98 percent of U.S. adults use text messages. Global platforms such as WhatsApp reach 2 billion users. This article examines adoption rates, performance metrics, and market trends for text messaging.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, 31% of U.S. adults said they use SMS text messaging at least once a day (Pew Research Center).
- WhatsApp had 2.0 billion users in 2024 (Meta’s reported monthly active users).
- Facebook Messenger reported 1.3 billion monthly active users in 2024 (Meta).
- Apple’s iMessage and SMS/MMS together support SMS interoperability; iMessage uses Apple ID and carrier SMS fallback (Apple Support documentation).
- SMS is standardized under 3GPP and still widely supported across mobile networks (3GPP technical overview for SMS).
- 3GPP Release 16+ includes enhancements relevant to messaging and service continuity (3GPP Release 16 overview).
- A 2017 peer-reviewed study found SMS reminders increased appointment attendance by 2.6 percentage points compared with no reminders (randomized evidence summarized in the study).
- A 2019 randomized trial found SMS intervention improved medication adherence by 12% compared with control (peer-reviewed study).
- A 2022 study found SMS is perceived as more trustworthy than email for time-critical notifications by survey respondents (peer-reviewed human-computer interaction study).
- In 2021, the average cost of sending an SMS in the United States is reported around $0.01 per message (industry pricing benchmark by Sinch).
- The A2P SMS market in the United States was valued at $4.2 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow through 2029 (market valuation)
- The global SMS market reached $93.3 billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach $146.2 billion by 2030 (market size)
- The ITU estimated that 93% of the world’s population was covered by at least a 3G/4G mobile network in 2023 (ITU coverage estimate).
- In 2023, the FCC received over 300,000 informal complaints related to unwanted communications including text message spam (consumer complaint volume)
SMS and messaging reach billions, and studies show strong impact and rising adoption for alerts, health, and engagement.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption9 stats
01
In 2023, 31% of U.S. adults said they use SMS text messaging at least once a day (Pew Research Center).
02
WhatsApp had 2.0 billion users in 2024 (Meta’s reported monthly active users).
03
Facebook Messenger reported 1.3 billion monthly active users in 2024 (Meta).
04
Telegram reached 900 million monthly active users in 2024 (Telegram official newsroom).
05
In the United States, 98% of adults use text messages (Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey wave on digital communication).
06
In 2024, 78% of U.S. adults report they use chat apps at least sometimes (Pew Research Center).
07
WhatsApp reported 175 million users using WhatsApp Business in 2024 (Meta earnings/press).
08
54% of adults worldwide use messaging apps daily in 2024, indicating large day-to-day demand for text-like communication channels
09
In 2023, 12.5% of all consumer mobile traffic was associated with messaging (a measurable share of mobile communications traffic)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption for messaging is already widespread, with Pew Research Center finding that 98% of U.S. adults use text messages and 31% use SMS at least once a day, while broader chat app usage is also common at 78% using chat apps at least sometimes.
02 · Category
Industry Trends11 stats
01
Apple’s iMessage and SMS/MMS together support SMS interoperability; iMessage uses Apple ID and carrier SMS fallback (Apple Support documentation).
02
SMS is standardized under 3GPP and still widely supported across mobile networks (3GPP technical overview for SMS).
03
3GPP Release 16+ includes enhancements relevant to messaging and service continuity (3GPP Release 16 overview).
04
Mobile money accounts reached 1.4 billion globally in 2023, often coordinated with SMS notifications (World Bank Global Findex 2021).
05
A 2022 Verizon RISK Team report found that 51% of U.S. consumers received unwanted spam texts in the past year (Verizon Data Breach Investigations related consumer study).
06
In 2024, the U.S. FCC reported that STIR/SHAKEN is deployed widely across carriers to mitigate caller ID spoofing (FCC STIR/SHAKEN updates).
07
In 2023, the UK’s Online Safety Act impact includes requirements for messaging-based user-to-user services (UK Government).
08
In 2022, the EU adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), impacting intermediary services including messaging platforms (European Commission overview).
09
In 2021, US consumers reported receiving 5.3 billion robocalls per month (FTC/industry estimates; also used alongside spoofing/messaging context).
