Four in Five of All U.S. Adults – an Estimated 178 Million – Go Online

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest Harris Poll, the number of adults who are online at home, in the office, at school, library or other locations continues to grow at a steady rate. In the past year, the number of online users has reached an estimated 178 million¹, a ten percent increase.

“Excluding email, how many hours per week, on average, do you typically spend on the Internet or World Wide Web?”

In research among 2,062 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone in July and October, 2007, Harris Interactive^® found that 79 percent of adults are now online. This is a steady rise over the past few years, from 77 percent in February/April 2006, 74 percent in February/April 2005, 66 percent in the spring of 2002, 64 percent in 2001 and 57 percent in Spring of 2000. When Harris Interactive first began to track Internet use in 1995, only nine percent of adults reported they went online.

The amount of time that people are spending online has also risen. The average number of hours per week that people are spending online is now at 11 hours, up from 9 hours last year and 8 hours in 2005.

Internet Access Increases at Home and at Work

The proportion of adults who are now online at home has risen to 72 percent, up from 70 percent in 2006 and 66 percent in the spring of 2005. The percentage of those online at work has also risen, now at 37 percent, and up from 35 percent in 2006. The largest increase is among those adults who are online at a location other than their home or work as this has risen from 22 percent in 2006 to 31 percent today. It appears people who do not have access at home or work are increasingly turning to other outlets to get online.

The Demographic Profile of Internet Users in the United States Looks Like the Country as a Whole

As Internet penetration continues to grow, the demographic profile of Internet users continues to look more like that of the nation as a whole. It is still true that more young than older people, and more affluent than low-income people, are online. However, nine percent of those online are now age 65 or over (compared to 16% of all adults who are 65 or over), 39 percent of those online (compared to 47% of all adults) did not attend at least some college and 13 percent have incomes of less than $25,000 (compared to 17% of all adults).

TABLE 1
ONLINE FROM HOME, WORK OR OTHER LOCATION - TRENDS 1995–2007
“At home, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At work, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At another location, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
"Excluding email, how many hours per week, on average, do you typically spend on the Internet or World Wide Web?"
Base: All adults
	Online Adults				Average (Mean) Hours Per Week Spent Online
	Total	Online at Home	Online at Work	Online at Other Location
	%	%	%	%
2007
July/October	79	72	37	31	11
2006
February/April	77	70	35	22	9
2005
February/April	74	66	36	21	9
2004
June/ August	73	65	34	17	8
2003
October/December	69	61	31	16	9
2002
November/December	67	57	28	18	7
February/March	66	55	30	19	8
2001
September/October	64	52	28	19	7
March/April	64	53	27	20	7
2000
October/November	63	49	29	17	7
April/May	57	45	24	15	7
1999
December	56	46	N/A	N/A	7
1998
January/February	35	22	22	N/A	N/A
1997
May/June	30	16	18	N/A	N/A
1996
June/September	19	16	16	N/A	N/A
1995
September/November	9	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Note: N/A means “not asked”

TABLE 2
PC AND INTERNET USE - TRENDS 1995-2007
”Do you personally use a computer at home, work or another location?”
“At home, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At work, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At another location, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
Base: All adults
	Proportion of All Adults (from work, home, school or other location)		Percent of Computer Users Who Are Online
	Use PC	Are Online
	%	%	%
2007
July/October	81	79	97
2006
February/April	81	77	95
2005
February/April	79	74	94
2004
June/ August	78	73	93
2003
October/December	75	69	92
2002
November/December	74	67	92
February/March	74	66	90
2001
September/October	73	64	88
March/April	72	64	89
2000
October/November	74	63	85
April/May	69	57	83
1999
December	69	56	81
June/July	65	48	74
January/February	63	41	65
1998
January/February	63	35	56
1997
May/June	61	30	49
1996
June/September	54	19	35
1995
September/November	50*	9	18
Notes:
1. All samples of 2,000 or more adults, conducted by telephone.
2. "Are Online" includes all adults who use Internet from home, office, school, library or other location.
* Estimated from other sources.

TABLE 3
PROFILE OF ONLINE POPULATION
(July/October 2007)
“At home, do you personally use a computer to Access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At work, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At another location, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
Base: All adults
	Total U.S. Adult Online Population	Total U.S. Adult Population*	Percentage Point Difference
	%	%	%
AGE
18 – 29	25	22	+3
30 – 39	20	18	+2
40 – 49	21	20	+1
50+	32	40	-8
50 – 64	23	24	-1
65+	9	16	-7
SEX
Men	50	48	+2
Women	50	52	-2
RACE/ETHNICITY
White	73	75	-2
Black	13	11	+2
Hispanic	13	13	0
EDUCATION
High school or less	39	47	-8
Some college	30	27	+3
College graduate (or postgraduate)	30	26	+4
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $25,000	13	17	-4
$25,000 to less than $50,000	23	22	+1
$50,000 and over	53	51	+2
* Based on data from the March 2007 U.S. Current Population Survey

TABLE 4
ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF ADULTS WHO ARE ONLINE (IN MILLIONS)
“At home, do you personally use a computer to Access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At work, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
“At another location, do you personally use a computer to access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
Base: All adults
	In Millions
2007
July/October	178*
2006
February/April	172
2005
February/April	163
2004
June/August	156
2003
October/December	146
2002
November/December	140
February/March	137
2001
September/October	127
March/April	126
2000
October/November	121
April/May	114
1999
December	113
1998
January/February	70
1997
May/June	59
1996
June/September	33
1995
September/November	17.5
* Based on July 2006 U.S. Census estimate released January 2007 (225,600,000 total adults aged 18 or over)

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States in July 2007 (July 10 and 16, 2007) and October 2007 (October 16 and 22, 2007) among 2,062 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, size of place (urbanicity) and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

J31426 & J31986

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and one of the fastest-growing market research firms in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

¹ Based on July 2006 U.S. Census estimate released January 2007 (225,600,000 total U.S. adults aged 18 or over).