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 25M people. Average age and female share are shown per show — the two figures a media plan needs before a host-read is booked.
Data status:
For marketing, sponsorship & live-entertainment teams
Every entity in this table has a full profile.
Age brackets, gender split, regional distribution down to postal code where available, and the brands this audience overindexes on — per country, for c. 300,000 brands, teams, artists and media properties across 200+ 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 | CCrime Junkie | 25M | 42.4 | 57.1% |
| 2 | KKILL TONY | 14M | 42.1 | 49.2% |
| 3 | CCall Her Daddy | 7M | 38.7 | 58.9% |
| 4 | BBreakdown | 5.9M | 40.4 | 53.1% |
| 5 | TThe Daily | 5.7M | 41.9 | 52.3% |
| 6 | BBeste Freundinnen | 5.5M | 38.6 | 51.4% |
| 7 | SSerial (podcast) | 5.4M | — | — |
| 8 | SSavor | 5.2M | 40.4 | 53.1% |
| 9 | NNew Heights | 4.8M | 40.8 | 49.5% |
| 10 | WWorld War II with Tom Hanks | 4.6M | 43.5 | 51.3% |
| 11 | TThis American Life | 4.6M | 42.1 | 51.4% |
| 12 | PPod Save America | 4.4M | 43.3 | 50.5% |
| 13 | MMy Favorite Murder | 4.4M | 42.4 | 57.1% |
| 14 | CCounterClock | 3.9M | 42.4 | 57.1% |
| 15 | TThe Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett | 3.7M | 41.8 | 50.7% |
| 16 | TTo Live and Die in LA | 3.6M | 40.4 | 53.1% |
| 17 | TThe Current | 3.3M | 43.3 | 50.5% |
| 18 | AAll-In Podcast | 3.3M | 41.1 | 50.1% |
| 19 | TThe Bible Recap | 3.3M | 40.7 | 50.2% |
| 20 | RRotten Mango | 3.2M | 42.4 | 57.1% |
| 21 | TThe Basement Yard | 2.9M | 42.1 | 49.2% |
| 22 | BBad Friends | 2.7M | 42.1 | 49.2% |
| 23 | GGiggly Squad | 2.7M | 42.1 | 49.2% |
| 24 | HHuberman Lab | 2.4M | 40.3 | 47.0% |
| 25 | NNPR News Now | 2.4M | 43.3 | 50.5% |
| 26 | SSpittin Chiclets | 2.3M | 39.4 | 46.4% |
| 27 | AArmchair Expert with Dax Shepard | 2.3M | 42.1 | 49.2% |
| 28 | MMorbid | 2.3M | 42.4 | 57.1% |
| 29 | TThe Telepathy Tapes | 2.2M | 40.7 | 50.2% |
| 30 | SSomebody | 1.9M | 41.0 | 51.3% |
Explore the full audience profile
Click any entry to see demographics, top regions, peer affinities and psychographics for that audience.
Open audience directory →Frequently asked questions
Which podcast is the most popular in the US in 2026?
Crime Junkie has the largest measured US audience with approximately 25M 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?
Quarterly. 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 Rascasse Solution, including exports and benchmarking.
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