Digital behavior/United States

Country context · World Bank / ITU

Internet use in United States

The World Bank / ITU internet-use indicator reports 94.7% for United States in 2024, the latest non-missing year in this extract.

Individuals using the internet · National indicator · Percentage of the source-defined population · No 2025 value supplied for United States

The indicator targets internet use from any location in the past three months. Historical source notes include different age groups and reference periods. The 2024 cell supplies no exact age cutoff or detailed survey question, so this is not labelled an adults-18+ estimate.

Source: World Bank, IT.NET.USER.ZS, original provider International Telecommunication Union. Exact United States / 2024 observation. Data retrieved 2026-10-08; the retrieval date is not the year measured.

Cite this finding

World Bank: World Development Indicators, IT.NET.USER.ZS. Original data provider: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database. United States: 94.69380188% in 2024. Indicator IT.NET.USER.ZS; source 2. Retrieved 2026-10-08; source revision 2026-10-08. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS CC BY 4.0. Social Usage selected and formatted records; display values rounded. https://socialusage.com/countries/united-states-internet-use/

35 reported annual observations, with their limits

The record begins in 1990 and its latest value is from 2024. Each dot is one published estimate. Dots are deliberately not connected: source, survey universe and measurement can change between years.

Reported internet use in United StatesPercent of the source-defined population · 1990–2025 · Values shown only where supplied
Internet-use observations in United States, with missing years and scope notes35 available observations from 1990 through 2024. Latest 94.7%. Circles mark reported values, dashed amber lines identify documented scope notes, and triangles identify changes in source notes. Crosses in the separate missing row mean unavailable, not zero. Full figures and exact footnotes follow in the data table.0%25%50%75%100%2009: Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Populatio age 3+.2015: Source and notes: US Census Bureau, Reference period is past six months.1990: 0.8%. Source: ITU estimate.1991: 1.2%. Source: ITU estimate.1992: 1.7%. Source: ITU estimate.1993: 2.3%. Source: ITU estimate.1994: 4.9%. Source: ITU estimate.1995: 9.2%. Source: ITU estimate.1996: 16.4%. Source: ITU estimate.1997: 21.6%. Source: ITU estimate.1998: 30.1%. Source: ITU estimate.1999: 35.8%. Source: ITU estimate.2000: 43.1%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2001: 49.1%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2002: 58.8%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2003: 61.7%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2004: 64.8%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2005: 68.0%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2006: 68.9%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2007: 75.0%. Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission,2008: 74.0%. Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Pew Internet Project, "Internet, Broadband and cell phone statistics,” January 5, 2010, http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_December09_update.pdf.2009: 71.0%. Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Populatio age 3+.2010: 71.7%. Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission,2011: 69.7%. Source and notes: United States Census Bureau,2012: 74.7%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2013: 71.4%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2014: 73.0%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2015: 74.6%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau, Reference period is past six months.2016: 85.5%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2017: 87.3%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2018: 88.5%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2019: 89.4%. Source and notes: US Census Bureau,2020: 90.3%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2021: 91.3%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2022: 92.7%. Source and notes: ITU estimate.,2023: 93.5%. Source and notes: Gallup World Poll (estimate).,2024: 94.7%. No cell-specific source or method note supplied.19902000201020202025Source notes2007: Cell source changes to Federal Communications Commission; comparability has not been established.2011: Cell source changes to United States Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.2012: Cell source changes to US Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.2014: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.2015: Cell source changes to US Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.2020: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.2023: Cell source changes to Gallup World Poll (estimate); comparability has not been established.2024: The cell-specific source footnote is not supplied for this year; this does not prove a survey or method change.Missing2025: not available; not zero.

Published value Documented scope note▲ Source-note change× Missing, not zero

The vertical scale is 0–100%. No growth rate, interpolated value, comparable-country ranking or uncertainty interval is inferred. A source-note change is a caution, not proof of a methodology break.

Source: World Bank / ITU, IT.NET.USER.ZS, source 2. Social Usage creates this chart from unchanged source values. Read every observation and footnote.

Read the chart’s survey-scope and source-change markers

Documented scope and methodology notes

  • 2009: Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Populatio age 3+.
  • 2015: Source and notes: US Census Bureau, Reference period is past six months.

Changes in the supplied source notes

These markers follow changes in the name provided by the annual footnote. They do not establish that all methods stayed constant between markers.

