There are a lot of podcast statistics floating around, and a lot of them are wrong, outdated, or quoted with no source. This page is the opposite. Every number below is current as of 2026 and tied to a named, primary source you can check yourself. Use it, cite it, and link it.
If you only remember three things: more than seven in ten Americans now listen to or watch podcasts, YouTube has become the platform people use most, and video is now the engine of discovery while audio is still the engine of listening. The rest of the numbers fill in that picture.
The headline stats for 2026
- 73% of Americans 12 and up have listened to or watched a podcast, about 210 million people.
- 605,122 active podcasts as of September 2025, a new all-time high.
- YouTube is the platform US listeners use most, at 39% "listen most," up about 2.5 times since 2019.
- 44% of people who found a new podcast in the last six months found it on YouTube, about 2 times Spotify and 5 times Apple.
- 51% of Americans 12 and up have watched a podcast as video.
- ~584 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2025.
What this page covers
- Podcast industry size: how many podcasts exist
- Podcast listener statistics (US)
- Where people listen: platforms and the rise of YouTube
- Video podcast statistics
- How people discover podcasts
- Global podcast statistics
- Podcast advertising statistics
- What the data means for your show
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
Podcast industry size: how many podcasts exist
- 605,122 active podcasts existed as of September 2025, a new all-time high, defined as shows that released an episode in the prior year. (Listen Notes data, via Barrett Media)
- That figure passed the previous record of about 595,514 active shows set during the 2020 pandemic boom. (Listen Notes, via Barrett Media)
- The total number of podcasts ever created is far larger, around 3.6 million shows and roughly 185 million episodes, but the large majority are inactive. (Listen Notes, via Barrett Media)
The takeaway: the active field is competitive and at a record high, but it is far smaller than the scary "millions of podcasts" headline suggests. Most shows are dormant. Consistency alone puts you ahead of the majority.
Podcast listener statistics (US)
- 73% of Americans age 12 and up have now listened to or watched a podcast, an estimated 210 million people, an all-time high. (Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2025)
- 55% are monthly podcast listeners and 40% listen weekly. (Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2025)
- 51% of Americans 12 and up have watched a podcast as video. (Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2025)
- Total time spent with podcasts has grown 355% since 2015, to about 773 million hours per week among Americans 13 and up. (Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2025)
- Among 18 to 34 year olds, weekly podcast reach is now roughly equal to TV, at about 52% each. (Edison Research, via Westwood One)
Where people listen: platforms and the rise of YouTube
This is the single most important shift in the data, and the one most older statistics pages get wrong. The center of gravity has moved to YouTube.
- YouTube is the service US weekly podcast listeners use most often, ahead of Spotify and Apple. (Edison Research, Infinite Dial 2025)
- In Edison's Q4 2024 platform measurement, the services people use most to listen were YouTube 31%, Spotify 27%, and Apple Podcasts 15%. (Edison Podcast Metrics)
- Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights put the gap even wider: YouTube 39%, Spotify about 21%, Apple 8% on "listen most." (Cumulus and Signal Hill, Spring 2025)
- YouTube's "listen most" share grew from 15% in 2019 to 39% in 2025, roughly 2.5 times. (Cumulus and Signal Hill, Spring 2025)
- YouTube is Gen Z's preferred podcast platform, with a clear edge over Spotify among 13 to 29 year olds. (Edison Podcast Metrics)
Video podcast statistics
- 51% of Americans 12 and up have watched a podcast as video, not just listened. (Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2025)
- YouTube reports more than one billion monthly podcast viewers. (YouTube, via eMarketer)
- Despite video's rise, audio is still the primary mode: when given the choice, about 58% of people say audio is how they mainly consume podcasts. (Cumulus and Signal Hill, Spring 2025)
The honest read: video is now essential for being discovered, but it has not replaced audio listening. The winning approach is to record in a way that produces video and clips, then keep the audio experience excellent.
