Had to look this up because I was curious. This site quotes from the World Almanac, which states 32% of the US had a cell phone in 1999. https://hypertextbook.

Had to look this up because I was curious. This site quotes from the World Almanac, which states 32% of the US had a cell phone in 1999. https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/BogusiaGrzywac.shtml https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/BogusiaGrzywac.shtml From my personal anecdotal experience, that would be correct. I had a cell phone, but had gotten my first in 1998. All of my friends who were professionals did too. My friends who were artists, or more marginal economically, did not. Cell phones were a common sight, but it was also clear that many didn't have them. I remember feeling slightly special when I could pull mine out in 1999. Even Seinfeld had jokes about cell phone etiquette. Which was a clear sign they didn't expect their audience to be entirely comfortable with them. A breakdown by city would be interesting. Wouldn't be surprised if usage was 50%+ in larger cities.