According to a recent eMarketer article, the Employment Policy Foundation (EPF) reports that 54.5 million (51%) of US households have at least one computer. The EPF predicts that by November 2002, 68.2 million US households will have computers and 66.9 million will have a computer and internet access.
Millions of US households
with
Computer and Internet Access +----------+----------+--------------+ | | Computer | Computer and | | | | Internet |
+----------+----------+--------------+ | | | | | Nov 2002 | 68.2 M | 66.9 | | Aug 2000 | 54.5 | 43.5 | | Dec 1998 | 43.9 | 26.6 |
+----------+----------+--------------+
The number of computers at home differs, however, depending on household income. In 2000, 80.7% of upper income households had computers while 41.2% of lower income households did as well.
The EPF report also notes that internet activity can differ for lower and upper income households also. Although both utilize the internet frequently for e-mail, 40% of lower income quartile households learn online.
US Household Use Of Internet by Income, 2000
+-----------------+----------+----------+ | | Upper | Lower | | | Quartile | Quartile | +-----------------+----------+----------+ | EMail | 77.7% |
75.3 | | Job Search | 18.9 | 12.8 | | Online Learning | 18.2 | 40.0 | +-----------------+----------+----------+
And, the penetration of computer ownership as a percent of households by state is also reported:
Computer Ownership by State (% of HH) +---------------+-----------+ | Top Five | Computer | |
| Ownership | +---------------+-----------+ | Alaska | 67.0% | | Utah | 66.8 | | New Hampshire | 64.3 | | Colorado | 63.2 | | Oregon | 61.2 |
+---------------+-----------+ +---------------+-------+ | Bottom Five | | +---------------+-------+ | West Virginia | 43.0% | | Oklahoma | 42.1 | | Louisiana | 42.0 | | Mississippi
| 38.7 | | Arkansas | 38.5 | +---------------+-------+
Source (all data): Employment Policy Foundation, 2001 as reported by emarketer.