Disconnected! Michigan Leads The Way In Pay Phone Extinction

If anything can make someone of a certain generation feel old it's 80's music being considered classic rock, and referring to pay phones nostalgic.

As we dial into the digital age one that leaves "reaching out and touching someone" literally at our fingertips, dropping a quarter in a pay phone and placing a call seems like ancient history.  It's not just the fact that cell phones have taken over, but also that finding a pay phone has become more of a scavenger hunt.

Recently Spokeo shed some interesting and mind-blowing facts about the decline of the pay phone and how finding one on every corner has turned into "good luck with that".

"As of 2016, under 100,000 pay phones remained in the U.S., a 95% decline from 2000, when there were over 2 million. This number has likely shrunk significantly since the FCC last collected the data", they said. 

Spokeo also compiled a list detailing the decline of pay phones in each state across the country ranking them from biggest decline to least, and one of the leaders may surprise you.

Michigan stands out by topping the list at #2 for the most significant decline in payphones across the country. Once a staple of every street corner and shopping mall, these iconic booths are swiftly vanishing from the Great Lakes State.

Coming in just behind Mississippi, Michigan had a 98.6% decline in the number of pay phones during the 2000s and 2010s. "The number of pay phones remaining in 2016: 1,187 (11.9 phones per 100K people). Down from 83,159 in 2000 (835.6 phones per 100K people)."

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Now, you may still spot one do these legendary relics on your Michigan adventures, Granted, some are just a shell of what they used to be missing a receiver or dial pad. If you stumble upon one be sure to snap a picture...it may be the last time you ever see one.

Check out the full list of ranked declines in pay phones across the country in each state below.