Quick answer
Instagram does not publish an official "average age," but every reliable dataset points to the same picture: the platform skews toward adults under 35, with a long tail of older users.
- Globally: Statista data from April 2026, as reported by SocialPilot, puts 25–34-year-olds at 34.0% of users and 18–24-year-olds at 27.6%. Together, that is about six in ten users.
- In the US: Pew Research Center (November 2025) found that 80% of adults ages 18–29 use Instagram, compared with 19% of adults 65 and older. Half of all US adults use it.
- Teens: 63% of US teens ages 13–17 say they use Instagram, according to Pew (December 2025).
In practice, the typical Instagram user a brand reaches is a millennial or Gen Z adult, roughly in the 18–34 range.
Why there is no single "average age"
You will see different numbers on different sites because each source measures something different:
- Survey data, like Pew's, asks a representative sample of people whether they use Instagram. It tells you how common the platform is within each age group.
- Ad audience data, like the figures reported by Meta's ad tools and compiled by firms such as DataReportal and Statista, describes who advertisers can reach. These figures only cover users 18 and older, so they leave teens out.
- Third-party stat roundups often repeat older numbers without dates or sources. Treat any figure with no date or original source as unreliable.
For planning, the two views work together. Survey data tells you how much of an age group you could reach. Ad audience data tells you what share of the platform that group represents.
Instagram demographics in 2026
Global scale
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on September 24, 2025, that Instagram had reached 3 billion monthly active users. Instagram head Adam Mosseri credited messaging, Reels and recommendations for most of the recent growth. That scale means even a "small" age segment on Instagram can contain hundreds of millions of people.
Age breakdown
The global ad audience is concentrated in two groups:
- 25–34: 34.0% of users (Statista, April 2026, via SocialPilot).
- 18–24: 27.6% of users (same source).
The remaining share is spread across other age groups, mainly users 35 and older. Each of those groups is smaller in percentage terms, but still large in absolute numbers because of Instagram's overall size.
US adults by age and gender
Pew Research Center's "Americans' Social Media Use 2025" report, published November 20, 2025, surveyed 5,022 US adults between February and June 2025. Its key Instagram findings:
- 50% of US adults use Instagram.
- 80% of adults ages 18–29 use it, the highest share of any age group.
- 19% of adults 65 and older use it.
- 55% of women use Instagram, compared with 44% of men.
For context, the same report found that 84% of US adults use YouTube, 71% use Facebook and 37% use TikTok.
Teens
Pew's teen survey, fielded September 25 to October 9, 2025, found that 63% of US teens ages 13–17 use Instagram. That puts it behind YouTube (92%) and TikTok (68%) but ahead of Snapchat (55%) and Facebook (31%).
Instagram requires users to be at least 13. Since September 2024, Meta has placed teens in Instagram Teen Accounts, which are private by default and use the strictest messaging settings. Teens under 16 need a parent's permission to loosen those settings.
What Instagram's age mix means for brands
If you target 18–34
Instagram is one of the most efficient places to reach this group. Focus on short-form video. Reels, creator content and native-looking ads tend to fit how younger users already browse. Test multiple hooks per concept, since this audience scrolls fast. Our guide to paid social creative strategy covers how to structure those tests.
If you target 35 and older
Do not write Instagram off. A smaller percentage of a 3-billion-user platform is still a large audience. Older users often respond to clear product demonstrations, practical benefits and creators who look like them. Run Instagram alongside Facebook placements in the same Meta campaigns and compare cost per result by age in Ads Manager.
If your audience includes teens
Plan for limits. Since February 2023, Meta has restricted ad targeting for teens to age and location only. Gender is not available, and teens' activity in Meta's apps is not used to choose which ads they see. Creative and context matter more than targeting here, and any creator partnership aimed at teens should follow strict disclosure and brand-safety rules.
Women versus men
In the US, more women than men use Instagram (55% versus 44%, per Pew). Globally, the ad audience split looks different. DataReportal's April 2026 mid-year update, as reported by SocialPilot, listed it at 52.8% male and 46.8% female. Always check your own market in Meta's audience estimates before you assume a gender skew.
How to check the age of your own Instagram audience
Platform-wide averages are a starting point. Your own followers and buyers matter more. Use these steps:
- Instagram Insights: On a professional account, open your dashboard and review audience demographics for age and gender.
- Ads Manager breakdowns: Break campaign results down by age and gender to see who actually converts, not just who follows you.
- Creator audience data: Before you hire a creator, ask for screenshots of their audience age breakdown. A creator with the right style but the wrong age audience will waste budget.
- First-party data: Compare Instagram results with your customer list or analytics to confirm the platform is reaching the buyers you want.
Using creators to reach the right age group
Creators are one of the simplest ways to match an age segment, because audiences tend to follow people like themselves. A 22-year-old college creator and a 45-year-old parent creator will reach very different viewers with the same product. When you have strong creator posts, you can run them as Meta partnership ads and target the age ranges that perform best.
MediaNug produces creator-led UGC and paid social ads for Meta, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat. Through NugVerse, brands can match with vetted creators whose audiences fit the age group they want to reach.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average age of Instagram users?
Instagram does not publish an average age. The largest groups globally are 25–34 (34.0%) and 18–24 (27.6%), according to Statista data from April 2026, so the typical user is between 18 and 34.
Which age group uses Instagram the most?
In the US, adults ages 18–29 use it most: 80% of them use Instagram, according to Pew Research Center (November 2025). Globally, 25–34-year-olds are the largest share of users.
Do older adults use Instagram?
Yes, but less often. Pew found that 19% of US adults 65 and older use Instagram, compared with 50% of all US adults.
How many teens use Instagram?
Pew's 2025 teen survey found that 63% of US teens ages 13–17 use Instagram. The minimum age to create an account is 13.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, "Americans' Social Media Use 2025" (November 20, 2025)
- Pew Research Center, "Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025," topline (December 9, 2025)
- SocialPilot, "35+ Instagram Statistics in 2026," citing Statista and DataReportal (April 2026 data)
- Mobile Ecosystem Forum, "Three out of three for Meta as Instagram tops 3 billion" (October 7, 2025)
- Meta, "Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts" (September 17, 2024)
- Social Samosa, "Meta to remove gender as a targeting option for teens in ads" (January 2023)
