Most US homes no longer use landline phone service and instead rely on cellphones to stay connected. The finding was released today by the US Health Department, which said that 50.8 percent of American households were now wireless only when it came to phone service.

Of the remaining chunk of households, 39.4 percent had both a wireless phone and a landline. Only 6.5 percent of homes are landline only, while 3.2 percent remain phone-free.

Americans started switching when smartphones became popular

The figures, based on a telephone poll of nearly 20,000 households, show just how quickly Americans have abandoned landlines. Just 10 years ago, only about 15 percent of households were wireless only. But the number has risen sharply as smartphones became more prominent, and it looks like the wireless-only homes are bound to keep growing.

The government’s survey found that more than 70 percent of adults between 25 and 34 were wireless only. Adults with children were actually more likely to be wireless only than a household of multiple related adults without children.

That said, income also plays a role here. The survey found that adults near or below the poverty line were much more likely to be wireless only than adults who weren’t considered to be poor.