With the rise in popularity of cell phones over the decades, payphones have pretty much become obsolete.

Why would you need a payphone to make a phone call when you can just use your cell phone? According to Consumer Affairs, 97% of Americans own a mobile phone, which would be around 330.8 million people. The average American spends close to 4 hours and 30 minutes per day using their phone, and Americans check their cell phones around 144 times a day.

It's pretty tough to find a use for a payphone when you're constantly on a phone you can carry everywhere. Not only that, most people these days don't even want to answer their phones!

You know which family members or friends you have that let the phone ring and then text you back saying "Did you call me?" That's easily one of the most annoying things of all time but that's for a different article.

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I was shocked by the amount of payphones left in Iowa. I'm curious how this is even possible in 2024.

Iowa Pay Phones

When was the last time you used a pay phone? Kids these days will likely have no clue what it's like to hop in a phone booth, grab some change, and make a quick phone call.

This might not be an exact number as some of these phones could have been uninstalled but I still found the the number of possible payphones in Iowa to be pretty surprising.

According to the Payphone Directory, there are 152 payphones left in the Hawkeye state. HOW?!

To be fair, a vast majority of them are around the state capital. There are 124 in the Des Moines area and use a 515 area code. Cedar Rapids has 2 payphones and both are located at the Gerald R Hinzman Center,

There is 1 located in Waterloo at W4th St & Kimball Avenue. West Des Moines and Iowa City have 15 and 9 payphones at various locations.

Once again, this website might not be completely up to date but the fact there are this many payphones left in Iowa is interesting. Almost everyone you see on any given day has a cell phone. It might not always be in their pocket, it might be in their car or they left it at home but there's a 97% chance that they own one.

When was the last time you used a payphone? Let us know in the comments!