84% of U.S. Adults Use the Internet

Not everybody uses the Internet, but 84 percent of U.S. adults now do so, a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project says.

As you would expect, there are some continuing adoption differences by segment.

Older adults have lagged behind younger adults in their adoption, but now a clear majority (58 percent of senior citizens uses the Internet.

As has been the pattern historically, people with college educations are more likely than those who do not have high school diplomas to use the Internet.

Likewise, people who live in households earning more than $75,000 are more likely to be Internet users than those living in households earning less than $30,000.

But all gaps have narrowed over the past 15 years, Pew says.

In fact, the biggest gains have come from the segments that historically have used the Internet less, namely older users, less-educated users and lower-income users.

Gaps in other areas also have narrowed. Today, 78 percent of blacks and 81 percent of Hispanics use the internet, compared to 85 percent of whites and 97 percent of English-speaking Asian Americans.

Those who live in rural areas still are less likely than those in the suburbs and urban areas to use the Internet. But rural Internet use rural Internet use has grown to 78 percent.