Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2015

Access to computers and a broadband Internet subscription has become increasingly important to Americans in carrying out their day-to-day lives.¹ This technology is used for a variety of activities including accessing health information, online banking, choosing a place to live, applying for jobs, looking up government services, and taking classes. Access to broadband Internet also has positive effects on individual empowerment, economic growth, and community development.²

Data about computer use have been collected periodically in the Current Population Survey (CPS) since 1984 and data about Internet use have been collected in the CPS since 1997. The CPS data provide nationaland state-level estimates. The American Community Survey (ACS) began collecting these data in 2013 and provides yearly estimates for geographies with populations of 65,000 people or more. This report uses data from the CPS to provide historical context and data from the ACS to highlight characteristics that are more current.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey.

¹ A “broadband” Internet subscription refers to having at least one type of Internet subscription other than a dial-up subscription alone. In the American Community Survey, it specifically refers to those who said “Yes” to one or more of the following types of subscriptions: DSL, cable, fiber optic, mobile broadband, satellite, or fixed wireless.

² See Jayakar et al., “Broadband 2021,” Report of the Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Development of a National Broadband Research Agenda, Institute for Information Policy, Penn State University, State College, PA, 2016.

• Among all households, 78 percent had a desktop or laptop, 75 percent had a handheld computer such as a smartphone or other handheld wireless computer, and 77 percent had a broadband Internet subscription.
• Households headed by a person aged 65 and older lagged behind households with younger householders in computer ownership or use and the likelihood of having an Internet subscription.
• Households with an Asian householder were most likely to own or use a desktop or laptop, own or use a handheld device, and have a broadband Internet subscription.

Figure 1 shows the percentage of households with computer and Internet use from 1984 to 2015 using data from the CPS and the ACS. While both surveys show differences over time for computer and Internet use, it is important to note the estimates for each measure will vary between the surveys due to differences in question wording and data collection procedures. For more information, see the text box titled “Key Differences Between the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey.” In 1984, 8 percent of households had a computer according to the CPS.

By 2000, about half of all households (51 percent) had a computer. In 2015, this percentage had grown to 79 percent. The ACS, by contrast, indicated that in 2013, 84 percent of households had a computer (desktop, laptop, handheld, or other), with the percentage growing to 87 percent in 2015.

In 1997, the CPS began collecting data about Internet use in addition to computers. The CPS indicated 18 percent of households in 1997 used the Internet. A decade later, in 2007, this percentage had more than tripled to 62 percent and increased to 73 percent in 2015. The percentage of households in the ACS using the Internet grew from 74 percent in 2013 to 77 percent in 2015.

• Households in metropolitan areas were more likely to report owning or using a desktop or laptop or a handheld device and subscribing to broadband Internet compared to their nonmetropolitan counterparts.
• States on the Pacific Coast and most states in the Northeast had higher levels of broadband Internet compared to the national average.
• Overall, 62 percent of American households had “high connectivity,” meaning they had three key computer and Internet items: a desktop or laptop, a handheld computer or smartphone, and a broadband Internet subscription. High connectivity was highest among households where the householder was less than 65 years old or had a household income of $150,000 or more.

Key Differences Between the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey

The Current Population Survey (CPS) has been collecting data about computer use since 1984 and Internet use since 1997. In 2013, the American Community Survey (ACS) also began collecting data on these topics as mandated by the 2008 Broadband Data Improvement Act. Strengths of the CPS data include the greater detail available through its longer questionnaire and its longer time series, whereas the ACS, with its larger sample size, provides estimates at more detailed levels of geography. Estimates of computer and Internet use vary between these surveys due to differences in weighting procedures, data collection methods, and question wording. Federal agencies use these statistics to measure and monitor the nationwide development of broadband networks and to allocate resources intended to increase access to broadband technologies, particularly among groups with traditionally low levels of access. State and local governments can use these statistics for similar purposes. Understanding how people in specific cities and towns use computers and the Internet will help businesses and nonprofits better serve their communities as well.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE BY SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS

Table 1 displays computer and Internet use for households by a variety of demographic, social, and geographic characteristics using data from the ACS. Among all households, about 78 percent had a desktop or laptop, 75 percent had a handheld computer such as a smartphone or other handheld wireless computer, and 77 percent had a broadband Internet subscription.

Householder age is an important factor for understanding computer ownership or use and Internet subscription. Households headed by a person 65 years and older

lagged behind households with younger householders on both indicators. Differences in desktop or laptop ownership or use among the under-65 age groups were small, with percentages ranging between 81 percent for households with householders aged 15 to 34, and 85 percent for the 35- to 44-year-old group. However, only 65 percent of households headed by a person aged 65 and older owned or used a desktop or laptop. Handheld computer ownership or use showed even more variation by age of householder. Ninety percent of households with householders aged 15 to 34 had a handheld computer, compared with 89 percent where the householder was aged 35 to 44, 78 percent where the householder was aged 45 to 64,

and 47 percent where the householder was 65 years and older. Similar to desktop or laptop ownership or use, there were narrow differences in broadband Internet subscription among the three younger age groups, with percentages ranging from 80 percent for the 45- to 64-year-old group to 84 percent for the 35- to 44-year-old group, compared with only 62 percent of households headed by a person aged 65 and older.

Computer and Internet use also varied according to race and Hispanic origin of the householder. Households with an Asian householder were most likely to own or use a desktop or laptop, own or use a handheld device, and have a broadband Internet subscription.

