As more and more U.S. consumers purchase mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, more of them are using the devices to participate in the all-American pastime: shopping. At the end of the first quarter of this year, some 84% of U.S. mobile device owners said that they used their devices to shop within the past month. That’s an increase of 5% over the first quarter of 2012.

The data comes from Nielsen, which also noted that an equal number (50%) of men and women used their mobile gadgets to shop, even though women generally predominate in the amount of spending.

By age group, 28% young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 use their mobile devices to shop. Interestingly though, 25% of adults older than 55 are mobile shoppers as well. But the number of young adult shoppers is rising year-over-year while the number of older shoppers is slipping.

On the basis of income, 38% of mobile device owners with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 use their devices for shopping. For all those with incomes above $100,000, 26% use their mobile devices to shop. And 21% of Americans with incomes less than $50,000 also shop with their mobile devices, and this is the fastest growing group of shoppers, up 8% year-over-year. There is likely a correlation between age and income, with young adults more likely to earn less than $50,000 annually.

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