Broadband penetration affected by household income

Almost three-quarters of American households are now subscribed to broadband internet, but penetration is still quite dependant on household income. Even with more households signing on for broadband, advertisers need to be aware that by focusing only on broadband households they may be missing a large segment of the population.

by Kristina Knight

Leichtman Research Group studied 1,600 households in the US to come to their conclusions. They found that 72% of all home Internet subscriptions are broadband subscriptions; that is a 12% increase over 2006. Researchers also found that income is a large factor in whether or not broadband access is in a home or not.

They found that 68% of households with annual incomes over $50,000 have broadband Internet access. In 2006 that percentage was 59%. Comparatively 39% of households with annual incomes under $50,000 have broadband access. Last year 27% of households with income under $50,000 had broadband access.

In the next five years, Leichtman researchers expect to see more than 40 million broadband subscribers. Still, broadband penetration will be highly dependant on household income. Some families simply aren't able to afford computers or home access points. Therefore, online advertising efforts should be tempered to reach both affluent, middle income and low income families - and some of those dollars will need to be spent offline.