Telephone Penetration by Income Report

The Federal Communications Commission released a report presenting data on telephone penetration levels on a state-by-state basis for various income categories. The report presents penetration statistics based on individual household data from the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in March 2007. 1) In March 2007, penetration among low-income households (under $10,000 annual income in 1984 dollars) nationwide was 88.4%. This contrasts with an overall nationwide penetration rate of 94.6% in March 2007. 2) Since 1985, when the FCC first established Lifeline to help low-income households afford the monthly cost of telephone service, penetration rates among low-income households have grown from 80.0% to 88.4%. 3) States that have provided a high level of lifeline support for telephone service for low-income consumers experienced an average growth in penetration of 3.2% for low-income households from March 1997 to March 2007. In contrast, states that provided a low level of lifeline support experienced an average decline of 0.6% in telephone penetration rates for low-income households between March 1997 and March 2007. 4) Penetration rates among low-income households ranged from a high of 94.9% in Vermont to a low of 79.4% in Arkansas in March 2007.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280981A1.doc