Broadband adoption in the United States continues to exhibit steady growth, with 17% more American adults having broadband at home in April 2008 than was the case roughly a year earlier. Fully 55% of Americans reported having a high-speed internet connection at home in our April survey, up from 47% in March 2007. The share of Americans with broadband at home in our April 2008 survey is little changed from the 54% of Americans who said they had broadband at home in our December 2007 survey.

The chart below shows growth rates in broadband adoption in recent years.

This highpoint in our surveys for home broadband adoption also marks a low in the use of dial-up as a way to access the internet. Just 10% of American adults say they use dial-up internet connections at home to go online.

Although growth in broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008 was comparable to the 2006-2007 timeframe, the sources of recent growth differ from prior years. Over the past year, growth in broadband adoption at home was strong among lower-middle income Americans, and those over the age of 50. However, several groups that had shown strong rates of broadband uptake in past years slowed in the 2007-2008 timeframe. Specifically:

• Low-income Americans – defined as those who say their annual household incomes are $20,000 or below. This group showed a change in adoption from 28% in 2007 to 25% in 2008. This recorded decline in broadband adoption is within the margin of error for the surveys, suggesting that adoption was basically flat in this group. Some 14% of the sample reported having an annual household income at $20,000 or less.
• African Americans: The share of African-Americans with broadband at home increased from 40% to 43% from 2007 to 2008. This change is also within the margin of error for the surveys, suggesting little or no growth in broadband adoption for African Americans from 2007 to 2008.
• Urban dwellers: Although 57% of those in urban areas have broadband at home, this represented a growth of 10% from the 2007 level.
• Upper-income Americans: Among those living in households with annual incomes in excess of $100,000, broadband adoption grew from 82% to 85% from 2007 to 2008. This is a modest 4% growth rate at penetration levels nearing saturation.

These slow or flat growth rates were compensated by faster growth in broadband adoption in two sizable (and not mutually exclusive) groups of Americans:

• Older Americans: Respondents age 50 and over, which make up 43% of the entire sample, reported a 26% growth in broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008. Half (50%) of those in the 50 through 64 age bracket had broadband at home by April 2008 and 19% of senior citizens (those 65 and older) did.
• Suburban and Rural Americans: These two regions – two-thirds of the adult population – registered a 22% increase in broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008. Fully 60% of suburbanites and 38% of rural residents reported having broadband at home in our 2008 survey.

It is also worth noting that some 28% of respondents who have not completed high school said they have broadband at home in 2008, a 33% increase relative to 2007. This growth rate applies to a group that made up 13% of the sample.

The chart below displays the growth rates from 2007 to 2008 across the disaggregated income categories. The figures at either end of the income distribution show poor performance among low income Americans and little growth among upper income Americans; broadband adoption grew from 82% to 85% from 2007 to 2008 in households with annual incomes above $100,000. Broadband adoption is approaching a saturation point for upper income Americans.

Many respondents do not tell us what their income is, but they do share whether they have high-speed connections at home. Among the roughly 20% of respondents who refuse to answer the income question, 34% had broadband connections at home in 2007; for respondents from our 2008 survey who did not provide information on income 41% had broadband at home. This is a growth rate of 21% from 2007 to 2008.