Do People Answer Calls From Unknown Numbers? Mostly No: 80% Don't
By Sharrk Team · October 22, 2026
Mostly no. In a Pew Research Center survey fielded July 13-19, 2020, eight in ten Americans (80%) said they don't generally answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers, and only 19% said they usually pick up. That is why a business calling a new lead back should text first, call from a local number and leave a short voicemail, and Sharrk replies to every new lead in under 30 seconds by AI text and AI call so the lead hears from you while they are still expecting it.
Do people answer calls from unknown numbers?
Most people don't. Pew asked 10,211 U.S. adults how they handle cellphone calls from numbers they don't recognize. The answers broke down like this:
| What people said they generally do | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| Don't answer, but check voicemail if one is left | 67% |
| Don't answer and ignore any voicemail | 14% |
| Answer the call | 19% |
Pew also found that no demographic group got much higher: at most a quarter of any group said they answer unknown calls. Younger adults (18 to 29) were more likely to pick up than older adults, but they were still a minority.
Newer industry data points the same way. Hiya's State of the Call 2026 report, which surveyed more than 12,000 consumers in six countries, found that only 14% immediately answer an unidentified call, meaning 86% do not.
Why don't people pick up unknown numbers anymore?
Spam trained them not to. Hiya reported that Americans averaged 14 spam calls per month in the first half of 2024, and it flagged nearly 20 billion calls worldwide as suspected spam in those six months. In the same Pew survey, nine in ten adults said people often (49%) or sometimes (42%) pretend to be someone else to steal personal information.
Carriers also step in before the phone rings. The FCC required phone companies to implement STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication in the IP portions of their networks by June 30, 2021, so they can verify that the caller ID on a call matches the caller's number. Carriers also label calls: T-Mobile's Scam Shield shows "Scam Likely" when it identifies an incoming call as a likely scam and can block those calls automatically, while unwanted solicitation calls can be marked as Potential Spam and sent to voicemail.
The result for a home-service business: your callback to a homeowner who just filled out a form looks, on their screen, exactly like the dozens of calls they have learned to ignore.
What does this mean when you call a new lead back?
It means a phone call alone is a weak first touch, even to someone who just asked you to contact them. They may be at work, on another call, or simply not recognize your number. The fix is not to stop calling. It is to make sure the lead knows who is calling before the phone rings, and to give them more than one way to reply.
Hiya's 2026 survey found that the one piece of information that would make people more likely to answer is the business's name, and 73% agreed that businesses should identify themselves with caller ID. You can't always control what shows on their screen, but you can control what they already know when your number appears.
How do you get a new lead to answer your call?
These steps work together. Use them only with leads who asked to be contacted, and read the consent rules for AI voice calls and texts before you automate any of it.
- Text first, right away. A short text tells them who you are and that a call is coming. Example: "Hi Dana, this is Mike with Northside Plumbing. Got your request about the water heater. I'll call you in a couple of minutes from this number, or reply here if texting is easier."
- Call from the number you texted from. Now the incoming call is not a stranger. It matches the text they just read.
- Use a local number. A number with the area code your customers know looks like a local business, because it is one.
- Register your business texting. Carriers expect business texts to go through 10DLC registration, and unregistered traffic can be filtered. See what 10DLC registration costs.
- Leave a short voicemail. Pew found 67% of people who skip unknown calls still check voicemail. Keep it under 20 seconds: your name, your company, what they asked about, and "I'll text you too."
- Follow up on a schedule. One missed call is normal, not a lost lead. Plan several touches across a few days and mix channels. Here is how many times to follow up with a lead.
- Stop when they reply. Once they answer by text or call back, the sequence should end so they are not chased after they have already booked.
How fast should you call a lead back?
As fast as you can, while they still remember filling out the form. A text that names the job someone asked about a few minutes ago is easy to recognize; the same text the next morning has to compete with everything else on their phone. That timing is the whole idea behind speed to lead: reach people while they are still looking at their phone and still thinking about the problem.
Sample voicemail script for a new lead
"Hi, this is [name] with [company], calling about the [job type] request you sent a few minutes ago. I just texted you from this number. Reply there or call me back at [number] and we'll get you on the schedule. Thanks."
It is short, it names the company and the job, and it points to the text, which is the easiest way for most people to respond.
How Sharrk handles new-lead callbacks
Sharrk replies to new leads in under 30 seconds by AI text and AI call, 24/7. Leads can come in from web forms, Angi, Thumbtack, Networx, Jobber requests and webhooks such as Meta lead ads through Zapier or Make. The AI agent can answer questions, capture details like address and job type, book onto Sharrk's calendar, Calendly or Cal.com, or warm transfer to a person on your team, and you get a text or email alert after each call.
If the lead doesn't pick up, a Strike keeps going: a multi-step follow-up across AI text, text, email, AI calls and voicemail drops, with sending windows so nobody gets texted at midnight and stop rules so it ends the moment they reply or book.
Mako, the AI assistant inside Sharrk, builds it for you. Type something like "When a new lead comes in, text them who we are, call two minutes later, and follow up for five days until they book," and Mako drafts the agent and the Strike for you to review and apply.
You can start free with Sharrk and build and test agents with 2,500 credits, no card needed, or book a demo to see a new-lead callback run live.
Related on Sharrk: AI receptionist for plumbing · Speed to lead · AI receptionist
Sources
- Pew Research Center, "Most Americans don't answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers" (2020) (checked October 22, 2026)
- Hiya, "Eroding trust is crippling the voice channel" (State of the Call 2026) (checked October 22, 2026)
- Hiya via Business Wire, "Global Phone Spam and Fraud Report: Nearly a Third of All Unknown Calls in First Half of 2024 Were Unwanted" (checked October 22, 2026)
- FCC, "FCC Mandates That Phone Companies Implement Caller ID Authentication to Combat Spoofed Robocalls" (March 31, 2020) (checked October 22, 2026)
- T-Mobile, Scam Shield (checked October 22, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of people don't answer calls from unknown numbers?
About 80% of Americans don't generally answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers, according to a Pew Research Center survey from July 2020. Only 19% said they usually pick up.
Do people listen to voicemails from unknown numbers?
Most do. In the same Pew survey, 67% of Americans said they don't answer unknown calls but check voicemail if one is left, while 14% ignore the voicemail too.
Should I text a lead before calling them?
Yes, if they asked to be contacted. A short text that names your company and the job they requested tells them who the next call is from, so the call no longer looks like an unknown number.
Why does my business number show up as spam?
Carriers and call-blocking apps label calls they judge to be likely scams or unwanted solicitation. For example, T-Mobile labels some calls "Scam Likely" and can block them, and the FCC required carriers to authenticate caller ID with STIR/SHAKEN by June 30, 2021.
How many times should I call a new lead who doesn't answer?
More than once, spread over several days and mixed with texts and voicemail. Plan a follow-up schedule in advance and stop as soon as the lead replies or books.