The PEW Internet and American Life Project has come out with a new study about internet use based on household income that includes some data on how these segments use search. There’s also interesting stuff here about how income correlates to likelihood to rate and review products, pay for online content, book travel, and access online news.

The top-level conclusions are that Americans in higher income brackets (over $75,000 a year) use the internet more often than those in lower income brackets. Those in higher income brackets are also more likely to have broadband access), which PEW has previously correlated to higher internet usage. the study correlates income to mobile device usage as well as PEW found that a greater percentage of higher income households (95% vs 83%) own cell phones.

How Americans In Higher Income Brackets use the Internet

The study found that 95% of Americans making over $75,000 a year use the internet and that among them:

93% use email

80% access news online

88% conduct online product research

83% make travel reservations online

81% purchase products and services online

80% research medical information online

[...]

Health information

80% in the higher income groups search for information on medical issues vs. 54% of those in lower income brackets.

54% in the higher income groups search for information on doctors vs. 32% of those in the lower income brackets.

Product research

88% in the higher income groups research products online vs. 67% in the lower income brackets.

81% in the higher income groups by products online vs. 51% of the lower income brackets.

40% in the higher income groups rate and review products vs. 29% of those in the lower income brackets who review products and 21% of those in the lower income brackets who rate products.

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