Home Broadband Statistics: Access by Age
Published September 15, 2026 · StatsGalore
Adults who said they subscribe to home broadband [1]
In 2025, 78% of U.S. adults said they subscribed to broadband internet service at home, according to Pew Research Center. The share was highest among adults ages 30 to 49 in the age groups shown here. [1]
The numbers
| Age group | Subscribe to home broadband | Source |
|---|---|---|
| All adults | 78% | [1] |
| 18–29 | 71% | [1] |
| 30–49 | 87% | [1] |
| 50–64 | 79% | [1] |
| 65+ | 70% | [1] |
A subscription is not network availability
The survey asks whether adults subscribe to home broadband. It does not establish whether a provider offers service at their address, whether the connection meets a particular engineering standard, or whether it is affordable.
Coverage maps and subscription surveys can therefore produce different percentages while both being accurate. One measures what may be available; the other measures reported adoption.
[1]The age pattern differs from internet use
Younger adults report very high internet use, yet their home-broadband subscription share is lower than that of adults ages 30 to 49. The two measures capture different aspects of being connected.
Internet use can occur through a smartphone or outside the home. The survey does not justify assuming that every adult without a broadband subscription is offline.
[1]Adults and households are different units
Pew's percentage describes adults. A Census household statistic may use a different denominator and a different broadband definition. Comparing the two requires more than checking that both contain the word broadband.
Several adults can live in a household with one subscription. A person-level adoption percentage and a household-level subscription percentage weight the population differently.
[1]Interpreting changes over time
Pew documents changes in survey mode and wording across its historical series. Those notes should accompany any long-term trend claim rather than treating every observation as perfectly interchangeable.
The figures are rounded survey estimates. They are useful for describing broad adoption patterns, but small year-to-year changes should not automatically be treated as definitive evidence of an increase or decline.
[1]Sources & notes
Pew Research Center Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet, 2025. Percentages describe adult respondents reporting a home-broadband subscription, not the share of addresses with service available. Historical survey modes and wording vary.
Source review: 2026-09-15. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction