Overview

Rural Internet use has grown over the past four years, but in some ways, rural areas continue to be a frontier. Though growing, rural Internet penetration has remained roughly 10 percentage points behind the national average in each of the last four years. This gap is probably has to do with the low population density and high cost of service in these locales, as well as the lower levels of income and education that characterize rural areas. Additionally, a large portion of the rural population is 65 or older, and past studies have consistently found that older Americans are among the least likely to go online. But matters of cost and demographics are not the only distinguishing feature of rural areas’ relationship to the Internet. Rural Internet users are distinctive in some ways for what they do and don’t do online. They are more likely than others accessed religious or spiritual content. In addition, they are more likely to have used instant messaging. On the other hand, they are less likely than others to have engaged in transaction activities such as online banking and online purchases. The differences covered in this report indicate that the rural Internet experience isn’t identical to more urbanized ones, nor is it following an identical trajectory.