The share of lower-income Americans who rely on their smartphone for going online has roughly doubled since 2013 % ofU.S. adults who say they have smartphone, but no broadband at home, by annual household income
With fewer options for online access at their disposal, many lower-income Americans are relying more on smartphones. As of early 2019, 26% of adults living in households earning less than $30,000 a year are “smartphone-dependent” internet users – meaning they own a smartphone but do not have broadband internet at home. This represents a substantial increase from 12% in 2013. In contrast, only 5% of those living in households earning $100,000 or more fall into this category in 2019.
The share of lower-income Americans  | who rely on their smartphone for going  | online has roughly doubled since 2013  | % ofU.S. adults who say they have smartphone, but no  | broadband at home, by annual household income  | 2013 2016 2019  | 30 %  | 26  | 20  | 20  | 14  | 12  | 10  | 10  | 4 4 5  | <$30K  | $30K-$99.999  | $100K+  | Note: Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown.  | Source: Survey conducted Jan. 8-Feb. 7, 2019. Trend data from  | previous Pew Research Center surveys.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 