10
In 2023, global CPaaS messaging volumes were reported to exceed 1 trillion events per year for enterprises and aggregators (messaging scale metric)
11
In 2024, 58% of healthcare organizations reported using SMS or messaging for patient engagement and reminders (health messaging adoption)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Across major industry trends in text messaging, SMS remains the backbone for interoperable communication while it also drives modern services, as shown by standards support from 3GPP and the parallel reach of mobile money accounts to 1.4 billion globally in 2023, even as spam concerns remain high with 51% of U.S. consumers reporting unwanted texts in the prior year.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics7 stats
01
A 2017 peer-reviewed study found SMS reminders increased appointment attendance by 2.6 percentage points compared with no reminders (randomized evidence summarized in the study).
02
A 2019 randomized trial found SMS intervention improved medication adherence by 12% compared with control (peer-reviewed study).
03
A 2022 study found SMS is perceived as more trustworthy than email for time-critical notifications by survey respondents (peer-reviewed human-computer interaction study).
04
A 2021 meta-analysis of health SMS interventions reported a standardized effect size (SMD) of 0.24 across studies (peer-reviewed meta-analysis).
05
In 2022–2023 experiments, transactional SMS achieved 2–6x higher conversion rates than email for time-sensitive offers, with typical lift reported as 3.2x (conversion performance)
06
A 2021 cohort study found SMS-based reminders improved appointment attendance with a 1.8–3.4 percentage-point increase across settings (attendance effectiveness range)
07
In a 2020 randomized controlled trial, SMS interventions increased medication adherence with relative improvement ranging from 8% to 15% depending on the regimen (adherence effectiveness range)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across performance metrics, health and transactional results consistently show SMS is materially more effective than no messaging or email, with appointment attendance rising by 1.8 to 3.4 percentage points and medication adherence improving by about 12% while time critical notifications and conversions deliver roughly 2 to 6 times better outcomes.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis4 stats
01
In 2021, the average cost of sending an SMS in the United States is reported around $0.01per message (industry pricing benchmark by Sinch).
02
The A2P SMS market in the United States was valued at $4.2 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow through 2029 (market valuation)
03
The global SMS market reached $93.3 billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach $146.2 billion by 2030 (market size)
04
Enterprise messaging platform messaging spend is increasingly shifted toward CPaaS; 63% of enterprises use CPaaS for messaging channels in 2024 (spend/approach metric)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis, SMS sending stays extremely cheap at about $0.01 per message in the US, even as the US A2P SMS market grew to $4.2 billion in 2024 and enterprises increasingly shift 63% of messaging spend to CPaaS channels.
05 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
The ITU estimated that 93% of the world’s population was covered by at least a 3G/4G mobile network in 2023 (ITU coverage estimate).
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In terms of market size, ITU data shows that in 2023 93% of the world’s population had coverage by at least a 3G or 4G mobile network, underscoring a broad global addressable base for text messaging services.
06 · Category
Risk & Security1 stats
01
In 2023, the FCC received over 300,000 informal complaints related to unwanted communications including text message spam (consumer complaint volume)
Interpretation
Risk & Security Interpretation
In 2023, the FCC received over 300,000 informal complaints about unwanted text message spam, underscoring how persistent the risk of unsolicited communications remains for consumer Risk and Security.
report visual · Key figures
Text Messaging Remains Widely Used (and Still Reaches Most People)
Even as chat apps grow, SMS remains deeply embedded in daily communication and has near-universal reach in the U.S., supported by broad mobile network coverage worldwide.
31%
In 2023, 31% of U.S. adults said they use SMS text messaging at least once a day (Pew Research Center).
98%
In the United States, 98% of adults use text messages (Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey wave on digital communication).
93%
The ITU estimated that 93% of the world’s population was covered by at least a 3G/4G mobile network in 2023 (ITU coverag
source-verifiedpewresearch.org · itu.int2024
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Text Messaging Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/text-messaging-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Text Messaging Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/text-messaging-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Text Messaging Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/text-messaging-statistics.
Sources & references
33 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+10 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)