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Podcast audience ranking · United States

Which podcast has the largest audience in the US in 2026?

The 30 largest podcasts in the United States by estimated active audience, measured from anonymized search-behavior signals. Crime Junkie leads with approximately 23M people. Average age and female share are shown per show — the two figures a media plan needs before a host-read is booked.

Last updated:

#1
Top of the ranking
23M us audience

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Every entity in this table has a full profile.

Age brackets, gender split, regional distribution down to postal code, and the brands this audience overindexes on — per country, for 500,000+ brands, teams, artists and media properties across 170+ countries. Open in the browser, no login.

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Top 30 podcasts by US audience

Rank Name US audience Avg age Female share
1 Crime Junkie 23M 41.7 57.1%
2 KILL TONY 15M 41.4 49.2%
3 Call Her Daddy 6.3M 38.0 58.9%
4 My Favorite Murder 5.8M 41.7 57.1%
5 The Daily 5.5M 41.2 52.3%
6 CounterClock 5.2M 41.7 57.1%
7 Savor 4.9M 39.7 53.1%
8 Serial (podcast) 4.7M
9 Pod Save America 4.6M 42.6 50.5%
10 The Telepathy Tapes 4M 40.0 50.2%
11 The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett 3.5M 41.1 50.7%
12 Breakdown 3.5M 39.7 53.1%
13 New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce 3.3M 40.1 49.5%
14 New Heights 3.2M 38.9 48.8%
15 The Bible Recap 3.2M 40.0 50.2%
16 All-In Podcast 3M 40.4 50.1%
17 To Live and Die in LA 2.9M 39.7 53.1%
18 Rotten Mango 2.9M 41.7 57.1%
19 Kurzgesagt 2.9M 39.9 55.6%
20 The Bible in a Year 2.5M 40.0 50.2%
21 Bad Friends 2.4M 41.4 49.2%
22 Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard 2.3M 41.4 49.2%
23 NPR News Now 2.3M 42.6 50.5%
24 Morbid 2.2M 41.7 57.1%
25 Giggly Squad 2M 41.4 49.2%
26 SmartLess 1.9M 41.4 49.2%
27 Apple News Today 1.8M 42.6 50.5%
28 Last Podcast On The Left 1.7M 41.7 57.1%
29 Letters from an American 1.5M 42.6 50.5%
30 Pardon My Take 1.5M 40.1 49.5%

Explore the full audience profile

Click any entry to see demographics, top regions, peer affinities and psychographics for that audience.

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Frequently asked questions

Which podcast is the most popular in the US in 2026?

Crime Junkie has the largest measured US audience with approximately 23M people showing active interest over the trailing 12 months.

Is this download numbers?

No. Download and listener figures come from hosting platforms and are reported differently by each one, which makes them hard to compare between shows. This measures people showing active interest in the show itself, on one consistent metric across every podcast in the list.

Why does audience size matter more than downloads for advertising?

Because downloads count files, not people, and a single listener produces many downloads. Audience size counts distinct people, which is the basis any cost-per-thousand calculation actually needs.

Can I see the age and gender split for a single show?

Yes. Average age and female share are in the table for every show, and each name links to the full profile with age brackets, regional distribution and brand affinities.

How often is this ranking updated?

Weekly. Podcast audiences move quickly around guest bookings and news cycles.

Using this ranking for sponsorship & media planning

Rankings like this are the starting point for commercial questions: Which audiences match a brand's target group? How does a rights holder's fanbase compare to its league peers? Where does a media plan reach the most engaged fans? Rascasse combines audience size with demographics, regional distribution and brand affinities — the full dataset behind this page is available in the platform, including exports and benchmarking.

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