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Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 702.12. Percentage distribution of children ages 3 to 18, by whether they have home internet access, whether they have access through computer or only smartphone, and selected child and family characteristics: 2016 and 2018
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child or family
characteristic
2016 2018
Number of
children ages 3
to 18 living in
households1
(in thousands)
Percentage distribution of children, by home internet access Number of
children ages 3
to 18 living in
households1
(in thousands)
Percentage distribution of children, by home internet access
Total, all
children1
Have internet access No internet
access
Total, all children1 Have internet access No internet
access
Total2 Through desktop
or laptop,
tablet, or some
other type of
computer3
Only through
smartphone4
Total2 Through desktop
or laptop,
tablet, or some
other type of
computer3
Only through
smartphone4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Total5 65,401   (44.9) 100.0 (†) 91.6   (0.09) 86.6   (0.12) 5.1   (0.06) 8.4   (0.09) 65,382   (46.2) 100.0 (†) 93.9   (0.07) 87.9   (0.11) 6.0   (0.07) 6.1   (0.07)
Sex                                                                    
Male 33,521   (36.9) 100.0 (†) 91.6   (0.10) 86.5   (0.14) 5.1   (0.07) 8.4   (0.10) 33,487   (37.3) 100.0 (†) 93.9   (0.08) 87.8   (0.12) 6.2   (0.08) 6.1   (0.08)
Female 31,880   (33.6) 100.0 (†) 91.6   (0.09) 86.6   (0.12) 5.0   (0.08) 8.4   (0.09) 31,895   (32.6) 100.0 (†) 93.9   (0.08) 88.1   (0.13) 5.9   (0.08) 6.1   (0.08)

Race/ethnicity
                                                                   
White 33,511   (27.9) 100.0 (†) 95.0   (0.08) 92.2   (0.11) 2.8   (0.05) 5.0   (0.08) 32,895   (21.1) 100.0 (†) 96.2   (0.07) 92.9   (0.11) 3.3   (0.07) 3.8   (0.07)
Black 8,896   (28.7) 100.0 (†) 85.8   (0.30) 76.8   (0.32) 9.0   (0.21) 14.2   (0.30) 8,805   (33.5) 100.0 (†) 89.9   (0.21) 79.1   (0.28) 10.8   (0.21) 10.1   (0.21)
Hispanic 16,162   (26.4) 100.0 (†) 86.7   (0.19) 78.2   (0.25) 8.5   (0.16) 13.3   (0.19) 16,577   (25.2) 100.0 (†) 90.7   (0.17) 81.1   (0.22) 9.7   (0.17) 9.3   (0.17)
Asian 3,065   (15.9) 100.0 (†) 97.2   (0.18) 95.8   (0.21) 1.4   (0.14) 2.8   (0.18) 3,122   (16.3) 100.0 (†) 97.9   (0.12) 95.8   (0.18) 2.1   (0.13) 2.1   (0.12)
Pacific Islander 118   (3.6) 100.0 (†) 87.1   (1.92) 75.5   (2.50) 11.7   (1.72) 12.9   (1.92) 114   (5.5) 100.0 (†) 87.0   (1.58) 76.1   (2.75) 10.9   (1.87) 13.0   (1.58)
American Indian/Alaska
     Native
506   (7.2) 100.0 (†) 76.5   (0.73) 68.9   (0.84) 7.6   (0.62) 23.5   (0.73) 499   (6.7) 100.0 (†) 80.0   (0.88) 70.4   (0.96) 9.6   (0.58) 20.0   (0.88)
Two or more races 2,929   (26.3) 100.0 (†) 95.1   (0.24) 91.0   (0.31) 4.1   (0.22) 4.9   (0.24) 3,139   (26.7) 100.0 (†) 96.6   (0.22) 91.9   (0.31) 4.7   (0.24) 3.4   (0.22)

Age
                                                                   
3 and 4 8,058   (27.7) 100.0 (†) 90.3   (0.17) 83.6   (0.24) 6.7   (0.14) 9.7   (0.17) 8,102   (29.5) 100.0 (†) 93.2   (0.14) 85.4   (0.23) 7.8   (0.17) 6.8   (0.14)
5 to 10 24,656   (52.0) 100.0 (†) 90.8   (0.11) 85.1   (0.15) 5.6   (0.08) 9.2   (0.11) 24,160   (49.2) 100.0 (†) 93.4   (0.09) 86.8   (0.15) 6.6   (0.10) 6.6   (0.09)
11 to 14 16,507   (43.6) 100.0 (†) 92.3   (0.11) 88.0   (0.13) 4.3   (0.08) 7.7   (0.11) 17,032   (40.8) 100.0 (†) 94.3   (0.09) 89.0   (0.13) 5.3   (0.09) 5.7   (0.09)
15 to 18 16,181   (27.4) 100.0 (†) 92.9   (0.10) 88.8   (0.14) 4.2   (0.09) 7.1   (0.10) 16,088   (28.4) 100.0 (†) 94.7   (0.09) 89.7   (0.14) 5.0   (0.09) 5.3   (0.09)

