As the internet has increasingly gone mobile, laptop computers have grown in popularity. Since 2006, the proportion of Americans who own a desktop computer has fallen slightly from 68% to 59%, while the proportion with a laptop computer has increased dramatically—from 30% in April 2006 to 52% in September 2010.

18-29 year olds are currently the only major demographic group for whom laptops are notably more commonplace than desktop computers. Nearly three-quarters of 18-29 year olds (72%) own a laptop computer, compared with 56% who have a desktop computer. Overall, computer ownership is most prevalent within higher-income households, as more than nine in ten households with an annual income of $50,000 or more contain a computer of some kind.

Interestingly, rural residents are just as likely as non-rural residents to own a desktop computer (56% of rural residents and 61% of non-rural residents do so) but are significantly less likely than non-rural dwellers to own a laptop computer (39% vs. 55%).