South Dakota Ranks Near Bottom In Cell Phone Reliance

Not surprisingly considering our backwoods nature, South Dakota ranks near the bottom in cell phone reliance and in some areas like households getting most of their calls via cell phone, we rank last...by a lot.

The proportion of adults living in households with cellphones — including those that also have landlines — range from 92 percent in Iowa to 48 percent in South Dakota.

At 25 percent, South Dakota has the lowest proportion of adults living in households that get all or most of their phone calls on cellphones. This can include families that, for example, have a landline hooked into a computer. Texas has the highest proportion at 53 percent.

Blumberg said he was somewhat puzzled by the South Dakota figures, which differed significantly from nearby, similar states.

South Dakota’s 16 percent who rely solely on cellphones is about half North Dakota’s rate. In addition, 51 percent in South Dakota reported having only landlines and no cellphones — well above the 37 percent in the next highest state anywhere in the nation, Montana.

I guess in a state where getting a job as a Walmart greeter is considered high paying, cell phones, especially from up until now our only real option statewide, the ridiculously expensive Verizon, is considered too much of a luxury.