Highest level of education
     attained by either
     parent6
                                                                   
Less than high school 6,461   (53.1) 100.0 (†) 75.0   (0.32) 61.0   (0.36) 14.0   (0.30) 25.0   (0.32) 5,896   (57.4) 100.0 (†) 81.5   (0.30) 64.6   (0.40) 16.9   (0.35) 18.5   (0.30)
High school diploma or
     equivalent
11,679   (65.7) 100.0 (†) 85.4   (0.21) 75.8   (0.28) 9.6   (0.19) 14.6   (0.21) 11,524   (69.6) 100.0 (†) 89.7   (0.20) 77.8   (0.25) 11.9   (0.21) 10.3   (0.20)
Some college 12,800   (67.8) 100.0 (†) 92.3   (0.17) 87.0   (0.19) 5.2   (0.12) 7.7   (0.17) 12,223   (62.7) 100.0 (†) 94.3   (0.16) 87.8   (0.22) 6.5   (0.14) 5.7   (0.16)
Associate's degree 6,431   (50.3) 100.0 (†) 95.6   (0.17) 92.8   (0.21) 2.8   (0.14) 4.4   (0.17) 6,399   (46.4) 100.0 (†) 96.5   (0.14) 93.3   (0.18) 3.2   (0.13) 3.5   (0.14)
Bachelor's or higher degree 24,333   (100.2) 100.0 (†) 98.5   (0.05) 97.7   (0.06) 0.7   (0.03) 1.5   (0.05) 25,514   (88.5) 100.0 (†) 98.6   (0.05) 97.7   (0.07) 0.9   (0.04) 1.4   (0.05)
Bachelor's degree 13,246   (66.2) 100.0 (†) 98.0   (0.07) 97.0   (0.09) 1.0   (0.05) 2.0   (0.07) 13,539   (61.2) 100.0 (†) 98.3   (0.07) 96.9   (0.10) 1.3   (0.07) 1.7   (0.07)
Master's or higher degree 11,087   (67.1) 100.0 (†) 99.0   (0.07) 98.6   (0.07) 0.4   (0.03) 1.0   (0.07) 11,974   (67.3) 100.0 (†) 99.0   (0.06) 98.5   (0.08) 0.5   (0.04) 1.0   (0.06)

Family income (in constant
     2018 dollars7 )
                                                                   
��Less than $10,000 3,728   (39.9) 100.0 (†) 75.1   (0.47) 61.0   (0.53) 14.1   (0.39) 24.9   (0.47) 3,533   (40.6) 100.0 (†) 82.1   (0.45) 64.9   (0.46) 17.2   (0.45) 17.9   (0.45)
� $10,000 to $19,999 4,704   (50.9) 100.0 (†) 78.2   (0.40) 65.5   (0.49) 12.7   (0.36) 21.8   (0.40) 4,105   (42.2) 100.0 (†) 85.0   (0.40) 69.2   (0.47) 15.8   (0.36) 15.0   (0.40)
� $20,000 to $29,999 5,458   (50.6) 100.0 (†) 83.5   (0.36) 72.6   (0.41) 10.8   (0.26) 16.5   (0.36) 5,168   (47.7) 100.0 (†) 87.8   (0.24) 74.3   (0.39) 13.5   (0.32) 12.2   (0.24)
� $30,000 to $39,999 5,303   (47.4) 100.0 (†) 87.4   (0.35) 78.9   (0.44) 8.5   (0.33) 12.6   (0.35) 5,250   (41.0) 100.0 (†) 90.4   (0.25) 80.0   (0.38) 10.4   (0.29) 9.6   (0.25)
� $40,000 to $49,999 4,982   (38.3) 100.0 (†) 90.1   (0.29) 83.5   (0.34) 6.5   (0.18) 9.9   (0.29) 4,800   (36.2) 100.0 (†) 92.6   (0.29) 85.3   (0.33) 7.3   (0.25) 7.4   (0.29)
� $50,000 to $74,999 10,603   (58.7) 100.0 (†) 93.6   (0.13) 89.5   (0.20) 4.1   (0.13) 6.4   (0.13) 10,501   (63.1) 100.0 (†) 94.7   (0.16) 89.6   (0.20) 5.1   (0.13) 5.3   (0.16)
� $75,000 to $99,999 8,010   (48.0) 100.0 (†) 96.0   (0.13) 93.9   (0.17) 2.2   (0.09) 4.0   (0.13) 8,302   (53.6) 100.0 (†) 96.8   (0.12) 93.7   (0.18) 3.0   (0.12) 3.2   (0.12)
� $100,000 or more 21,996   (80.1) 100.0 (†) 98.2   (0.06) 97.4   (0.08) 0.8   (0.04) 1.8   (0.06) 23,124   (76.5) 100.0 (†) 98.5   (0.05) 97.4   (0.06) 1.1   (0.04) 1.5   (0.05)
$100,000 to $149,999 11,049   (60.8) 100.0 (†) 97.6   (0.10) 96.4   (0.13) 1.2   (0.07) 2.4   (0.10) 11,241   (55.2) 100.0 (†) 98.0   (0.09) 96.4   (0.11) 1.6   (0.07) 2.0   (0.09)
$150,000 or more 10,948   (53.9) 100.0 (†) 98.9   (0.06) 98.5   (0.06) 0.4   (0.03) 1.1   (0.06) 11,884   (57.9) 100.0 (†) 99.0   (0.06) 98.4   (0.06) 0.5   (0.04) 1.0   (0.06)