  • 2007: Cell source changes to Federal Communications Commission; comparability has not been established.
  • 2011: Cell source changes to United States Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.
  • 2012: Cell source changes to US Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.
  • 2014: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
  • 2015: Cell source changes to US Census Bureau; comparability has not been established.
  • 2020: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
  • 2023: Cell source changes to Gallup World Poll (estimate); comparability has not been established.
  • 2024: The cell-specific source footnote is not supplied for this year; this does not prove a survey or method change.

Why this differs from a U.S. social-network survey

Internet use describes access to an activity that can include work, email, browsing and many other purposes. It does not identify use of a social network or a particular platform. NTIA social-network estimates use their own question, age eligibility and internet-user denominator; they cannot be multiplied by this percentage to produce an audience count.

The historical U.S. record combines different named sources and estimates. The 2015 cell explicitly uses a six-month reference period. The 2020–2022 cells identify ITU estimates, while 2023 identifies a Gallup World Poll estimate. The 2024 cell has no source-specific footnote. This page reports those facts without treating the series as a single unchanged survey.

Interpretation follows the original country/year footnotes reproduced below. Read the separate U.S. social-media evidence →

Internet use does not establish platform use

The indicator does not say whether someone used Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or another named service. It also does not measure the share of households online or the number of subscriptions. Platform-specific evidence retains its own question, country scope and audience definition.

Full annual table: estimates, missing years and exact source footnotes
United States: IT.NET.USER.ZS, World Bank source 2. Display rounded to one decimal; the download retains original values. Empty source notes are unknown, not confirmation of constant methodology.
YearInternet useOriginal source footnoteSource status
2025Not availableNo cell-specific note supplied.None supplied
202494.7%No cell-specific note supplied.None supplied
202393.5%Source and notes: Gallup World Poll (estimate).,None supplied
202292.7%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
202191.3%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
202090.3%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
201989.4%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201888.5%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201787.3%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201685.5%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201574.6%Source and notes: US Census Bureau, Reference period is past six months.None supplied
201473.0%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
201371.4%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201274.7%Source and notes: US Census Bureau,None supplied
201169.7%Source and notes: United States Census Bureau,None supplied
201071.7%Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission,None supplied
200971.0%Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Populatio age 3+.None supplied
200874.0%Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission, Pew Internet Project, "Internet, Broadband and cell phone statistics,” January 5, 2010, http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_December09_update.pdf.None supplied
200775.0%Source and notes: Federal Communications Commission,None supplied
200668.9%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200568.0%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200464.8%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200361.7%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200258.8%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200149.1%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
200043.1%Source and notes: ITU estimate.,None supplied
199935.8%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
199830.1%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
199721.6%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
199616.4%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19959.2%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19944.9%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19932.3%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19921.7%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19911.2%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied
19900.8%Source: ITU estimate.None supplied

The source response supplies no standard errors or confidence intervals. Missing years are not zero. The API’s generic decimal-display metadata is retained in the download separately from the original values.

Download all four countries’ original values and credited metadata (CSV)

Methods, dates and permitted reuse

Definition, denominator and uncertainty

The World Bank describes internet users as individuals who used the internet from any location in the previous three months, regardless of device. Its methodology describes weighted responses divided by the number of in-scope individuals. That target definition does not erase the different historical scopes recorded in this country’s footnotes.

These are national aggregate observations. The selected API does not supply a consistent age range, survey instrument, fieldwork period, respondent count or sampling uncertainty for every year. We do not infer state or local estimates, calculate person counts, or combine these percentages with another survey’s activity share. No comparison calculation has been approved for these historical country series.

Original definition, methodology and limitations · How the digital-behavior release handles incompatible data

Evidence dates, release and source revision
Latest country observation
2024
Source API database revision
2026-10-08
Source retrieved
2026-10-08
Assisted review
2026-10-08
Site data release
digital-behavior-2026-10-08-v1

Sampled observations were also checked against a separate World Bank CSV download carrying a July 13, 2026 update header. Those samples match the JSON values; the distribution revision dates remain separate. A website retrieval or database revision does not change the year measured. Assisted review is not independent human editorial review.

Credit and reuse

World Bank: World Development Indicators, IT.NET.USER.ZS. Original data provider: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.

Social Usage selected countries, organized the records and created original charts; underlying percentage values are unchanged. Display values may be rounded.

The selected indicator is published under CC BY 4.0, with World Bank dataset terms. Retain attribution, source links, dates and change notices when reusing permitted downloads. World Bank and ITU do not endorse this page; no source logos or artwork are reproduced.

Dataset, definitions and release history →

More country context

Each profile has its own documented history. These links are not a country ranking.

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