Over half (55%) of all adult Americans now have a high-speed Internet connection at home, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The percentage of Americans with broadband has increased from 47 percent in early 2007 and 42 percent in early 2005. Of those who access the Internet at home, 79 percent have a high-speed connection and 15 percent use dialup.
Adults who live in households whose annual incomes are less than $20,000 a year, home broadband adoption was at 25% in early 2008, compared to 28 percent in 2007.
“The flat growth in home high-speed adoption for low-income Americans suggests that tightening household budgets may be affecting people’s choice of connection speed at home,” said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of Research at thePew Internet & American Life project and author of the report.
Americans 50 and over had a 26 percent growth rate in home broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008. Half of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 have broadband at home. Nineteen percent of those 65 and older had home broadband access.
Those with household incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 annually saw broadband penetration increase by 24 percent from 2007 to 2008. Forty-five percent in that income range have broadband at home.
Of those living in rural America, 38 percent have broadband at home, compared with 31 percent in 2007 for a growth rate of 23 percent from 2007 to 2008.
Broadband growth for low income Americans has been flat, but some broadband users are willing to pay more for broadband to get faster speed. Twenty-nine percent of home broadband users subscribe to a more expensive premium broadband service to have a faster high-speed connection.
“Economic factors play a large role in why some people don’t have broadband, but about one in ten non-broadband users say that service isn’t available where they live,” said Horrigan. “Beyond price and availability, some non-broadband users simply don’t see the need for having a high-speed connection at home.”