How people discover podcasts
- 44% of people who found a new podcast in the last six months found it on YouTube, roughly 2 times the rate of Spotify and 5 times Apple. (Cumulus and Signal Hill, Spring 2025)
- Word of mouth and recommendations from friends and creators remain one of the strongest discovery drivers, which is why a clear "share this" ask in an episode still works.
- The practical implication: discovery now happens on social and video surfaces, not inside podcast apps. Apple and Spotify are where people subscribe, not where they find you.
Global podcast statistics
- There were an estimated 584 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2025, up from about 547 million in 2024. (Statista, via RSS.com)
- Global listeners are projected to reach roughly 619 million in 2026 and continue climbing. (Statista)
A note on these global figures: they come from Statista and are widely cited, but Statista's underlying page is subscription-only, so treat them as solid estimates rather than a hard census. The US numbers above, from Edison Research, are the most rigorously sourced.
Podcast advertising statistics
- Host-read pre-roll ads typically run around $15 to $25 per thousand listeners (CPM). (Adopter Media, 2025 rate analysis)
- Mid-roll ads, the most valuable slot, typically run around $25 to $50 CPM, higher in premium niches like finance and B2B. (Adopter Media, 2025 rate analysis)
These CPM ranges come from advertising agency analyses rather than a single neutral survey, so treat them as working benchmarks. To model what your own show could earn at your download numbers, use our free podcast sponsorship calculator.
What the data means for your show
Numbers are only useful if they change what you do. Here is what this set actually tells a podcaster in 2026.
Publish to YouTube and treat it as your home base. It is where the most people listen and, more importantly, where they discover. Treating YouTube as an afterthought is the most common and most expensive mistake in the data.
Record video, even simply, so you can make clips. Half the audience watches, and short vertical clips are how strangers meet your show. You do not need a studio. You need a camera running while you record.
Keep audio excellent, because that is still where people listen. Video wins discovery, audio wins the actual listening hour. Do not abandon one for the other.
If you want the full playbook for acting on these trends, read our guide on how to promote a podcast in 2026. To turn each episode into the clips and posts these numbers reward, see the complete guide to podcast content repurposing and the Demand Kit Method.
Frequently asked questions
How many podcasts are there in 2026?
As of September 2025, there were 605,122 active podcasts, meaning shows that released an episode in the prior year, according to Listen Notes data reported by Barrett Media. That was a new all-time high, passing the previous record set during the 2020 boom. The total number of podcasts ever created is much larger, around 3.6 million shows, but most are inactive.
How many people listen to podcasts?
In the US, 73% of people age 12 and up have now listened to or watched a podcast, an estimated 210 million people, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2025. 55% are monthly listeners and 40% listen weekly. Globally, estimates put total podcast listeners around 584 million in 2025.
What is the most popular podcast platform in 2026?
YouTube. Edison Research found YouTube is the service US weekly podcast listeners use most often, and Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights put YouTube at 39% of people naming it the platform they listen most on, ahead of Spotify and Apple Podcasts. YouTube's share has grown about 2.5 times since 2019.
Do more people watch or listen to podcasts?
Both are now huge. 51% of Americans 12 and up have watched a podcast as video, and YouTube reports more than a billion monthly podcast viewers. But when given the choice, most people still say audio is their primary mode, around 58% in Cumulus and Signal Hill's Spring 2025 data. Video drives discovery, audio drives listening.
Sources
Every statistic on this page comes from one of these primary or named sources. Where a figure is an estimate or from a secondary compilation, that is noted next to the stat above.
- Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2025. edisonresearch.com
- Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer 2025. edisonresearch.com
- Edison Research, YouTube is the preferred podcast listening service. edisonresearch.com
- Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, Podcast Download, Spring 2025. westwoodone.com
- Listen Notes data, via Barrett Media. barrettmedia.com
- Podnews, Infinite Dial 2025 summary. podnews.net
- eMarketer, podcasting and video FAQ 2026. emarketer.com
- Statista, podcasts and episodes worldwide. statista.com
This page is updated as new primary data is released. Last updated June 2026.