Every number below comes from research published in 2025 or 2026, with the source linked next to it. We refresh this page whenever a major study is released (Edison's Infinite Dial each March, the IAB ad revenue report each spring).
Podcasting has never been bigger. 58% of Americans 12+ now listen to or watch a podcast every month, ad revenue is approaching $3 billion a year in the US, and video has gone from an experiment to the way most people consume shows. Here are the stats that matter in 2026.
Key Podcast Statistics for 2026
- 80% of Americans 12+ (about 230 million people) have ever listened to or watched a podcast. (Infinite Dial 2026)
- 58% (167 million) consume podcasts monthly and 45% (130 million) weekly, both all-time highs. (Infinite Dial 2026)
- There are about 3.8 million podcasts and 192 million episodes in existence, but only about 520,000 have published an episode in 2026. (Listen Notes, July 2026)
- US podcast ad revenue hit $2.86 billion in 2025, up 17.6% year over year. (IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report, April 2026)
- YouTube is the most-used podcast platform in the US: 37% of weekly podcast consumers use it most often. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
- YouTube has 1 billion+ monthly podcast viewers worldwide. (YouTube, Feb 2025)
- The median podcast episode gets 27 downloads in its first 7 days. 412 puts you in the top 10%. (Buzzsprout, Sept 2026)
How Many Podcasts Are There?
There are roughly 3.8 million podcasts and 192 million episodes in the global podcast ecosystem, according to podcast search engine Listen Notes (July 2026). Most of those shows are no longer publishing.
- 519,708 podcasts have released at least one episode in 2026 (as of July).
- 14+ million new episodes were published in the first half of 2026.
- 82,642 new podcasts launched in the first half of 2026, with June (8,257) the slowest month of the year.
- About 63,000 AI-generated podcasts were removed from the Listen Notes database over 13 months.
- Spotify alone now hosts nearly 500,000 video podcasts, roughly double the ~250,000 it had in mid-2024. (Spotify Q3 2025 earnings via PodcastVideos)
What this means for you: with only around half a million active shows, the competition is much smaller than the “millions of podcasts” headline suggests. Consistency alone puts you ahead of most shows. If you're starting out, see our guide to starting a podcast.
Podcast Listener Statistics (US)
Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 (released March 12, 2026; survey of 2,050 Americans 12+ conducted January 2026) is the standard source for US podcast reach. Since 2025 the survey counts people who listen to or watch podcasts.
- 86% of Americans 12+ are familiar with podcasting (about 248 million people).
- 80% (230 million) have ever listened to or watched a podcast.
- 58% (167 million) did so in the last month.
- 45% (130 million) did so in the last week.
| US podcast reach (age 12+) | 2020 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ever listened | 55% | n/a | 80% |
| Monthly | 37% | 47% | 58% |
| Weekly | 24% | 34% | 45% |
Source: Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2020, 2024 and 2026.
Podcast Listener Demographics
Monthly podcast consumption by group, Infinite Dial 2026 and Edison Podcast Consumer 2026:
| Group | Monthly podcast consumers |
|---|---|
| Ages 12–34 | 64% |
| Ages 35–54 | 68% |
| Ages 55+ | 44% |
| Men | 62% |
| Women | 54% |
| Black Americans | 63% |
| Latino Americans | 60% |
- 35–54 year olds are now the most likely age group to consume podcasts monthly, overtaking 12–34s.
- Listeners 55+ are the fastest-growing group, according to Edison.
- The gender gap persists, but more than half of American women now consume podcasts monthly.
Video Podcast Statistics
Video is the biggest change in podcasting since this page was last updated. It hasn't replaced audio. In Edison's words, it is “expanding the tent.”
- 57% of Americans 12+ have both listened to and watched a podcast. (Infinite Dial 2026)
- Each week, 26% of Americans consume podcasts in both video and audio, 13% audio only and 6% video only. (Reuters Institute, May 2026, citing Edison)
- In Q3 2025, video consumption outpaced audio-only consumption for the first time in Edison Podcast Metrics. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
- YouTube has 1 billion+ monthly active podcast viewers, and people watched 400 million hours of podcasts on TV screens in 2024. (YouTube, Feb 2025)
- 500 million+ Spotify users have streamed a video podcast, up nearly 50% year over year. (Spotify, May 2026)
- Roughly 71% of US podcast creators now produce a video version of their show. (IAB, April 2026)
Where People Listen: Podcast Platform Statistics
- 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use YouTube most often, up from 31% two years earlier. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
- By share of time spent with podcasts in Q4 2025, YouTube leads with 32%, Spotify follows with 25%, and Apple Podcasts is third. (Infinite Dial 2026)
- For audio downloads specifically, Apple Podcasts still leads: 34.8% of downloads on Buzzsprout come from Apple Podcasts and 25.7% from Spotify. (Buzzsprout, Sept 2026)
- 81% of podcast downloads happen on mobile devices, and iPhones alone account for 59%. (Buzzsprout)
- Two-thirds of weekly podcast consumers do most of their listening at home. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
Choosing where to publish? Our podcast hosting comparison covers which hosts distribute to YouTube, Spotify and Apple in one step.
