What does this measure?

The percentage of households that have access to the Internet.

Why is this important?

Access to the Internet is crucial for households to communicate, search for jobs, complete schoolwork and participate in other important activities like banking, health care access and consumer research.

How is our county performing?

In 2014-18, 81% of households in Berks County had access to the Internet, similar to Pennsylvania and the U.S. The central region of the county was slightly less connected, with 75% of the households having Internet access. In the City of Reading, 72% of residents had Internet access.

Compared to neighboring counties, Berks had a slightly higher share of households with internet than Schuylkill (75%) and Lancaster (77%), and a smaller share than Leigh (82%),Chester and Montgomery (both 88%).

Notes about the data

There may be additional research available on this topic. Click on Reports and Resources to learn more.

Internet access questions were not included in surveys until 2013. The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are released annually in December.