Digitally Unconnected in the US: Who’s Not Online and Why?

When she announced the Commerce Department's Digital Economy Agenda a year ago, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker emphasized that broadband Internet access and digital skills are critical to the economy's success. The digital marketplace has created millions of new jobs in the United States. Digitally connected Americans are the modern workers, creative innovators, and new customers who will help sustain our nation's global competitiveness. But what about those Americans who do not use the Internet? Whether by circumstance or by choice, millions of US households are not online, and thus unable to meaningfully participate in the digital economy. Data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's July 2015 Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey confirm that the digital divide persists.

In 2015, 33 million households (27 percent of all US households) did not use the Internet at home, where families can more easily share Internet access and conduct sensitive online transactions privately. Significantly, 26 million households--one-fifth of all households--were offline entirely, lacking a single member who used the Internet from any location in 2015. As we previously reported, non-Asian minorities and people with disabilities were among those groups most likely not to use the Internet at home, as were those with lower incomes and lower levels of educational attainment. The reasons these and other offline households gave in 2015 reflect a consistent pattern since 2001, which is when NTIA first asked why people did not use the Internet at home.