Community Life
Households with Internet Access


Households with Internet Access

What does this measure?

The percentage of households that have access to the Internet.

Why is this important?

Access to the Internet is crucial for households to communicate, search for jobs, complete schoolwork and participate in other important activities like banking, health care access and consumer research.

How is our county doing?

In 2017-21, 89% of households in Essex County had access to the Internet, on par with the state and slightly higher than the national rate of 87%. The rate in the City of Lynn was 84%, but only 77% of residents in the City of Lawrence had Internet access in 2017-21.

How do we compare to similar counties?

Of the comparison counties, Essex and Westchester had the lowest household Internet rates in 2017-21. Middlesex and Lake were slightly higher with rates of 93% and 92% respectively.

Notes about the data

Internet access questions were not included in surveys until 2013. The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). Data for this indicator is expected to be released annually in December.

Households with Internet Access
2017-21
Essex County, MA89%
Amesbury90%
Beverly89%
Gloucester89%
Haverhill88%
Lawrence77%
Lynn84%
Methuen91%
Newburyport93%
Peabody87%
Salem89%
Andover96%
Boxford99%
Danvers92%
Essex95%
Georgetown92%
Groveland95%
Hamilton95%
Ipswich91%
Lynnfield92%
Manchester99%
Marblehead97%
Merrimac90%
Middleton96%
Nahant96%
Newbury96%
North Andover95%
Rockport88%
Rowley93%
Salisbury91%
Saugus89%
Swampscott94%
Topsfield94%
Wenham90%
West Newbury98%
Middlesex County, MA93%
Lake County, IL92%
Westchester County, NY90%
Massachusetts90%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




Number of Households with Internet Access
2017-21
Essex County, MA273,858
Amesbury6,583
Beverly14,841
Gloucester11,770
Haverhill23,042
Lawrence23,374
Lynn30,498
Methuen17,103
Newburyport7,037
Peabody19,904
Salem17,506
Andover12,748
Boxford2,830
Danvers10,081
Essex1,278
Georgetown2,961
Groveland2,394
Hamilton2,443
Ipswich5,053
Lynnfield4,163
Manchester2,057
Marblehead7,823
Merrimac2,330
Middleton3,002
Nahant1,605
Newbury2,434
North Andover10,415
Rockport2,930
Rowley2,161
Salisbury3,544
Saugus9,407
Swampscott5,743
Topsfield2,075
Wenham1,168
West Newbury1,555
Middlesex County, MA578,138
Lake County, IL233,694
Westchester County, NY327,493
Massachusetts2,436,099

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




INDICATORS TREND | ESSEX COUNTY