Report: More than 50 percent of U.S. on Internet

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than half of American households and more than half of all Americans are now connected to the Internet, according to a Commerce Department study.

Secretary of Commerce Don Evans on Tuesday released new census data showing that more than half of American households and more than half of all Americans are now connected to the Internet.

The figures were as part of "A Nation Online," a new study using census data to track Internet usage in the United States.

As of September 2001, 143 million Americans, or about 54 percent of the population, were using the Internet, and new users were adopting the technology at a rate of more than two million per month.

EXTRA INFORMATION Click here for a comparison of Internet users by race and age    RESOURCES For educators: Examine benefits and drawbacks of Internet use

The report says 90 percent, or 47.4 million, of children between the ages of 5 and 17 now use computers at home and at school.

Seventy-five percent of 14- to 17-year-olds and 65 percent of 10- to 13-year-olds use the Internet.

Households with children younger than 18 are more likely to access the Internet than households with no children.