Laptop access is widespread but unevenly distributed, and the available measures often combine laptops with other computers or mobile devices. The figures below make those definitions explicit while covering U.S. household access, European purchasing and disposal behavior, ENERGY STAR measurements, and laptop-relevant work context.
Key Laptop Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In 2021, 80.5% of U.S. households had a desktop or laptop computer, according to the American Community Survey.
- In 2021, 95.0% of U.S. households had at least one computer of any type.
- In 2021, 90.3% of U.S. households had an internet subscription in the United States.
- In 2021, 56% of U.S. households had a desktop or laptop, smartphone, tablet and broadband connection together.
- In 2013, 84% of U.S. households owned a computer in the United States.
- In 2021, 87.3% of households with a householder aged 35–44 had a desktop or laptop in the United States.
- In 2021, 69.8% of households with a householder aged 65 or older had a desktop or laptop in the United States.
- In 2021, 89.7% of households headed by a non-Hispanic Asian person had a desktop or laptop in the United States.
- In 2021, 71.7% of households headed by a non-Hispanic Black person had a desktop or laptop in the United States.
- In 2021, 98.9% of U.S. households with at least one member under 18 had a computer of any type.
- In 2021, 79.7% of limited-English-speaking U.S. households had broadband.
- In 2021, 69% of EU individuals aged 16–74 considered price important when buying a mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.
- In 2024, 53% of EU individuals aged 16–74 considered hard-drive or processor speed important when buying those devices.
- In 2024, 34% of EU individuals aged 16–74 kept their old laptop or tablet at home.
- In 2024, 11% of EU individuals aged 16–74 recycled their old laptop or tablet.
- ENERGY STAR says certified computers use about 30–40% less energy than standard models.
- An ENERGY STAR-certified LG 17Z90SP notebook listed 0.8 watts in off mode.
- In 2023, telework was available for 53.5% of U.S. computer-and-mathematical workers.
Contents
- Key Laptop Statistics
- U.S. Household Laptop and Computer Access
- Laptop Ownership by Age, Race and Geography
- Household Structure and Socioeconomic Access Gaps
- European Laptop Buying Priorities and Old-Device Outcomes
- Laptop Energy Use and ENERGY STAR Measurements
- Laptop-Relevant Work, Keyboarding and Telework
U.S. Household Laptop and Computer Access
The 2021 U.S. American Community Survey covered 127.545 million households. Its computer categories are broader than laptops: the principal laptop measure combines desktop and laptop computers, while other measures include any computer type.
| U.S. household measure | Result | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| At least one computer of any type | 95.0% | 2021, all households |
| Desktop or laptop | 80.5% | 2021, all households |
| Smartphone | 90.0% | 2021, all households |
| Tablet | 63.8% | 2021, all households |
| Any internet subscription | 90.3% | 2021, all households |
| Broadband subscription | 90.1% | 2021, all households |
| Desktop or laptop, smartphone, tablet and broadband together | 56% | 2021, all households |
These national figures show why laptop statistics need careful definitions. A household can have a computer without having a desktop or laptop, and the combined-access measure is narrower than any individual device or connectivity measure. Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2021 reports these ACS 1-year estimates.
For a longer reference point, U.S. household computer ownership was 84% in 2013. That legacy comparison comes from the same Census publication and is a household-level measure, not a laptop-only series; it should not be treated as an independently verified laptop trend.
Laptop Ownership by Age, Race and Geography
The 2021 ACS desktop-or-laptop measure varies by the age of the householder and by the race or ethnicity of the householder. These are U.S. household comparisons, not individual ownership rates.
| Household characteristic | Desktop or laptop in 2021 |
|---|---|
| Householder aged 15–34 | 85.3% |
| Householder aged 35–44 | 87.3% |
| Householder aged 45–64 | 82.6% |
| Householder aged 65 or older | 69.8% |
| Non-Hispanic White householder | 82.7% |
| Non-Hispanic Black householder | 71.7% |
| Non-Hispanic Asian householder | 89.7% |
| Hispanic householder, any race | 74.8% |
The age pattern is not a simple increase or decrease across every group: the 35–44 householder category recorded the highest listed rate, while the 65-or-older category recorded the lowest. The racial and ethnic categories also show a wide spread, with the non-Hispanic Asian household rate above the non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black household rates.
These differences describe access to a desktop or laptop at the household level. They do not identify which household member uses the device, how many devices are present, or whether the computer is portable.
Source: Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2021.