Family income quarter8
                                                                   
Lowest quarter 19,195   (99.5) 100.0 (†) 81.6   (0.20) 70.4   (0.24) 11.3   (0.16) 18.4   (0.20) 19,269   (95.5) 100.0 (†) 87.2   (0.15) 73.7   (0.21) 13.5   (0.17) 12.8   (0.15)
Middle low quarter 15,250   (69.2) 100.0 (†) 92.4   (0.16) 87.5   (0.20) 4.9   (0.11) 7.6   (0.16) 14,711   (68.0) 100.0 (†) 94.3   (0.15) 88.7   (0.18) 5.6   (0.11) 5.7   (0.15)
Middle high quarter 14,670   (60.7) 100.0 (†) 96.5   (0.10) 94.7   (0.13) 1.9   (0.07) 3.5   (0.10) 15,021   (64.2) 100.0 (†) 97.3   (0.08) 94.9   (0.13) 2.4   (0.09) 2.7   (0.08)
Highest quarter 15,671   (65.1) 100.0 (†) 98.6   (0.07) 98.1   (0.07) 0.5   (0.03) 1.4   (0.07) 15,782   (70.4) 100.0 (†) 98.8   (0.06) 98.1   (0.07) 0.7   (0.04) 1.2   (0.06)

Poverty status9
                                                                   
Below poverty threshold 12,249   (94.8) 100.0 (†) 78.7   (0.25) 66.6   (0.29) 12.2   (0.21) 21.3   (0.25) 11,315   (81.8) 100.0 (†) 84.7   (0.23) 69.5   (0.28) 15.2   (0.25) 15.3   (0.23)
100 to 185 percent of
     poverty threshold
12,250   (68.3) 100.0 (†) 88.1   (0.21) 80.2   (0.28) 7.9   (0.17) 11.9   (0.21) 11,981   (70.4) 100.0 (†) 90.7   (0.17) 81.5   (0.24) 9.3   (0.19) 9.3   (0.17)
Greater than 185 percent of
     poverty threshold
40,092   (115.1) 100.0 (†) 96.6   (0.06) 94.7   (0.08) 2.0   (0.04) 3.4   (0.06) 41,301   (93.3) 100.0 (†) 97.4   (0.05) 94.9   (0.07) 2.5   (0.05) 2.6   (0.05)
†Not applicable.
1 Includes all 3- to 18-year-olds living in households.
2 Total percentage of children in households that reported having access to the Internet.
3 Percentage of children in homes with both internet access and one or more of following types of computer: desktop or laptop, tablet or other portable wireless computer, or "some other type of computer." Excludes homes having none of these types of computers. Includes homes having both smartphones and any of these types of computers.
4 Percentage of children in homes with both internet access and smartphones, but with none of the computer types (desktop or laptop, tablet, or other) listed in footnote 3.
5 Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately.
6 Highest education level of any parent residing with the child (including an adoptive or stepparent). Includes only children who resided with at least one of their parents.
7 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
8 Lowest quarter refers to the bottom 25 percent of all family incomes; middle low quarter refers to the 26th through the 50th percentile of all family incomes; middle high quarter refers to the 51st through the 75th percentile of all family incomes; and highest quarter refers to the top 25 percent of all family incomes.
9 Children are considered to be in poverty if their family income falls below the Census Bureau's poverty threshold, which is a dollar amount that varies depending on a family's size and composition and is updated annually to account for inflation. For example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $24,339 in 2016 and $25,465 in 2018. Respondents were interviewed throughout the year and reported on the income they received during the previous 12 months.
NOTES: Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population residing within the United States. However, this table includes only children living in households, because respondents living in group quarters (e.g., shelters, healthcare facilities, or correctional facilities) were not asked about internet access. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2016 and 2018. (This table was prepared November 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest