Smartphones are nearly universal in Richmond households
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More than 9 in 10 Richmond metro households (93.5%) had smartphones in 2024 — slightly above the 93% national rate, per the latest census data.
Why it matters: Nearly everyone carries a screen in their pocket, but what shows up on those screens increasingly shapes how we discover Richmond restaurants, follow local government, find things to do and stay connected to others.
- Cleaning up your feed can mean seeing more of what actually matters where you live.
The big picture: Large majorities across demographic groups use smartphones, but habits vary by age, income, location and education.
- Younger U.S. adults are most likely to own one, finds a 2025 survey by the Pew Research Center.
- And some states, including Utah, California and Texas, saw rates closer to 95% — while West Virginia, Vermont and Maine came in around 90% or below.
By the numbers: Virginia matched the national rate, with 93% of households reporting smartphones in 2024, per the American Community Survey.
- But smartphone access doesn't necessarily mean equal access to technology.
- About 8.4% of Richmond city households had a smartphone but no desktop, laptop or tablet, compared with 6.9% in Henrico and 5.9% in Chesterfield — a common measure of the digital divide.
State of play: With phones everywhere, Virginia has long since joined the push to limit screen time for kids.
- The state was an early adopter of banning students' cell phone use during the school day.
- Virginia also passed a law requiring social media companies to limit kids' use to one hour a day.
- And now Richmond-area parents are calling on local school districts to adopt even stricter screen time policies.
The bottom line: Smartphones are nearly universal in Richmond. How we use them is another story.