Streaming & Podcasts
Podcast listenership among Americans age 12+ and podcast news consumption, 2013–2025
More than half of Americans age 12 and older listened to a podcast in the past month as of 2025, up from 12% in 2013
Four in ten Americans age 12 and older listened to a podcast in the past week, more than doubling from 15% in 2017
About one-third of U.S. adults say they get news from podcasts at least sometimes, up from 22% in 2020
An estimated 210 million Americans age 12 and older have consumed a podcast in audio or video format
Podcast Listenership Over Time
News Consumption from Podcasts
Comparative Dataset
Context
Podcast listening in the United States has grown steadily since Edison Research began tracking it in the Infinite Dial survey series. In 2013, 12% of Americans age 12 and older reported listening to a podcast in the past month. By 2025, that figure had reached 55%, representing an estimated 158 million monthly listeners. Weekly listening followed a similar trajectory, rising from 7% in 2013 to 40% in 2025, with the weekly audience more than doubling between 2017 and 2025.
The growth was not entirely linear. Monthly listenership dipped from 41% in 2021 to 38% in 2022 as post-pandemic routines shifted some consumption patterns, before recovering to 42% in 2023 and accelerating to 55% by 2025. The rise of video podcasting contributed to recent growth: by 2025, 51% of Americans had watched a podcast, and YouTube had become the most-used platform for podcast listening among weekly listeners at 33%.
Podcasts have also become a growing source of news. Pew Research Center surveys found that 22% of U.S. adults got news from podcasts at least sometimes in 2020, a figure that grew to 32% by 2025. The Edison and Pew surveys use different age cutoffs (12+ versus 18+) and question wording, so their figures are not directly comparable, but both document a sustained increase in podcast adoption and its role in information consumption.
Citations & Data Sources
- 01.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2025. Survey of 5,020 Americans age 12+, January 2025, conducted via telephone (1,006) and online (4,014) interviews. Reports 55% monthly and 40% weekly podcast listeners.
- 02.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2024. Reports 47% monthly and 34% weekly podcast listeners among Americans age 12+, up 12% and 10% year over year respectively.
- 03.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2023. Reports 42% monthly and 31% weekly podcast listeners, a recovery from the 2022 dip to a new all-time high.
- 04.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2022. Reports 38% monthly and 26% weekly podcast listeners, a decline from the 2021 highs attributed to post-pandemic listening shifts.
- 05.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2021. Reports 41% monthly podcast listeners among Americans age 12+.
- 06.
Edison Research. The Infinite Dial 2020. Reports 37% monthly and 24% weekly podcast listeners. For the first time, over 100 million Americans were monthly podcast listeners.
- 07.
National Public Media. Audio Listening Reaches an All-Time High: Insights from the 2025 Infinite Dial Report. Analysis of Infinite Dial 2025 data with historical context showing podcast listening growth from 2013 to 2025.
- 08.
Pew Research Center. Podcasts and News Fact Sheet. Published September 25, 2025. Reports 32% of U.S. adults get news from podcasts at least sometimes, including 10% who do so often.
- 09.
Pew Research Center. Nearly a Quarter of Americans Get News from Podcasts. Based on July 2021 survey of U.S. adults. Reports 23% get news from podcasts at least sometimes, relatively stable compared with 22% in 2020.