Yikes! The Average American Spent 2.5 Months on Their Phone in 2024

There’s a good chance that you’re currently reading this article on your phone. If you’re like one of the Americans surveyed by Reviews.org, this is one of 205 times today that you’ll be checking the device in your hand. To spare you opening the calculator app, that’s about once every five minutes you are awake or two and a half full months out of your year. 

That’s an alarming 42.3% rise from last year when the reviews company asked the same question and found people checked their phones 144 times per day. Some of the ways they spend those 205 moments are: 

• 80.6% check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up

• 65.7% use their phone on the toilet

• 53.7% have texted someone in the same room

• 38.1% use or look at their phone while on a date

• 27% use or look at their phone while driving

(Credit: Reviews.org)

And, of course, there are those many, many times when people check their notifications, with 76% checking their phones within five minutes of receiving one. Millennials are the fastest on the draw, with 89.5% of them checking within 10 minutes. Gen Z and Gen X have found common ground (finally), with 84% of each group looking at notifications shortly after receiving them. Boomers and the Silent Generation aren’t as anxious to see who is trying to reach them, with 69% and 53.3%, respectively, checking their notifications within a few minutes. 

(Credit: Reviews.org)

Regarding generational divides, the younger you are, the more likely it is that you’re on your phone. Gen Z spends the most time on their phones at six hours and 18 minutes per day, while Millenials are right behind them at six hours and two minutes. Gen Xers trail at four hours and 54 minutes per day. Boomers spend three hours and 18 minutes daily. And nobody spends less time on their phones than the Silent Generation, who average one hour and 16 minutes per day.

Overall, though, millennials are the most attached to their devices. In addition to being the fastest to check for notifications, they also pick up their phones the most times per day (324 times). On top of that, 80% report anxiety after losing their phones, which is far ahead of the other generations. They’re also the most likely to upgrade. Yet they self-report being addicted to their phones just slightly less than Gen Z does, with 55% admitting it compared with 56% of Gen Z.

(Credit: Reviews.org)

While there is some debate about whether excessive use of phones can constitute an actual addiction, there are some worrying behaviors connected to it. Despite the huge uptick in phone usage in 2024 compared with 2023, 24% fewer reported being addicted to their phone.

If you want to cut down on how much time you spend on your phone, there are some ways to make the technology inside work for you by changing certain settings. You can find them in our article How to Cut Back on Screen Time and Wean Off Social Media. If you feel like your relationship with your phone is a little too serious for just a few tweaks to cure, you’ll probably benefit from the book How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life, which gets into why it’s so hard to tear yourself away from your phone and presents a series of steps that can help you pick it up less.