Internet users with over $ 150K income grew by 31% in 2003

April 21, 2004

Source: eMarketer.com

According to Nielsen//NetRatings, affluent households are the fastest growing Internet-user income bracket in the US, with the unique audience of those who make over $150,000 increasing by 31% since last year. Nielsen's income levels are based on the combined total household earnings for the year.

The top three groups that Nielsen defined, with incomes $75,000 and up, all grew by more than 20% in the past year, while the bottom three groups all grew by less than 20%. In terms of actual numbers, the $75,000 and over brackets added only a bit more users, about 11 million, compared to about 10.5 million added by the lower three.

The highest-income Internet users make broadband connections, like cable or DSL, by a 2-to-1 margin over narrowband or dial-up users. The top bracket also uses broadband twice as much as those earning $25,000 to $49,999, and almost three times as much as the lowest bracket, those making less than $25,000.

Nielsen attributes the greater number of broadband users among the affluent as compared to the less affluent to the higher cost of broadband service compared to dial-up. Using the Internet with broadband is not only faster, it allows the user access to streaming audio and video, flash Web sites, file downloads that take minutes instead of hours, and doesn’t require a phone line to be tied up. However, it is also typically $10 to $20 more per month than narrowband, and thus may be too much of an unnecessary expense for a household on a tight budget.

A report from 2002 by Leichtman Research Group indicates that the wealthy have had a longtime interest in broadband and have been more interested in upgrading to it than other income groups. It seems likely that both the amount of wealthy Internet users and the percent using broadband will continue to see healthy growth in the future.

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