Seventy-one percent of Hawai'i residents lived in a household with Internet access in 2007, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hawai'i ranked 18th among the states and the District of Columbia in that regard, but dropped to 39th in terms of the percentage of people who use the Internet at home or elsewhere, at 59 percent, according to the 2007 data.

Nationally, 67 percent of the population live in a household with Internet access and 62 percent use the Internet from some location.

Among the states, New Hampshire boasted the highest percentage of residents in households with Internet access at 83 percent, and Mississippi the lowest at 53 percent.

Mississippi (51.5 percent) also had the lowest percentage of individuals accessing the Internet at home or elsewhere, and Alaska the highest.

Among households nationally using the Internet in 2007, 82 percent reported using a high-speed connection, and 17 percent used a dial-up connection, according to the census data.

The study found that Internet usage varied by education and race. Among individuals 25 and older with a bachelor's degree, 87 percent reported going online from some location in 2007. Among those with only some college, 74 percent reported using the Internet.

Only 49 percent of those with only a high school diploma and 19 percent of those without a high school diploma reported using the Internet.

Asians had the highest percentage of individuals living in households with Internet access, at 73 percent, followed by whites (69 percent), blacks (51 percent) and Hispanics (48 percent).

Among age groups, the percentage of 18- to 34-year-olds who accessed the Internet was more than double (73 percent) that of people 65 and older (35 percent). Among children ages 3 to 17, 56 percent used the Internet.

The data are from the 2007 Internet and Computer Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey.