MAIN Technology

East Coast, West Coast
- But Not in the Middle
Internet Use Is Highest On Eastern & Western Seaboard

Depending on where you live in the US, you may take Internet use for granted...or not.

On the West Coast and the East Coast, the majority of people are online. Wireless computer hotspots are relatively easy to find and telecommuting is catching on with 3 million users reporting that they spend less time in traffic because of their computers.

When you wander into the heartland, however, the Internet is still used by less than half of the people. While some farmers may be trading in their Sears and Roebuck catalog for an online shopping spree or checking the crop reports on their PC, most of their friends are sticking to more traditional ways to shop, get information and communicate.

Even among Internet users there seem to be differences in the things they do online in depending on where they live. “Our research over the last three years shows that regional variations in Internet usage by adults is driven, by among other things, variations in income and education levels in different regions,” said Tom Spooner, the Research Specialist at the Pew Internet Project who authored the report, Internet Use by Region in the United States.

Some other info-bites in the report:

• Midwesterners are disproportionately likely to say they use the Internet to get news.
• Users in the Mountain States, on the other hand, are not very avid online news consumers.
• Compared to other regions, a high proportion of those in the South look for health information online.
• Users in New England and California are most likely to shop online. Those in the South and Southeast are the least likely to do so.
• The largest proportion of female users is in the Mid-Atlantic (54%); the largest proportion of male users is in New England (55%). Nationally, the user population is split evenly between men and women.
• Users in the Pacific Northwest are the most likely to go online on a typical day; those in the South are the least likely.
• California has the highest concentration of home broadband users; the Mountain States have the lowest.

The report utilizes tracking poll data from 2000, 2001 and 2002. Figures about the size of the Internet population in each region was obtained from all three years, while primary demographic and usage analysis was on 2001 data.

Source: Pew Press Release

More on Internet Usage around the Web:

The Geograpy of Cyberspace - Links to resources for measuring and mapping Internet usage including an Atlas of cyberspace.

Internet Traffic Report - Computer sluggish today? Check to see the flow of data in regions around the world as traffic speeds and slows throughout the day with updates every five minutes.