U.S. household adoption of broadband Internet continues to grow, says the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, although gaps remain among income levels and locations.

Based on data from the Census Bureau, the NTIA says in a report released Nov. 9 that 68 percent of U.S. households have broadband Internet access service, up 54 percentage points from one year earlier. About 71 percent of households have Internet access, although dial-up users continue to be an ever-dwindling minority.

Although nearly all households with a computer have some form of Internet access, there nonetheless remains a 6 point percentage gap between the two categories, since while 77 percent of households have a computer, only 71 percent connect to the Internet at home.

Broadband penetration has a high correlation to income, with 43 percent of households making less than $25,000 annually having broadband, but 93 percent of households with incomes of more than $100,000 buying the service.

DSL and cable modem are the most common connection methods, with 23 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of households utilizing them. Only 3 percent utilize a fiber optic connection, the NTIA says, the same percentage as those who use a dial up service.

Broadband penetration is higher in urban, metropolitan areas than in rural, non-metropolitan areas, at 70 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

The most broadband plugged-in state by percentage is Utah, with 80 percent of households subscribing to it. (Although Utah isn't known for its cities, about 80 percent of the state's population is concentrated in the Wasatch Front, which contains Salt Lake City.) Arkansas and Mississippi tie for the last place in ranking household broadband adoption, with 52 percent for each.

As a side note, the NTIA report also finds that while 58 percent of nationwide households have a personal computer, and 17 percent have a personal computer and a handheld device such as a tablet, only 2 percent of households have just a handheld device. Twenty three percent of households have no computer, whether in tablet form or not.

For more:
- download the NTIA report (.pdf)

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