• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 18, 2007

Broadband and Household Income Go Hand-In-Hand

New consumer research, Broadband Access and Service in the Home 2007,from Leichtman Research Group, finds that 53% of all US households now subscribe to a broadband high-speed Internet service at home. Broadband services now account for about 72% of all home Internet subscriptions, compared to 60% last year.

While broadband subscriptions continued to increase across the country in the past year, broadband penetration remains strongly correlated with household income.

• 68% of all households with annual incomes over $50,000 now get broadband vs.  59% last year
• 39% of all households with annual incomes under $50,000 get broadband vs. 27% last year
• Other findings include:

• While 81% of all US households have at least one computer, only 56% of those with annual household incomes under $30,000 have a computer at home
• Just 45% of households with annual incomes below $30,000 subscribe to an Internet service at home - compared to 92% of households with annual incomes above $75,000
• Overall, only 7% of all Internet subscribers say that broadband is not available in their area

Nearly three-quarters of households in the US now subscribe to an Internet service, and broadband has grown to account for over 70% of all online subscribers at home. LRG forecasts the total number of broadband subscribers will increase by over 40 million over the next five years."

Other TV ownership information:

• 70% of all TV sets in cable households are not connected to a set-top box
• 42% of households that subscribe to cable TV do not have any cable set-top boxes
• The mean number of TV sets in digital cable households is 3.1, compared to 2.7 in analog cable households; 2.9 in DBS households (where cable is available); and 2.1 in households that do not subscribe to a TV service
• Just 36% of all TV sets in the U.S. are currently connected to a cable or DBS set-top converter box.