Pittsburgh Plugged In
A western Pennsylvania city that earned its reputation with blue-collar steel mills is now the fastest-growing wired city in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. And it could be the kids leading the way.
The fastest growing U.S. city in terms of its Internet population is not New York, Seattle or San Francisco, but Pittsburgh, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings.
The online population in the Steel City jumped 20.4 percent from December 2000 to December 2001, giving Pittsburgh and online population of about 1.2 million.
Olympic host Salt Lake City took second place as its Internet population grew 20 percent to 973,000 surfers while the surfing population of Phoenix jumped 17 percent to 1.4 million. The Internet population of Raleigh, N.C. grew 13.4 percent over the year, reaching 821,000 surfers. Rounding out the top five fastest growing wired cities, Philadelphia posted a 12.8 percent increase to nearly 3.1 million Internet surfers.
“While large metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Seattle and New York may have been earlier adopters of Internet technology, we are now seeing cities in middle America post considerable gains as those residents integrate the Web into their everyday lives,” said T.S. Kelly, director and principal analyst at NetRatings.
There’s even some evidence that the big jump in Pittsburgh’s online population could be partly attributable to its teenagers. A study by Digital Marketing Services, Inc. for America Online found that Pittsburgh is the top wired cities for teens in the United States based on time spent online.
The survey of more than 6,700 parents of teens and teens (age 12 to 17) found that Pittsburgh teens are online an average of 15.82 hours per week. The No. 10 wired city among teens is Milwaukee, where teens spend an average of 12.85 hours per week. The nationwide average for ages 12 to 17 is 12.28 hours per week.
| Fastest Growing Wired Cities U.S., At-Home Users |
||||
| Rank | Market | Unique Audience (000) | Percent Growth |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/2000 | 12/2001 | |||
| 1. | Pittsburgh | 1,027 | 1,237 | 20.4% |
| 2. | Salt Lake City | 811 | 973 | 20.0% |
| 3. | Phoenix | 1,228 | 1,437 | 17.0% |
| 4. | Raleigh | 724 | 821 | 13.4% |
| 5. | Philadelphia | 2,730 | 3,080 | 12.8% |
| 6. | Cleveland | 1,430 | 1,610 | 12.6% |
| 7. | Minneapolis | 1,481 | 1,647 | 11.2% |
| 8. | Los Angeles | 5,181 | 5,724 | 10.5% |
| 9. | Kansas City | 899 | 984 | 9.5% |
| 10. | Detroit | 1,821 | 1,971 | 8.2% |
| Source: Nielsen//NetRatings | ||||
| Top U.S. Cities for Teens Online (ages 12 to 17) |
||
| Rank | City | Hour/Week Online |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pittsburgh | 15.82 |
| 2. | New York | 14.90 |
| 3. | Cleveland | 14.85 |
| 4. | San Diego | 14.43 |
| 5. | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale | 14.15 |
| 6. | Hartford & New Haven | 13.38 |
| 7. | Los Angeles | 13.31 |
| 8. | Detroit | 13.13 |
| 9. | Philadelphia | 12.88 |
| 10. | Milwaukee | 12.85 |
| Source: AOL/DMS | ||
