Raleigh Rated Fastest-Growing City For Homes Adding Internet

[JQ Public]

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The home of IBM's personal computing division was the fastest region in the country for adding online at-home users in the past year, according to Internet tracking service Nielsen//NetRatings.

Raleigh's active online population grew 29 percent from 715,000 to 924,000 individuals logging on from home. Nashville, Tenn., and Sacramento, Calif., tied with the second-highest growth rate, expanding 19 percent between January 2002 and January 2003.

Following the top three fastest growing local markets was Hartford, Conn., with a growth rate of 17 percent. The at-home active audience in Washington, D.C., and Houston grew by 16 percent. Houston, the country's fourth-largest city, had more than twice as many Web users as Raleigh with 1.9 million.


The rest of the top-10 fastest growing Internet cities and their one-year growth rate are: Minneapolis, 15 percent; Cincinnati, 12 percent; San Diego and Indianapolis, 11 percent.

"Cities like Washington, D.C., and San Diego have maintained their high growth rate, while large metropolitan cities including New York and Los Angeles continue to hold the lion's share of Web surfers," said Greg Bloom, senior Internet analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings.

Raleigh, the fastest growing local market, saw shifts in income levels over the past year. The number of people with at-home Internet access reporting a household income of $75,000 to $99,999 a year increased by 72 percent. Web access by households earning between $25,000 and $49,999 grew by 47 percent.

Internet use dropped by 26 percent for Raleigh households earning under $25,000 a year.

"Raleigh has experienced major growth in high-income households that have Internet access over the past year," Bloom said. "This will make it a prime regional target for marketers looking to push big ticket items like luxury cars and appliances."

Nielsen//NetRatings measured people who actively used a computer connected to the Internet and either generated Web traffic or launched a computer application tracked by the company's metering software.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[JQ Public]

Just glad to see us at the top of the charts for smthg! We're modern down here too!

[streetsoldier]

WOW...Andy, Opie and Barney Phyfe get their own PCs (Barney only gets one key on his typewriter, though...)! What comes next? Indoor plumbing?