% in one year is about six percentage points, which puts 5G on track to become the majority technology imminently on current trajectory. The interaction with the data figures is what makes this matter rather than being a technical milestone. Higher-capacity networks do not merely accommodate existing demand more comfortably; they enable behaviours, particularly video, that generate more demand. The 35% annual data growth and the 5G transition are not independent trends running in parallel but two views of the same process, which is also why the growth rate has not decelerated as the absolute numbers have grown enormous.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5G connections | more than 259 million | CTIA |
| Share of total connections | nearly half | CTIA |
| Prior year share | 39% | CTIA |
| Implied change | approx. 6 points | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Calculated share | approx. 45% | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Total connections | 579 million | CTIA |
| Relationship to data growth | mutually reinforcing | Derived |
| Data growth rate over the same period | approx. 35% per year | CTIA |
Source: CTIA industry data and infographics library.
6. Voice Has Not Disappeared
The oldest use of a mobile network remains substantial, which contradicts a common assumption. Americans collectively spent more than 2.4 trillion minutes talking on the phone during 2024.
Across 579 million connections that averages roughly 4,145 minutes a year, or about 11 minutes a day. As with messaging, the per-connection figure understates human behaviour because most connections are not phones. The broader observation is that no medium in this dataset has actually gone away. Voice persists at trillions of minutes, messaging recovered to a five-year high, and data grew 35% a year on top of both. The wireless network is not seeing one technology replace another so much as accumulating layers, and each new layer has been additive rather than substitutive at the aggregate level.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Voice minutes, 2024 | more than 2.4 trillion | CTIA |
| Implied per connection per year | approx. 4,145 minutes | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Implied per connection per day | approx. 11 minutes | Derived from CTIA figures |
| Messaging total for comparison | almost 2.2 trillion messages | CTIA |
| Data total for comparison | 132 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Pattern across the three media | additive, not substitutive | Derived |
| Medium showing decline | none in this dataset | Derived |
| Connections base | 579 million | CTIA |
Security context sits in our phishing statistics, where SMS is an attack channel. Source: CTIA 2025 annual survey highlights, via Benton Institute.
Summary: Texting and Wireless by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Text and multimedia messages, 2024 | almost 2.2 trillion | CTIA |
| Historical position | highest since 2020 | CTIA |
| SMS and MMS specifically | over 2.1 trillion | CTIA |
| Messages per second | more than 67,000 | CTIA |
| Implied messages per day | approx. 6 billion | Derived |
| Implied per connection per day | approx. 10 | Derived |
| Wireless data use | 132 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Prior record | 100 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Increase | 32 trillion megabytes | CTIA |
| Multi-year growth rate | approx. 35% per year | CTIA |
| Implied data per connection per month | approx. 19 gigabytes | Derived |
| Wireless connections | 579 million | CTIA |
| Connections per person | approx. 1.7 | CTIA |
| 5G connections | more than 259 million | CTIA |
| 5G share | nearly half | CTIA |
| 5G share prior year | 39% | CTIA |
| Voice minutes | more than 2.4 trillion | CTIA |
| Implied voice per connection per day | approx. 11 minutes | Derived |
Methodology and Sources
- Message volume, data consumption, connection counts, 5G share, and voice minutes all come from CTIA’s Annual Wireless Industry Survey, which collects operational figures directly from United States wireless carriers (2025 annual survey highlights, survey summary and background PDF, record data use release).
- Prior-year comparisons and industry context were cross-checked against CTIA’s earlier releases and independent coverage (2024 annual survey highlights, 100 trillion megabyte milestone, CTIA industry data library, RCR Wireless, Benton Institute).
- Data watch: the most recent published edition of this survey covers calendar year 2024 and was released in 2025, so these are the latest available figures rather than current ones, and roughly a year and a half of change is not reflected. CTIA is the wireless industry’s trade association, which means the survey is produced by a body with an interest in demonstrating industry growth and investment, though the underlying figures are carrier-reported operational data rather than estimates. Connections are counted rather than subscribers or people, so every per-connection average here understates per-person behaviour by an unknown factor, since CTIA does not publish the split between phones and other endpoints. The 35% multi-year growth characterisation and the 32% implied by the 100 to 132 trillion megabyte move are not identical; both are reported as published rather than reconciled. Coverage is United States only. Rows marked as derived are arithmetic on published figures.
- Last updated: August 2, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next major refresh is expected when CTIA publishes its next annual wireless industry survey.