Unplugged: NTIA Survey Finds Some Americans Still Avoid Home Internet Use

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) most recent Internet Use Survey depicts a rapidly evolving nation eager to take advantage of technological innovation. Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables are increasingly dominating the computing landscape, as more Americans than ever use the Internet. Yet a portion of the population still does not use the Internet at home, consistent with findings in previous NTIA and US Census Bureau surveys on Internet use. According to the most recent data collected in 2017, 22 percent of US households—approximately 28 million households in total—did not use the Internet from home, with most citing either lack of interest or concern about price. The proportion of offline households citing lack of need or interest has increased from 39 percent in 2009 to 58 percent in 2017, while concerns about expense has remained about the same over that time period. Meanwhile, those citing lack of adequate computing equipment decreased from 21 percent of offline households in 2009 to just 4 percent in 2017.