The news: More than half (58%) of the US population over 12 has consumed a podcast in the past month, per Edison Research’s The Podcast Consumer 2026 report, a 3 percentage point increase from 2025. That includes:

• 68% of millennials and Gen Xers between the ages of 35 and 54, up from 61%.
• 64% of millennials and Gen Zers ages 34 and younger, a 2 point decline.
• 44% of those 55 and older, an increase from 38%.

Breaking down the demographics further, 62% of men have listened to or watched a podcast in the past month, compared with 54% of women, as well as 63% of Black Americans and 60% of Latino Americans.

Why it matters: Podcasts are growing as a mainstream, cross-generational media channel, which eliminates the perception that they’re only a format for Gen Zers and young millennials.

Three-quarters (76%) of weekly podcast consumers over 13 have acted as a result of hearing a podcast ad, including two-thirds of users between 13 and 54 that have visited a company or product website because of a podcast sponsorship or ad, per Edison Research.

That makes podcasts a broad-reach media buy, where brands can target listeners across demographics without sacrificing engagement.

This is important as older consumers—especially Gen Xers—have strong purchasing power. Global Gen X consumers outspent every other generation in 2025 at $15.2 trillion—$4.3 trillion more than Gen Z, per NielsenIQ.

Implications for marketers: Podcasts offer both diverse and affluent audiences, making the medium a strong candidate for upper- and mid-funnel media budgets.

• Equal levels of ad engagement across age groups under 55 suggest that advertisers don’t have to trade effectiveness for broader demographic reach and that the channel’s influence remains mostly consistent across generations.
• Brands that previously viewed podcasts as an experimental channel may need to reconsider them alongside streaming audio, connected TV (CTV), and social video.

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