Podcast Listening Habits
- Podcast consumers spend 5 hours 11 minutes a day with audio, versus 3 hours 57 minutes for the average American 13+. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
- Podcasts make up 10% of all US audio listening time, and 36% for daily podcast listeners. (Edison)
- The most common episode length is 20–40 minutes (31% of episodes). 20% of episodes are under 10 minutes and 13% run over an hour. (Buzzsprout)
- 21% of weekly podcast consumers have donated money to a podcast. (Edison)
- 62% of weekly consumers see AI as at least somewhat threatening to podcast credibility. (Edison)
Podcast Advertising Statistics
- US podcast advertising revenue reached $2.86 billion in 2025, up 17.6% from about $2.44 billion in 2024. (IAB/PwC, April 2026)
- Podcasts grew faster than digital audio overall, which rose 10.2% to $8.4 billion. (IAB/PwC)
- 76% of weekly podcast consumers have taken action after hearing a podcast ad. (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026)
- Moving a $5 million media budget from 1% to 21% podcasts lifted reach among adults 18–44 from 60% to 76%. (Edison and Nielsen via IAB)
Podcast Download Benchmarks
How many downloads is “good”? Buzzsprout publishes percentiles for downloads per episode in the first 7 days, across more than 110,000 active podcasts (September 2026):
| Percentile | Downloads per episode (first 7 days) |
|---|---|
| Top 50% (median) | 27+ |
| Top 25% | 96+ |
| Top 10% | 412+ |
| Top 5% | 1,007+ |
| Top 1% | 4,586+ |
If your episodes get 100 downloads in their first week, you're already in the top quarter of podcasts.
UK and Global Podcast Statistics
- More than half of the UK population consumes podcasts monthly. (Edison UK Podcast Consumer 2026)
- In the UK, YouTube (29%) has narrowly overtaken Spotify (28%) as the service used most for podcasts, with BBC Sounds third at 15%. (Edison)
- 10% of UK podcast consumers now listen most often on a smart TV, up from 4% in 2023. (Edison)
- 85% of UK podcast consumers disapprove of AI-hosted podcasts. (Edison)
- Weekly news podcast use is 15% in the US, 11% in Norway and 7% in the UK. (Reuters Institute, May 2026)
- About half (49.7%) of downloads on Buzzsprout come from the US, followed by the UK (5.9%) and Canada (4.2%). (Buzzsprout)
Podcast Statistics FAQ
How many people listen to podcasts?
In the US, 167 million people (58% of Americans 12+) listen to or watch podcasts monthly, and 130 million (45%) weekly, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026.
How many podcasts are there in 2026?
About 3.8 million podcasts exist, but only around 520,000 have published a new episode in 2026 (Listen Notes, July 2026).
What is the most popular podcast platform?
YouTube. 37% of US weekly podcast consumers use it most often, ahead of Spotify and Apple Podcasts (Edison Podcast Consumer 2026). Apple Podcasts still leads for audio downloads.
How much is the podcast industry worth?
US podcast advertising revenue was $2.86 billion in 2025, up 17.6% from 2024 (IAB/PwC).
How many downloads does an average podcast get?
The median episode gets 27 downloads in its first 7 days. 96 downloads puts you in the top 25%, and 412 in the top 10% (Buzzsprout, September 2026).
Sources
- Edison Research at SSRS, The Infinite Dial 2026 (PDF)
- Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2026 (Radio Ink) and (Inside Radio)
- Edison Research, The UK Podcast Consumer 2026
- IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2025
- Listen Notes podcast data, first half 2026
- Buzzsprout Platform Stats, September 2026
- Reuters Institute, The Changing Shape and New Economics of News Podcasting (May 2026)
- Spotify Newsroom, May 21, 2026
- YouTube podcasts reach 1 billion monthly users (Tubefilter)