55% of U.S. Households Have Web Access

Posted on November 6, 2005

ClickZ reports that new U.S. Census data says that 62 million U.S. households -- 55% of U.S. households -- have PCs and web access. ClickZ says this an increase of 5% since the 2001 figure of 50%. However, poor demographics do not have nearly as much web access the affluent.

Home Web use continues to skew toward more affluent, younger and educated demographics. Both computer ownership and Web use are lower in households comprised of seniors, among blacks and Hispanics and among households comprised of people with less than a high school education.
Conversely, nearly all households earning over $100,000 -- 95 percent -- own at least one computer, and 92 percent are online. In homes earning under $40,000, the online figure plummets to 41 percent.

Something needs to be done to improve the gap in web access between in the wealthy and the poor. However, there are a few households that simply don't want web access.

Of the 45 percent of households without Web access in 2003, the most common reasons given were: "don't need it/not interested (39 percent); and costs too much" or "no computer/computer inadequate" (each 23 percent). Two percent cited Web access elsewhere. Issues of privacy, child safety and security concerns were rarely cited, each accounting for only one percent of the reasons.