Among US affluent heads of household surveyed, those with annual household incomes of $250,000 and over spend the most time online, according to a study conducted from March through July 2008 by Ipsos Mendelsohn.

The researcher found that the average number of hours logged weekly increased with income, and that users in the top income tier spent nearly 6 more hours online per week than those whose incomes ranged from $100,000 to $150,000.



Ipsos said affluent Internet users who used PCs went online an average of 25.9 times every week. Wealthy mobile Internet users typically accessed the Web with their handsets 17.6 times weekly.

Just as Internet usage increases with income across the affluent segments, so too are affluents themselves online for longer than the average Internet user.

US adult Internet users surveyed spent an average of 21 hours per week online, according to a study conducted in May 2008 by Illuminas for Cisco Systems.