STATISTICS

Social media statistics for the USA (2026)

The US had 324 million internet users and 254 million social media user identities in October 2025, according to DataReportal. In Pew Research Center's 2025 survey, 84 percent of US adults said they use YouTube, 71 percent Facebook, 50 percent Instagram and 37 percent TikTok. Among teens aged 13 to 17, about nine in ten use YouTube and 21 percent say they are on TikTok almost constantly. Newer monthly figures from Meta's ad tools, compiled by NapoleonCat, put Facebook's US audience at 289.8 million in September 2026.

Compiled by the Zolyp team · Every figure checked against its source on

Internet and mobile

How many people in the US are online and how fast their connections are, from DataReportal's late-2025 report.

Social media users

DataReportal's estimate of social media use in the US, as of October 2025.

What US adults say they use (Pew Research Center)

Pew surveyed 5,022 US adults from 5 February to 18 June 2025 on which platforms they use, and 5,123 adults from 24 February to 2 March 2025 on how often.

US teens (Pew Research Center)

Pew surveyed 1,458 US teens aged 13 to 17 from 25 September to 9 October 2025.

Platform by platform

Advertising reach in the US in late 2025, from each platform's own ad tools as reported by DataReportal. Ad reach is the audience advertisers can target, not the number of active users.

Latest monthly figures (September 2026)

Newer than DataReportal's late-2025 report. NapoleonCat publishes monthly audience sizes from Meta's ad tools, and StatCounter shows which social sites sent visitors to US websites. Neither is a count of active users.

  • 289.8 million

    Facebook users in the US in September 2026 (289,804,400), equal to 83.3 percent of the population; 53.3 percent were women and people aged 25 to 34 were the largest group (73.2 million).

    Ad-audience data, not active users. NapoleonCat reads it from Meta's advertising tools each month; Meta's figures are estimates of people who accessed their account at least once that month and can be reached with ads. One person can have more than one account, and the method differs from DataReportal's, so the two sets of figures don't match.

    Source: NapoleonCat (from Meta's ad tools), Facebook users in United States of America, September 2026 (September 2026), checked 15 October 2026

  • 184.0 million

    Instagram users in the US in September 2026 (184,003,100), equal to 52.9 percent of the population; 55.5 percent were women.

    The same page's monthly table gives 197.3 million for September 2026. Ad-audience data, not active users. NapoleonCat reads it from Meta's advertising tools each month; Meta's figures are estimates of people who accessed their account at least once that month and can be reached with ads. One person can have more than one account, and the method differs from DataReportal's, so the two sets of figures don't match.

    Source: NapoleonCat (from Meta's ad tools), Instagram users in United States of America, September 2026 (September 2026), checked 15 October 2026

  • 64.26%

    Facebook's share of website visits referred by social media in the US in September 2026, ahead of X, listed as Twitter (14.5 percent), Pinterest (6.78 percent), Reddit (5.43 percent), Instagram (5.19 percent) and YouTube (2.96 percent).

    StatCounter counts page views on websites that use its tracking code and records which social media site sent each visitor. It measures where website traffic comes from, not how many people use each platform, and apps that keep people inside them (such as TikTok) send few visitors to websites.

    Source: StatCounter Global Stats, Social Media Stats United States Of America (September 2026), checked 15 October 2026

Year-on-year change in ad reach

How each platform's advertising reach in the US changed between late 2024 and late 2025.

  • +30.0 million

    Growth in LinkedIn's reported audience in the US between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025 (+12.5 percent).

    Based on registered members, so it may not reflect active use. DataReportal warns that year-on-year changes in ad reach can come from platforms correcting their own data (for example removing fake or duplicate accounts), not only from real changes in use.

    Source: DataReportal (Kepios, We Are Social & Meltwater), Digital 2026: The United States of America (5 November 2025), checked 15 October 2026

  • +16.0 million

    Growth in Instagram's advertising reach in the US between October 2024 and October 2025 (+9.7 percent).

    DataReportal warns that year-on-year changes in ad reach can come from platforms correcting their own data (for example removing fake or duplicate accounts), not only from real changes in use.

    Source: DataReportal (Kepios, We Are Social & Meltwater), Digital 2026: The United States of America (5 November 2025), checked 15 October 2026

  • +15.2 million

    Growth in TikTok's adult advertising reach in the US between the end of 2024 and late 2025 (+11.0 percent).

    DataReportal warns that year-on-year changes in ad reach can come from platforms correcting their own data (for example removing fake or duplicate accounts), not only from real changes in use.

    Source: DataReportal (Kepios, We Are Social & Meltwater), Digital 2026: The United States of America (5 November 2025), checked 15 October 2026

  • -2.78 million

    Change in Snapchat's advertising reach in the US between the end of 2024 and late 2025 (-2.6 percent).

    DataReportal warns that year-on-year changes in ad reach can come from platforms correcting their own data (for example removing fake or duplicate accounts), not only from real changes in use.

    Source: DataReportal (Kepios, We Are Social & Meltwater), Digital 2026: The United States of America (5 November 2025), checked 15 October 2026

  • -3.79 million

    Change in X's advertising reach in the US between the end of 2024 and late 2025 (-3.7 percent).

    DataReportal warns that year-on-year changes in ad reach can come from platforms correcting their own data (for example removing fake or duplicate accounts), not only from real changes in use.

    Source: DataReportal (Kepios, We Are Social & Meltwater), Digital 2026: The United States of America (5 November 2025), checked 15 October 2026

What this means for a small business

  • YouTube and Facebook are the only platforms most American adults in every age group use, so they are the safest place to start if you sell to a broad local audience.
  • Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat skew young. If your customers are under 30, plan short vertical video first and reuse it across all three.
  • Teens use Facebook far less than adults do, so a Facebook-only plan will miss younger customers almost entirely.
  • Facebook still sends most US social traffic to websites, with X and Pinterest next, so link posts and Pins can earn clicks that Reels and TikToks rarely do.
  • Plan around the US retail calendar. Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are the dates US shoppers expect offers.

Knowing where your customers are is half of it; the other half is posting there every week. Make a post with the free generator or let Zolyp plan and write the week for you.

Common questions

How many people use social media in the US?

DataReportal counted 254 million social media user identities in the US in October 2025, about 73.0 percent of the population and 80.8 percent of adults. These are accounts, not confirmed individuals.

What is the most used social media platform in the US?

YouTube. In Pew Research Center's 2025 survey, 84 percent of US adults said they use YouTube, followed by Facebook (71 percent), Instagram (50 percent) and TikTok (37 percent). YouTube is also the most used platform among US teens.

What social media do US teens use most?

Pew's 2025 survey of teens aged 13 to 17 found about nine in ten use YouTube, about six in ten or more use TikTok and Instagram, and 55 percent use Snapchat. Only 31 percent use Facebook. 61 percent use TikTok every day.

How many Americans use TikTok?

37 percent of US adults told Pew in 2025 that they use TikTok, up from 21 percent in 2021, and 24 percent use it daily. TikTok's own ad tools reached 153 million US adults in late 2025, according to DataReportal.

Cite this page

You're welcome to use these figures. Please cite the original source shown under each one, and link to this page if it helped: Zolyp, “Social media statistics for the USA (2026)”, updated 15 October 2026, https://www.zolyp.com/statistics/social-media-statistics-usa

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