7% of Americans Depend on Smartphone to Access the Internet

A study from the Pew Research Center finds that compared with smartphone owners from households earning $75,000 or more per year, those from households earning less than $30,000 annually are nearly twice as likely to use a smartphone to look for information about a job. (PHOTO CREDIT: Elizabeth Weise)

For 7% of Americans, a smartphone is their only readily available option for accessing the Internet, a survey by the Pew Research Center finds.

“Their phone is really their primary access point for all of the things we take for granted in the online space,” said Aaron Smith, a Pew researcher who helped write the report.

Online access has become increasingly necessary merely to function in the world. About 89% of adult Americans use the Internet, previous Pew research has found.

Many Americans use a mix of ways to get online, which can include a computer, tablet or phone at home, at work or through a friend or at a library.

But 7% are what Pew terms “smartphone reliant” — their phone is their only way to get online.

These smartphone-dependent users are younger, poorer, less-educated and more likely to be a member of a minority than the rest of the nation.

The survey found that 15% of Americans ages 18 to 29 are dependent on their phones for online access.

Of people with annual household incomes of less than $30,000 per year, 13% were smartphone-dependent.

In contrast, just 1% of Americans who live in households that earn more than $75,000 were only able to access the Internet via a smartphone.

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SOURCE: USA Today, Elizabeth Weise