In contrast, households with a Black householder were the least likely to own or use each type of computer or to have a broadband subscription. Differences in ownership or use of handheld computers across households headed by each race and Hispanic origin were smaller than differences in desktop or laptop ownership or use or Internet subscription. For example, the gap between households headed by Asians and households headed by Blacks (the groups with the highest and lowest values) was 17 percentage points for handheld computers, but 24 percentage points for Internet subscription and 25 percentage points for desktop or laptop ownership or use.

Households with children under 18 years were more likely to have a

computer and Internet subscription than households without children. The proportion of households with children under 18 years that owned or used a desktop or laptop was 85 percent versus 75 percent of households without children. Households with children under 18 years were also more likely to have a broadband Internet subscription, 85 percent versus 73 percent of households without children. The gap for handheld computers was larger, at 89 percent versus 68 percent.

Desktop or laptop computers were found in 79 percent of nonlimited English-speaking households and 78 percent of nonlimited English-speaking households had a broadband Internet subscription. Among limited English-speaking

households, only 53 percent owned or used a desktop or laptop, and 55 percent had broadband Internet.³ The difference in handheld ownership or use among nonlimited English-speaking households compared to limited English-speaking households was smaller (76 percent versus 59 percent).

The share of households owning or using a computer, whether a desktop or laptop or handheld computer, increased with household income. The same pattern was observed for a broadband Internet subscription. The observed differences between income brackets decreased at higher incomes. For

³ A “limited English-speaking household” is one in which no member 14 years old and over (1) speaks only English or (2) speaks a non-English language and speaks English “very well.”

example, 52 percent of households earning less than $25,000 owned or used a desktop or laptop, compared with 73 percent of those earning $25,000 to $49,999 for a difference of about 21 percentage points. Meanwhile, the gap between desktop or laptop ownership or use for households with an income of $100,000 to $149,999 versus those with an income of $150,000 or more was only about 2 percentage points.

Computer and Internet use also differed by geography. Households in metropolitan areas were more likely to report owning or using a desktop or laptop (80 percent) and subscribing to broadband Internet (78 percent) than their nonmetropolitan counterparts (70 percent and 67 percent). The gap in handheld device ownership or use was even larger, with 77 percent of metropolitan households reporting ownership or use of a handheld device compared with 64 percent of nonmetropolitan households. This pattern of higher values for metropolitan areas was also observed for each region of the country—Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.⁴ Ownership or use of a desktop or laptop and broadband Internet subscription were highest among households in the West, followed by those in the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Ownership or use of handheld computers was also highest in the West (79 percent). Differences in ownership or use of handheld computers among other regions were small, with percentages ranging between 73 percent for the Midwest and 74 percent for the South and Northeast.⁵

⁴ The South was unique, the difference between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan households was somewhat larger for broadband Internet than handheld ownership or use.

⁵ The percentage of households that owned or used a handheld computer in the South and the Northeast both rounded to 74 percent. However, these percentages were statistically different from each other.

Computer and Internet use also varied according to householders’ educational attainment. The share of households owning or using a desktop or laptop, owning or using a handheld computer, and having broadband Internet increased with each level of education. Among households where the householder did not complete high school, 46 percent owned or used a desktop or laptop, about half owned or used a handheld device, and 48 percent had a broadband Internet subscription. In comparison, for homes where the householder held a bachelor’s degree, desktop or laptop ownership or use stood at 94 percent, handheld ownership or use stood at 87 percent, and broadband Internet stood at 91 percent.

Table 2 and Figure 2 further examine geographic differences in the percentage of households with a broadband Internet subscription.⁶ States on the Pacific coast and most states in the Northeast, such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts, had higher levels of broadband Internet compared to the national average (77 percent). These also tended to be the states with higher incomes compared to the nation.⁷ Utah and Colorado were also states with higher percentages of a broadband subscription. However, higher income did not guarantee a higher percentage of households with broadband. Although household income for the District of Columbia was higher than the national average, the percentage of households with broadband was not statistically different than the national average, at 77 percent for both. Conversely, the average household income

⁶ Table 2 and Figure 2 use data from the 2015 American Community Survey 1-year estimates.

⁷ For data showing household income for states, see the ranking tables for household income at https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_1YR_R1901.US01PRF&prodType=table

in Idaho was below the national average, yet the rate of broadband subscription was not statistically different from the national average and the District of Columbia. The states with the lowest rates of broadband, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico also had low median household incomes compared to the national average.⁸

Figure 3 presents broadband Internet and computer types by household and householder characteristics. ⁹ Overall, 62 percent of American households had “high connectivity,” meaning they had three key computer and Internet items: a desktop or laptop, a handheld computer or smartphone, and a broadband Internet subscription. Households where the householder was less than 65 years old were more likely to be highly connected compared with households headed by people 65 years and older. In fact, among households with a householder aged 65 and older, 39 percent lacked either a computer or a subscription to the Internet. Households with higher household income were also more likely to be highly connected. Of households with a household income of $150,000 or more, 90 percent had broadband, a desktop or laptop, and a handheld computer or smartphone. At the opposite end, among low-income households (income under $25,000), 50 percent had these key items.

Among race and Hispanic origin groups, Asians were the most likely to have a desktop or laptop, handheld device, and broadband subscription, as about 80 percent reported this combination of the

⁸ The percentage of households with a broadband Internet subscription in Alabama was not statistically different than the percentage of households with a broadband Internet subscription in Louisiana.

⁹ Figure 3 uses data from the 2015 American Community Survey 1-year estimates.