Teens send an average of 60 texts a day: study

Teenagers in the United States are texting more than ever before, and they're more likely as well to have a smartphone in their hands, according to a survey released Monday.

On average, youngsters aged 12 to 17 sent 60 text messages on a typical day in 2011, 10 more than they did two years earlier, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found.

Older girls were the most enthusiastic texters, sending 100 texts a day, Pew said. Boys sent exactly half that number, or 50 text a day, but even that was higher than the average of 30 texts they sent per day in 2009.

"When asked generally about how they communicate with people in their lives -- not just about their friends, but about all kinds of people -- teens point to text messaging as the dominant daily mode of communication," it said.

Pew also said 23 percent of the 799 youngsters who took part in its telephone survey in the continental United States in April through July last year had a smartphone, such as an iPhone or a BlackBerry.

Seventy-seven percent had a cellphone of some kind or another -- little changed from 2011 but far above the 44 percent who owned cellphones in 2004.

Suburban white teenagers with parents who had at least a high school education, living in homes with a total income of more than $75,000, were more likely than others to have a cellphone, the Pew researchers found.

(Photo of texting teens by Monkey Business Images via Shutterstock)