Americans received more than 24 billion robocalls in H1 2022
Robocalls are gaining popularity. Clinics use them to remind patients about their appointments, telemarketers employ them to sell their latest products, and scammers utilize them as a tool to lure out personal information.
According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, people in the United States received 24.3 billion robocalls in the first half of this year. On average, one person in the US received around 74 such calls.
The data is based on the Robocall Index by YouMail, which extrapolates the data collected from calls made to YouMail users.
The last three quarters saw an upward trend in robocalls. In the first quarter of this year, robocalls had increased by 2% to 12.04 billion compared to Q4 2021, when 11.82 robocalls were registered in the US. In March alone, 4.37 billion robocalls were recorded in the US — more than any other month in 2022.
Moving on from Q1 2022 to Q2 2022, the robocalls once again rose by 2% to 12.26 billion. Nevertheless, if we contrast the numbers of the first half of 2021 to this year's data, we see an 8% drop from 26.44 billion robocalls in H1 2021 to 24.3 billion in H1 2022.
Top 10 US states most affected by robocalls
While no US state was safe from robocalls in the first half of this year, some were affected more than others.
Out of all the states, Texas got the most significant share of robocalls. In total, 2.95 billion robocalls were directed at the state's residents, meaning that on average, each Texan endured nearly 98 robocalls in H1 2022.
Most of the calls targeted residents of Dallas and Houston, with each of the cities receiving 919.27 million and 731.83 million robocalls, respectively.
California follows Texas with 2.22 billion robocalls in H1 2022, or around 56 calls per person. Los Angeles and San Francisco both make it to the top ten cities most hit by robocalls. The so-called city of angels saw 664.44 robocalls in H1 2022. Meanwhile, San Francisco saw 390.03 million.
Florida occupies the third spot on the list. Its residents experienced a total of 1.92 billion robocalls, or approximately 87 calls per resident. Florida's most impacted city was Orlando, with 297.02 million robocalls in H1 2022.
Next up is Georgia, with 1.54 billion robocalls. Despite Texas leading the chart with the most robocalls overall, people in the state of Georgia suffered the most robocalls individually — close to 141 per state resident.
Atlanta, Georgia, was also the most affected city by robocalls in the first half of this year. In total, its residents faced nearly a billion robocalls.
In the meantime, New York state residents received 1.23 billion robocalls (64 per resident) in H1 2022, out of which 691.47 million went to New York City residents.
Other states in the top 10 include North Carolina with 986.85 million robocalls, Illinois with 934.36 million (771.02 million in Chicago alone), Ohio with 896.82 million, Pennsylvania with 841.17 million (390.39 million in Philadelphia), and Tennessee with 795.38 million robocalls.
Check out our article for tips on how to protect yourself from robocalls:
