Nielsen NetRatings: West Coast cities still most wired

Key points:

• Almost 70% of households in Portland and Seattle have web access
• Philadelphia has the largest gain in Internet penetration from March 2000 to March 2001
• All the top 25 cities in terms of household web access have over 50% at-home penetration

According to analysis from Nielsen NetRatings, summarised by Nua Internet Surveys, Portland and Seattle are the most wired cities in the US

Portland and Seattle, both in the Pacific Northwest region, are the most wired cities in the US, according to Nielsen NetRatings.

Nearly 70% of households in these two cities have Internet access, up from 54% in Portland a year ago and 56% in Seattle.

San Francisco is the third most wired city at 69%, up from 61% last year, followed by Boston at 68%, up from 51%, and San Diego at 66%, up from 58%.

All of the top 25 cities in terms of household Internet access have over 50% at-home penetration. Last year only six cities had a penetration rate higher than 50%. Nielsen NetRatings says this growth indicates that Internet use has reached critical mass across the US.

Philadelphia had the largest gain in Internet penetration from March 2000 to March 2001, followed by Detroit, Cleveland, Denver and New York.

Source: Republished by the EIU ebusiness forum with the permission of Nua Internet Surveys.