Who pays for local news in the US?

A majority of US adults believe their local news media are doing well financially (71%), even as only 14% say they have paid for local news themselves in the past year, either through subscribing, donating or becoming a member. Some key findings about who pays for local news in the US:

• Older Americans, white adults, those with college degrees more likely to pay. Around three-in-ten (29%) of those ages 65 and older and 15% of those 50 to 64 say they have paid a local news organization in the past year. By comparison, just 9% of those ages 30 to 49 and 7% of those 18 to 29 say they have done so. White Americans and those with a college education are also more likely to pay for local news than their counterparts. For example, a little over two-in-ten Americans with a college degree (22%) say they have paid for local news in the past year, compared with 13% of those with some college education and just one-in-ten of those with a high school diploma or less.
• Americans who prefer print news products are more likely to pay for local news. About four-in-ten of these news consumers (39%) say they have paid for local news in the past year. That is more than double the share among those who prefer to get news either from the radio (16%) or news websites or apps (12%), and around four times the share of those who prefer to get local news from TV (10%). It also far exceeds the share among those who prefer to get local news via social media (8%).
• Civic engagement, community attachment increase likelihood of paying for news. Roughly three-in-ten (29%) of those who are highly active in their local community say they have paid for local news in the past year. That is almost twice the rate of those who are somewhat active (14%) and about five times the rate of those who are inactive in their community (6%).