Internet Use: 2013

It used to be fun to track Internet adoption statistics, watching the numbers climb higher each year. Now, with Internet use almost universal in most segments of the population, tracking Internet adoption is about as interesting as tracking television adoption. It's a done deal.

Still, there's something to be learned in the demographics of Internet use. Among all Americans aged 18 or older, 85 percent use the Internet, according to a Pew survey fielded in April and May 2013. This is up from 73 percent five years ago and 63 percent ten years ago.

Use of the Internet is nearly universal among 18-to-49-year-olds (92 to 98 percent), college graduates (96 percent), those with household incomes of $50,000 or more (94 to 96 percent), and parents of children under age 18 (93 percent).

Here are the Internet use rates of the demographic segments least likely to be online: 56 percent of people aged 65 or older, 59 percent of people without a high school diploma (many of them older), 76 percent of people with household incomes below $30,000 (many of them older), and 76 percent of Hispanics.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, Internet Adoption Becomes Nearly Universal among Some Groups, but Others Lag Behind