More Than Half of Americans Track Their Health With a Device. What Comes Next?

Adoption has stalled, loyalty has soared and Oura is readying an IPO. Rock Health’s latest survey maps where the wearables industry goes from here

When it comes to wearable devices, America’s wrists (and fingers) are spoken for.

That’s according to Rock Health’s 2025 Consumer Adoption Survey, drawn from 8,000 Census-matched U.S. adults, which found that 57% now own at least one wearable or connected device. Wearable ownership specifically sits at 46%, up from 13% in 2015.

But there’s a catch, of course. Wearables are now facing the iPhone issue, where first-time buyers are harder to find because everyone who wants one likely already has one.

Worn Daily, Switched Never

The good news for device makers, however, is that the customers they do have are not going anywhere. 

Per Rock Health’s survey, 83% of wearable owners sport their device five or more days a week, and 59% wear theirs nearly always. Oura reports average daily wear time of 23.8 hours.

Loyalty runs just as deep: nearly half of wearable device owners (47%) have used a wearable for three or more years, 48% still use the device they started with. Only 23% have ever switched brands.

Smartwatches still dominate the form-factor mix, with roughly 4 in 10 respondents owning one. Activity (35%), sleep (26%) and heart rate (21%) remain the most tracked metrics.

Optimized, Affluent & Already Well

The typical device owner will sound familiar to fitness operators and wellness brands: young, live in cities, are healthy and are typically commercially insured.

According to the findings, ownership runs higher among racial and ethnic minorities (64%) than white respondents (54%), and women and men own devices at nearly identical rates (58% and 57%). Smart rings skew hard Millennial, with the generation claiming 59% of owners.

Rock Health notes that the consumers who could benefit most from continuous monitoring are the least likely to own a device, as non-owners are more likely to report moderate or poor health.

Wearables Walk Into the Exam Room

Perhaps most interestingly, wearable data is walking into the doctor’s office whether health systems are ready or not. Fifty-nine percent of wearable owners have discussed their data with a provider, and another 20% want to but haven’t, according to Rock Health.

Providers, meanwhile, are seemingly behind the curve. Many health systems still haven’t turned on Apple HealthKit or Google Health integrations in their patient portals, Rock Health reports, with liability fears and the absence of a reimbursement pathway for reviewing the data keeping many on the sidelines.

Nevertheless, device makers aren’t waiting. 

Smart ring maker Oura and screenless human performance wearable brand Whoop users can now connect in-app with clinicians who see their full biometric picture, and both now offer blood testing panels. Meanwhile, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have crossed over in the opposite direction. Dexcom Stelo and Abbott Lingo are now courting the metabolically curious, and just under half (47%) of CGM owners in the survey don’t report a diabetes diagnosis.

What’s Next

Though wrist bands and rings dominate today, all signs point to wearable form factors evolving to earrings, earbuds and even waistbeads. For the fitness and wellness industry, the bigger takeaway is that those devoted to their wearables look a lot like the ones already showing up in studios and clubs: health-conscious, data-hungry and unlikely to quit either the gym or their device.

It’s an overlap that could spell an opening. Operators who connect wearable data to their equipment, classes and recovery offerings could find themselves meeting members inside a tracking habit they already refuse to break.