Pew: One in three Americans owns a tablet, one in four owns an e-reader, and 43% have one or the other

One in three Americans now owns a tablet, or 35 percent of the population aged 16 and older. At the same time, one in four US citizens at least 16-years-old now owns an e-reader. Mixing up these two device types, 43 percent of adults in the country have a tablet or an e-book reader.

The latest figures come from Pew’s ongoing Internet & American Life survey. Here’s the breakdown over the last three years:

Unsurprisingly, the rich are leading the way. More than half of households earning $75,000 or more now have tablets and 38 percent now have e-readers. These are up from 25 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

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This chart takes the demographic breakdown further for tablets:

The 16-17 age-group has the highest percentage for tablet ownership, followed by 30-49, and then 18-29. Tablet ownership seems to grow with the level of education attainment as well as household income.

This chart takes the demographic breakdown further for e-readers:

The 30-49 age-group has the highest percentage for tablet ownership, followed by a tie between 16-17 and 18-29. E-reader ownership also seems to grow with the level of education attainment as well as household income, although the gaps aren’t as wide.

It’s also worth noting that more women own tablets and e-readers than men, although the gap is slightly larger for the latter than the former. Nevertheless, the divide isn’t huge and both devices are clearly consumed by both genders.

Pew’s study was conducted between July 18 and September 20 by surveying 6,224 Americans aged 16 and older. The organization pegs the margin of error at plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. You can read the whole 14-page report here: Pew Research Center (PDF).

See also – ABI: Nearly 200m tablets have shipped worldwide since 2009, 22% of US owners spend over $50 monthly and Canalys: Over 34m tablets shipped in Q2 2013, Android overtakes iOS with 53% share compared to 42.7%

Top Image Credit: Toshifumi Kitamura/Getty Images