• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 1, 2012

A new Pew study released today estimates 46% of U.S. adults own smartphones, up 11 percentage points since last May. Almost every major demographic group—men and women, younger and middle-aged adults, urban and rural residents, the affluent and the less well-off—has seen a measurable uptick in smartphone penetration in the last year.

Adoption levels are highest—60% or more—among college graduates, those making $75,000 or more and 18-35-year-olds. Seniors still aren’t jumping on the bandwagon, with only 13% of people 65 and over having a smartphone.

Nielsen recently estimated U.S. smartphone penetration at 48%, while comScore earlier this month reported the adoption rate among U.S. mobile users had jumped to 42% in 2011 from 27% in 2010. See a pattern here?