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Top Blogging Markets: Austin, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle

Austin, TX, Portland, OR, San Francisco and Seattle are the top local markets for people who read or contribute to blogs - and what they have in common are tech savvy and youth, according to (pdf) local-market research firm Scarborough Research.

Some 15% of adults in Austin are “bloggers” (those who read or contribute to blogs), and they are 78% more likely than the national average to be in this consumer group; also, 14% of Portland adults are bloggers, followed by San Francisco and Seattle, with 13% each, according to the data.

The national average for the number of consumers who read or write blogs is 8%, Scarborough said.

Among other findings of the study:

• 37% of Austin adults are between the ages of 18 and 34; they are 20% more likely than the national average to be within this age range.
• Austin adults are 17% more likely than adults nationally to be a part of a household that owns a DVR and 51% more likely to be a part of a household that owns a PDA.
• Adults in Portland are 13% more likely than the national average to be a part of a household that subscribes to satellite TV, and 18% more likely to be members of households that plan to subscribe to satellite TV within the next year.
• Bloggers are more than three times more likely than all internet users to download podcasts, and more than twice as likely to download/watch videos online: 25% of bloggers download or listen to audio clips online, compared with 8% of all other connected adults.
• Bloggers are also adopters of new technology: They are 76% more likely than all internet users to be a part of household that owns a PDA, 54% more likely to have an MP3 player, 37% more likely to have a satellite radio subscription.
• Demographically, bloggers are young and hail from middle-class families:
  • They are 66% more likely than the national average to be between the ages of 18 and 34.
  • 50% of bloggers are part of a household that has children under 17, compared with 41% of the total population.
  • Bloggers are 20% more likely than the national average to have an annual household income between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.

“Not surprisingly, the cities that rank highly for bloggers are also prominent internet-usage markets. Austin and San Francisco adults, for example, are more likely than the average to have a broadband connection at home,” said Gary Meo, SVP, Scarborough print and digital media services. “Additionally, Austin, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle are markets with large high-tech economies.”

About the data: Source is Scarborough USA+ 2007 Release 1 (current release). Based on total US adults. DMA, or Designated Market Area, is a trademark of Nielsen Media Research.