Household Structure and Socioeconomic Access Gaps
Household composition and selected socioeconomic characteristics are also associated with computer and broadband access in the 2021 U.S. ACS. The computer measure in this section means any computer type, so it is not interchangeable with the desktop-or-laptop figures above.
| U.S. household group | Computer of any type | Broadband |
|---|---|---|
| At least one member under 18 | 98.9% | 96.0% |
| No members under 18 | 93.4% | 87.7% |
| Limited-English-speaking household | 89.6% | 79.7% |
| Member with a disability | 90.5% | 83.8% |
| Owner-occupied household | 95.8% | — |
| Renter-occupied household | — | 86.6% |
Households with at least one member under 18 had higher reported access than households without members under 18 on both listed measures. Limited-English-speaking households and households with a member with a disability also had lower reported computer and broadband access than the overall national rates shown earlier.
The owner-occupied computer figure and renter-occupied broadband figure are not a complete tenure comparison because the supplied measures cover different outcomes. They should be read as separate reported statistics rather than as a derived ownership-versus-rental gap.
Source: Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2021.
European Laptop Buying Priorities and Old-Device Outcomes
Eurostat’s 2024 data cover individuals aged 16–74 in the European Union. The buying questions combine mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers, while the disposal questions combine laptops and tablets; the results therefore provide device-context data rather than laptop-only estimates.
| Buying factor | EU individuals aged 16–74, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Price important | 69% |
| Hard-drive or processor speed important | 53% |
| Brand, design or size important | 50% |
| Energy efficiency important | 19% |
| Eco-design important | 12% |
| Possibility of extending product life important | 10% |
Price was important to 69%, making it the most prevalent listed consideration. Speed was important to 53%, while brand, design or size was important to 50%; energy efficiency, eco-design and product-life extension were selected less often in this set of buying criteria.
For old laptops and tablets, the reported outcomes were:
- 34% of EU individuals aged 16–74 kept the old device at home in 2024.
- 12% gave it away or sold it in 2024.
- 11% recycled it in 2024.
- 1% threw it away without recycling in 2024.
The categories describe what respondents did with an old laptop or tablet, not the material recovery rate of those devices. Sources: Green ICT – digital devices in households and Keep or toss: what do Europeans do with old devices?.
Laptop Energy Use and ENERGY STAR Measurements
ENERGY STAR provides both program-level guidance and model-level certification data. These measurements are not a market-wide average, and the model specifications below should not be generalized to every laptop.
ENERGY STAR says certified computers use about 30–40% less energy than standard models. This is a general program comparison, not a measured average for every laptop.
Source: Computers.
An ENERGY STAR-certified LG 17Z90SP notebook had the following listed values when its certification was accessed on October 1, 2026:
| Certified LG 17Z90SP notebook field | Listed value |
|---|---|
| Off mode | 0.8 watts |
| Sleep mode | 1.3 watts |
| Short-idle mode | 5.8 watts |
| Typical energy consumption | 22.1 kWh TEC |
| Category 2 base TEC allowance | 14 kWh TEC allowance |
The 22.1 kWh figure is the model’s typical energy consumption in the ENERGY STAR TEC field, while the 14 kWh figure is the Category 2 base TEC allowance. The allowance is a specification threshold, not the notebook’s measured consumption.
Source: ENERGY STAR Certified Computers.
Laptop-Relevant Work, Keyboarding and Telework
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Requirements Survey provides context for work commonly performed on computers, but it does not measure laptop ownership or prove that a worker used a laptop. The following results describe U.S. computer-and-mathematical workers in 2023 unless otherwise noted.
| Occupational work context | Result in 2023 |
|---|---|
| More-than-basic people skills required | 96.1% |
| Telework available | 53.5% |
| Prior work experience required | 82.9% |
| Bachelor’s degree required | 65.5% |
| Keyboarding required | More than 99.5% |
| Keyboarding frequent | 71.7% |
| Average share of workday sitting | 88.9% |
Keyboarding was required for more than 99.5% of computer-and-mathematical workers, and it occurred frequently for 71.7%. The average worker in this occupational group spent 88.9% of the workday sitting, a work-pattern measure rather than a health or productivity outcome.
Telework availability was 53.5% for computer-and-mathematical workers, while the separately reported figure for U.S. computer user support specialists was 36.9% in 2023. These figures describe whether telework was available in the occupation, not how often employees worked remotely or which device they used.
Source: Occupational Requirements Survey: Occupational Profiles.