Pew Research recently posted a lot of facts about broadband, smartphones and the digital divide. I thought the following would be of interesting to readers…
Over the years, some of the biggest and most consistent divides in home internet access have been by household income. That remains true today.
Americans in households making under $30,000 a year are far less likely than those with higher incomes to subscribe to home broadband. In this lowest-income group, 54% do, compared with 94% of those in the highest-income households – a 40 percentage point gap.
When it comes to the communities people live in, urban and rural Americans subscribe to home broadband at similar rates. But both groups are less likely than suburban adults to do so.
Black and Hispanic adults are also less likely than White or Asian adults to subscribe to broadband.
Changes over time
Overall, the share of Americans who subscribe to broadband has held fairly steady in the past few years. That’s also true for many demographic groups.
But between 2023 and now, it dipped slightly among young adults and Hispanic adults:
- 71% of those ages 18 to 29 now subscribe to broadband at home, down from 78% in 2023.
- 68% of Hispanic adults do, down from 75% in 2023.
For more on how these shares have changed over the past two decades, read our fact sheet on internet and broadband use.
