Good internet service is still a luxury in the US
Just over half of Americans making less than $30,000 a year have home broadband, a service that’s increasingly important for numerous aspects of life, from school to work to socializing. A much higher 92 percent of households bringing in $75,000 or more per year have home broadband, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center.
“That gap has been persistent even as the number of people who live in poor households has gone up over the years,” according to Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at Pew, which has been surveying broadband access for two decades.
Broadband access varies by other demographic factors as well. People without college degrees were less likely to have broadband than people with more education. Black and Hispanic people were less likely to have it than their white counterparts. But income was one of the most important determinators as to whether or not people had broadband.
That’s due to the high cost of internet in the United States — about $60 a month — which is more than many Americans can afford. Nearly half of those without broadband don’t have it because they say it’s too expensive, according to the survey. Broadband in the US is more expensive than in many other developed nations.
