50% of all homes are podcast fans
75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast
37% (104 million) listened to a podcast in the last month
24% (68 million) listen to podcasts weekly
16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans”
51% of podcast listeners are male – the same as the US population
45% of monthly podcast listeners have a household income over $75K – vs 35% for the total population
27% of US podcast listeners have a 4-year college degree – vs 19% for US pop
63% of podcast listeners are white – vs 58% for US pop
Age of monthly podcast listeners versus US population:
12-34: 49% (vs 37%)
35-54: 32% (vs 40%)
55+: 24% (vs 23%)
Monthly podcast listeners have grown 54% in 3 Years. In 2017, 24% of Americans 12 or older listened to podcasts monthly, compared to 37% in 2020.
Monthly podcast listening growing fastest among older Americans. From 2019 to 2020, the percentage of Americans ages 55+ who listen to podcasts monthly increased by 29%.
49% of podcast listening is done at home, down from 51% in 2017
22% listen while driving (in a vehicle), same as 2017
Podcast listeners subscribe to an average of 6 shows in the last week
Podcast listeners listen to an average of 7 different shows per week, up from 5 in 2017
80% listen to all or most of each episode, down from 86% in 2017
Podcast listening on a computer went up from 29% to 31% (smartphone listening went from 71% to 69% respectively)
19% of listeners increase the speed (listen faster)
65% of monthly podcast listeners have been listening for less than 3 years
Comedy is the most popular podcasting genre, followed by education and news
The most prolific listeners – a decent chunk at 12% – listen to 11 or more shows, every week.
Top Podcast Listening Apps:
Apple Podcasts 32.3%
Spotify 25.5%
Google Podcasts 2.6%
CastBox 2.2%
Embedded Player (generally, your website) 2.0%
Podcast Addict 2.0%
Web Browser 1.9%
Stitcher 1.7%
Apple iTunes 1.5%
Buzzsprout Site 1.5%
Overcast 1.5%
Pocket Casts 0.9%
iHeartRadio 0.7%
Podbean 0.5%
Parler 0.5%
How Do People Find New Podcasts to Listen To?
Search My Podcast App's Directory – 40%
Directly Ask Someone I Know Who Likes the Same Stuff – 18.3%
Ask on Social Media or Online Community – 15.2%
Search on Google – 13.6%
Browse Through a Podcast Chart or ‘Featured' Section– 13%
Each week, more Americans listen to podcasts than go to church. In 2020, for the first time, a larger percentage of American consumers listened to podcasts weekly than attended church or religious services weekly: 24% to 23%. 68 million Americans are weekly podcast listeners.
Podcasting’s share of time continues to grow. Among Americans who listen to podcasts at least weekly, the average amount of time spent per week listening grew in 2020 to 6 hours, 39 minutes.
Podcast listeners are much more active on every social media channel (94% are active on at least one – vs 81% for the entire population)
Podcast listeners are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media
Podcast listeners are more likely to subscribe to Netflix or Amazon Prime (meaning they are less likely to be exposed to TV advertising)
Podcast listeners are more likely to own a smart speaker (Amazon Alexa or Google Home)
51% of bottled water households are podcast listeners
57% of baby food households are podcast listeners
53% of beer households are podcast listeners
56% of juice households are podcast fans
54% of milk households are podcast fans
54% of cereal households are podcast fans
69% agreed that podcast ads made them aware of new products or services
How Many Subscribers Does the Average Podcast Get? (Based on downloads per episode within the first 7 days)
Top 1% of Podcasts > 3135
Top 5% of Podcasts > 532
Top 10% of Podcasts > 229
Top 25% of Podcasts > 73
Top 50% of Podcasts > 27
Do Podcasters Record Video Too?
Only 17% of podcasters record video along with their podcast
Only 10% of podcasters live broadcast their podcast recording
How Long are Podcasts, on Average?
Less than 10 minutes > 12%
10 – 20 minutes > 14%
20 – 40 minutes > 32%
40 – 60 minutes > 24%
Over 60 minutes > 19%
How Often Does the Average Podcast Publish an Episode?
0 – 2 days > 7%
3 – 7 days > 40%
8 – 14 days > 38%
15 – 29 days > 14%
Over 30 days > 1%