According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans aged 65 and older exceeded 50 million for the first time in 2017, as the U.S. population continues to age.
While young Americans have grown up using technology and are used to spending a substantial part of their lives online, people from older generations are not what is often referred to as “digital natives”. However, according to the Pew Research Center, technology adoption of Americans aged 65 and older is on the rise. As of 2018, 66 percent of U.S. seniors used the internet, up from just 14 percent in 2000.
As the following chart illustrates, older Americans still trail the overall adult population in terms of tech usage, but the digital gap is no longer as pronounced as it used to be.
U.S. Seniors No Longer Disconnected From the Digital World
Tech Adoption by Seniors
Description
This chart shows how many seniors in the U.S. use or own certain types of technology.
