1 out of each 4 US smartphones users has an iPhone

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America is now a smartphone nation and the iPhone is increasingly becoming the favored device. Smartphones now account for 56 percent of cell phones in the United States. That’s up nearly ten points from a year ago, according to a new Pew Research poll. Additionally, the iPhone is used by 25 percent of US smartphone owners – or one out of each four smartphone owners in the country.

That’s a notable six-point increase from nineteen percent a year ago. The rise in US smartphones mirrors a drop in feature phones, which fell to 35 percent. Just nine percent of US adults do not own a cellphone…

The iPhone’s gains were recorded between May 2011 and May 2013 by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and Life Project.

The advance is at the expense of BlackBerry, which showed a decrease from ten percent in 2011 to 4 percent in 2013. Likewise, Microsoft’s Windows Phone market share has fallen from a tiny two percent in 2011 to barely a blip of one percent this year.

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In the race between Apple and Android, the competition in the US is starting to swing Google’s way. In 2011, the two rivals had a five point spread, fifteen percent to ten percent, Android leading. By 2012, the gap had closed to one percent. By May 2013, Android is again widening its lead, this time 28 percent to 25 percent, according to Pew.

While Android is nearing the 30 percent market share, there are certain areas in which the iPhone excels, including income and education. Some 38 percent of US iPhone owners reported having completed at least four years of college. By comparison, 29 percent of Android handset users had attained that level of education.

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Another demographic where the iPhone outperforms Android is income.

Almost half (49 percent) of polled iPhone owners said they earned $150,000 or more. Some 40 percent of the poll earning $75,000 or more were iPhone users. Also, 25 percent of respondents who earn between $50,000 and $75,000 own an iPhone.

The findings come on the eve of Apple’s Tuesday announcement, expected to include the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C.