How Much Data Does a Home Typically Use?

The average household uses over 500GB of data per month. We tend to talk about how much bandwidth you need for specific applications, like at least 25Mbps to stream 4K video on a single device. But there’s a whole other side to your data consumption. Let’s go over how specific devices and applications consume data.

Data usage by device and application

The number of devices and the type of applications in use have a huge impact on the amount of data a single household can use. Take a look at a few examples:

Keep in mind that the chart reflects the usage of a single device. Most older teens and adults have at least three active devices they use throughout the day: a smartphone, a computer, and a smart TV. The more people you have in the home, the more active devices you have consuming data on an hourly basis.

So, if four devices stream 4K content simultaneously (at 25Mbps each), they’re using a combined 45GB per hour maximum. Here’s the math:

• 4 x 25 megabits (Mb) = 100Mb each second
• 100Mb x 1 hour (3,600 seconds) = 360,000Mb per hour
• 360,000Mb per hour = 45 gigabytes (GB) per hour

Of course, the chances of four devices streaming 4K content simultaneously are slim, but they can burn through 1.2TB of data in 26 hours—roughly 13 two-hour movies in a single billing cycle.

But let’s not forget the gamers in the house. They need lots of data, too.

Gaming online doesn’t require a lot of data, but downloading does

As we’ve discussed in other articles, playing games online doesn’t require a lot of data. You’re mostly uploading and downloading game state and controller data, which is a minimal amount of data at best.

Streaming games from the cloud is a different story—now you’re downloading every game frame rendered in a remote data center. Cloud game streaming allows you to play games on any device at the highest fidelity possible, even on devices like budget Chromebooks.

A single game streamed from Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Plus, or GeForce NOW can use up to 20GB per hour, if not more. The amount depends on the resolution and the framerate.

Gamers can also stream straight from their consoles or computers when they’re off the home network. For example, a gamer can stream Starfield from their Xbox Series X console to a smartphone while lounging in a hotel room across the country. The console uses the home’s internet bandwidth to make remote gameplay possible, so the data usage applies to the gamer’s monthly allowance.

Of course, downloading full games and their mega-huge updates can quickly burn through a data cap. A 1.2TB data cap equates to eight digital games and/or updates of 150GB each a month. Yes, not every game or update is quite so large, and you’re likely to download more updates than digital games in a single month.

But there’s more to data consumption than streaming, gaming, and video conferencing.

Web browsing and smart devices consume data too

Everything you read in a browser or app is downloaded locally on your devices. Passive devices like smart thermostats and speakers upload and download every day. Consoles, laptops, and desktops quietly download and install updates.

The bottom line is that all this data adds up. And as more and more devices began connecting and overwhelming neighborhood networks, internet providers needed a way to regulate data use until they could expand and upgrade their networks.

FAQ about data caps