The State of Consumer Media Spending 2025: How Much Are Americans Paying to Stay Connected?

How much does it cost to stay connected? For Reviews.org’s State of Consumer Media Spending 2025 report we surveyed 1,000 Americans and analyzed the latest plans and packages to find out how much Americans spend on internet, mobile, and TV services, and how these costs have changed over time.

Key findings include:

• Americans pay nearly $280 per month on average for internet, mobile, cable TV, and streaming services
• Connectivity and TV services make up 4% of the average U.S. worker’s monthly earnings, based on the US median income
• Switching from a Big Three carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon) to an MVNO carrier saves the average consumer $200 a year

Keep reading for a closer look into the cost of connectivity and entertainment services, along with expert tips to help you save money on your bills.

After analyzing service prices from major providers and self-reported survey data, we found that the average American spends nearly $280 per month for internet, mobile, cable TV, and streaming services.

In a year, this totals to $3,350. Over a 60-year lifetime, this adds up to $200,980.

Consumer media spending in 2025 reflects a 2% increase in spending from 2024, driven primarily by rising costs of TV services. The changes in spending from 2024 to 2025 are as follows:

• Cost of internet: Down 1.5%
• Cost of mobile: Down 4.5%
• Cost of cable: Up 13.7%
• Cost of streaming services: Up 22%

It’s hardly a surprise that TV services take up a large share of household media budgets, since streaming platforms implement annual price hikes and push subscribers toward premium tiers or bundled services.

CableTV.com reports the following price increases across popular streaming platforms:

Netflix raised the price of all three of its remaining subscription plans in January 2025. The Premium plan increased from $22.99 to $24.99 per month, and the Standard plan (the cheapest ad-free option) rose from $15.49 to $17.99 per month. Netflix also discontinued its cheapest ad-free Basic option.

ESPN introduced a new high-cost streaming tier, ESPN Unlimited, priced at $29.99 per month. This includes access to ESPN cable channels.

In 2024, Hulu's ad-supported plan increased from $7.99 to $9.99 per month. Its ad-free plan went up from $17.99 to $18.99 per month.

From 2023 to 2025, each service type experienced different trends. The monthly cost of services changed as follows:

• Internet: Decreased by $13 (-15%).
• Mobile: Decreased by about $8 (-8%)
• TV: Increased by $21 (+11%)
• Streaming: Decreased by $3 (-23%)

Over two years, internet and mobile services decreased in 2024 with a slight increase in 2025, while traditional TV services increased both years. Spending on streaming services also decreased from 2023 to 2024, but increased from 2024 to 2025. Overall, total spending reduced by 3% from 2023 to 2025.

Reviews.org analyzed prices and plans across nearly 100 major internet service providers (ISPs). In 2025, the average cost of an internet plan is $68 per month. In a year, this adds up to $820, and $49,218 in a 60-year lifetime. Compared to 2024, the cost dropped by 1.6%.

Internet access continues to grow. The average household has 4.3 people with 4.35 devices connected to home internet—nearly a 1:1 device-to-person ratio. In addition, the number of connected households in the US grew by 1.2% in the latest American Community Survey.

Despite the overall increase in access, ISPs have limited availability as they only offer services in areas they have broadband infrastructure. This may result in households signing up for one of the few providers available in the area, instead of a provider that offers the greatest value or the most reliable service.

Internet connection technologies are not one and the same. Main internet connection technologies include fixed wireless or 5G home internet, cable, fiber, DSL, or satellite. Currently, the most popular technology types are fixed wireless/5G, cable, and fiber.

Between 2024 and 2025, we noticed the home internet landscape shift toward newer, faster technologies:

• 30% of respondents have a fixed wireless/5G home internet plan
• 30% of respondents have a cable internet plan
• Fixed wireless/5G home internet and fiber providers gained nearly two percentage points in market share as providers expanded coverage and consumers sought easier setup and faster speeds
• Cable and DSL saw a 2.2% and 2.6% decline respectively as customers migrated away from legacy infrastructure
• Satellite services grew slightly thanks to increased access to low-Earth-orbit options

The growth of fixed wireless/5G home internet aligns with consumer trends outlined by the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study. According to the study, wireless providers saw a 15% increase in new sign ups in the first half of 2025, with T-Mobile ranking the highest for customer satisfaction among wireless internet providers.

Out of all the connection types, Reviews.org recommends fiber internet providers because they offer the fastest speeds and greatest reliability. Even if there are cheaper cable or wireless providers, fiber providers offer more long-term value due to their durability and ability to handle increases in bandwidth. However, availability of fiber is limited—only 38% of U.S. households in rural areas have access to fiber internet, according to our report on fiber availability.

To find the monthly cost of a cell phone plan, Reviews.org averaged the cost of plans from the Big Three carriers with the largest wireless market share: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The average monthly cost for one of these cell phone plans is $58. This is $696 in a year, or $41,732 in a 60-year lifetime.

Switching from a Big Three carrier to an MVNO carrier saves the average consumer $17 per month, $199 per year, or nearly $11,918 over a lifetime. MVNO stands for Mobile Virtual Network Operator, and is a type of carrier that leases network infrastructure from a major carrier. Since MVNOs don’t have the same operating costs, they resell services at a more affordable price.

Overall, the average cost of a cell phone plan from all carriers (Big Three and MVNO carriers) is $44 monthly, $523 in a year, and $31,383 in a lifetime.

Big Three cell carriers maintain their elevated prices by offering unlimited data and extra travel or entertainment features. While unlimited data is often seen as the standard, most people don’t need it. According to our survey, Americans use 15GB of data per month. Only 13% of participants use more than 40GB per month. Some 11% of participants shared that they actually rely on Wi-Fi and don’t use data at all.

To find the average cost of traditional TV services, Reviews.org analyzed plans and prices of major paid cable and satellite TV services. The average cost of TV services is $101.11 a month, $1,213.32 a year, and $72,799.20 in a 60-year lifetime.

TV costs have risen 12% year-over-year, surpassing internet as the most expensive single media category.

We also asked survey respondents about what types of TV services they use, and found that most use live TV streaming services and cable TV services over satellite or local antenna. Results are as follows:

• Live TV streaming: 6%
• Cable TV: 2%
• Satellite TV: 1%
• Local antenna: 8%

Reviews.org surveyed 1,000 Americans about how much they spend on streaming services per month. The average cost of streaming is $51.71 per month, $620.51 per year, and $37,230.43 in a 60-year lifetime.

Spending on streaming is up 18% from 2024. This increase correlates with a 22% increase in the number of streaming services consumers subscribe to. The average American now subscribes to 2.68 platforms, up from 2.2 in 2024. .

When asked about concerns regarding the cost of streaming, we found that 58% say their streaming costs are too high. To save money, 55% of respondents chose ad-supported plans.

Other intriguing takeaways about streaming behavior include the following:

• 32% of respondents pay for a service they rarely use
• 46% of respondents expressed that they subscribed to a platform for one show or movie
• 31% of respondents report streaming fatigue (the feeling of being overwhelmed because there are too many streaming services to manage)