--- title: "Part 1: Basic Demographics of Online Teens and Their Families" description: "Introduction: Demographics According to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project telephone survey fielded in October and November 2004, 87% of American youth aged 12 to 17 go online.[2.numoffset=”2″ Throughout this report, we refer to the age cohort of 12- to-17-year-olds as “teenagers.” The standard telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Internet & American […]" date: "2005-07-27" authors: - name: "Amanda Lenhart" job_title: "Former Director of Teens and Technology Research at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/amanda-lenhart/" - name: "Mary Madden" job_title: "Former Senior Researcher" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/mary-madden/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2005/07/27/part-1-basic-demographics-of-online-teens-and-their-families/" --- # Part 1: Basic Demographics of Online Teens and Their Families ### Introduction: Demographics According to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project telephone survey fielded in October and November 2004, 87% of American youth aged 12 to 17 go online.[2.numoffset="2" Throughout this report, we refer to the age cohort of 12- to-17-year-olds as “teenagers.” The standard telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project involve those age 18 and older, so we do not include them in our surveys of younger Americans.] That represents roughly 21 million teens who use the internet in some aspect of their lives. The online teen population has increased by roughly 24% since we last asked this question in a survey in December 2000.[3. Lenhart, A. Rainie, L. & Lewis, O., *Teenage Life Online: The rise of the instant-message generation and the Internet's impact on friendships and family relationships*, Pew Internet & American Life Project, June 21, 2001. [https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/PPF/r/36/report_display.asp](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/PPF/r/36/report_display.asp).] On the flip side, 13% of American teenagers do not use the Internet. About half (47%) of teens who say they do not go online have been online before but have since dropped off. ![Demographics of Teen Sample](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/EC4174BFFD704C259931422023A4C87C.jpg) Parents of teens are also much more likely to go online than the average American adult. Some 80% of parents who have teenagers go online, compared to 66% of all American adults. Parents with teenagers who use the internet have even higher levels of connectivity, with 84% of them reporting internet use. ### African-Americans are the least likely to be online. ![Demographics of Online Families](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/1568A6E935DF452AA5F22DAC32CCF45F.jpg) In our current survey, white[4.numoffset="4" Race and ethnicity in this survey is asked of parents. The question reads as follows: “What is your race or ethnicity?” While we extrapolate this race report to the child, it is possible that in certain circumstances that some youth do not self-identify with the same race or ethnicity as their parent.] and English-speaking Hispanic[5. The Pew Internet Project conducts its surveys in English. Thus, anyone not able to complete a survey in English would be excluded from the study.] teens are more likely than African-American teens to report going online. Among whites, 87% of teens say they go online. Similarly, 89% of Hispanic youth in this study say they go online. By comparison, 77% of African-American youth go online. All three of these groups are more likely to be online than the overall population of American adults, of whom, 66% go online. Teens of all races are also more likely to be online than their parents. Overall, 80% of parents go online, and 84% of parents of online teens go online themselves. When broken down by race, 82% of white parents and 81% of English-speaking Hispanic parents go online. By stark contrast, just 62% of African-American parents go online. In all cases, however, parents are more likely to go online than non-parents, regardless of race or ethnicity. ### Most teens have logged on by the 7th grade. Starting Junior High seems to be the moment when most teens who were not previously online get connected. About 60% of the 6th graders in our sample reported using the Internet. By 7th grade, this number jumps to 82% of teens who are online. From there, the percentage of internet users in the teen population for each grade climbs steadily before topping out at 94% for all 11th and 12th graders. Much of the lag among 6th graders appears to come from boys. Less than half (44%) of 6th grade boys report going online, compared to 79% of 6th grade girls. ![Percentage of Teens Online by Grade](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/A18130F4A4FC4240A0DEA78355D85CEB.jpg) Older teens, aged 15-17, go online more frequently than younger teens. Some 59% of wired teens aged 15-17 go online once a day or more, while 43% of younger teens report going online that frequently. By comparison, 11% of 12- to 14-year-olds say they go online every few weeks, compared to just 6% of older teens. Only 6% of 6th graders go online several times a day compared to one-quarter (25%) of 8th graders and close to 2 in 5 (39%) 12th graders. On the other side of the use spectrum, one in five (20%) of 6th graders go online just every few weeks compared to a mere 8% of 8th graders and 5% of high school seniors. ### Teens from the poorest families lag behind. As is the case with adult use of the internet, teens from the lowest-income families are the least likely to report use of the internet. Teens from households earning under $30,000 per year are less likely than any other income group to report internet use. Less than three-quarters (73%) of teens from these families use the internet. By contrast, 90% of teens from families earning more than $30,000 a year go online. At the highest income levels, households earning more than $75,000 a year, 93% of teens go online. ![Demographics of Online Families](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/1568A6E935DF452AA5F22DAC32CCF45F.jpg) Teens with married parents are significantly more likely to go online than teens of single parents. Eighty-nine percent of teens with parents who are married go online compared to 76% of teens with parents who are divorced, separated, widowed, or who have never been married. --- **Next:** [Part 2: Conditions of Internet Use](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2005/07/27/part-2-conditions-of-internet-use.md)