Market Research and Demographics

September 5, 2007 7:57 AM

Where could I find demographics about age groups and personal computer ownership? Specifically a percentage of people who own computers by age group

I am writing a business plan for a computer retail and repair shop and I am doing the market research section. I am trying to find a general percentage of computer owners by age group and then compare it to my neighborhood age statistics. Any other suggestions for market research are greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!

posted by Raichle to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

The Census report Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2003 has a variety of stats that should be useful to you (page two of the PDF, specifically). The Census site also has detailed tables for the 2003 report, if you wanted the info in Excel or comma-separated format.
posted by cog_nate at 8:08 AM on September 5, 2007

Response by poster: I will look through that, thanks! I went through census.gov but apparently not well enough. Any other suggestions still sincerely appreciated.
posted by Raichle at 8:13 AM on September 5, 2007

The Pew trusts do a lot of this kind of stuff.
posted by box at 8:18 AM on September 5, 2007

This is probably a LOT more data than you'll ever need, but the General Social Survey asks questions such as how many hours per week a person uses a computer. The answers can be cross-referenced by age, race, income, or many other variables.

Also, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a tool that tells you how much people spend on various consumer items, broken down by zip code or census tract (but not age).
posted by desjardins at 8:43 AM on September 5, 2007

Another Census tool (free registration req'd)
posted by desjardins at 8:52 AM on September 5, 2007