Rural Areas And The Internet – Internet penetration has grown in rural communities, but the gap between them and suburban and urban communities has remained constant over time.

There has been steady penetration of the Internet into rural areas in recent years and more than half of rural adults — 52% — now go online. However, a corresponding rise in the percentage of urban and suburban residents going online has left a persistent gap between rural areas and the rest of the country.

Some 67% of urban residents and 66% of suburbanites are online. A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that the gap is probably tied to the fact that rural residents as a group earn less and are older than their urban and suburban counterparts.

http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Rural_Report.pdf