Pew Internet Study: How Much Americans Go Online

With all the chatter about the Internet of Things, there is still one core consumer behavior that’s driving nearly every move across the payments and commerce industry.

Being hyper-connected via devices. AKA: the Internet. But just how addicted are American consumers to being on the Web? Well, it might not be that much of a surprise that the simple answer is: very.

A newly release study from Pew Research Center shows that most Americans are online everyday. In fact, 73 percent said they use the Internet daily. Of those surveyed, 21 percent of those survey said they are on the Internet “almost constantly”; 42 percent said “several times a day”; 10 percent said once a day; 6 percent said “several times a week” and 7 percent said “less often.” The breakdown of consumers who said they aren’t on the Internet daily was 13 percent.

Three-quarters of Americans go online at least dailyNot surprising from the data was that younger generations (ages 18-29) fell most into the “almost constantly, category, with 36 percent of that age range reporting that result. Teens, of course, were the highest population — with 92 percent reporting they go online daily. The same results fro the next age group of 30-29 was 28 percent reporting the same results. As the age ranges went up, the time on the Internet dropped.

Higher educated consumers, as well as those with higher incomes reporting being on the Internet more, and when broken down by race and income, black respondents were higher Internet users than compared to the same comparison of white or hispanic populations.

When factoring in smartphone/tablet users, usage also went up. Mobile device owners reported going online 87 percent daily, while those without smartphones or tablets only did 65 percent. Those surveyed included 2,001 American consumers ages 18 and above.