Monday, March 16, 2009

Turker Demographics vs Internet Demographics

My post about the demographics of Mechanical Turk workers is one of the most popular posts on this blog, and I often see the results being discussed in other forums as well. One of the common questions that I see is: "How these demographics compare to the general Internet population?"

Apparently, this is not a very easy question to answer. It is relatively hard to find publicly available data about the demographics of Internet users. Fortunately, I found some data from ComScore, dating back to June 2008. I also had data about Mechanical Turk from two separate surveys that I ran on October 2008 and on December 2008 (both asking 1000 Turkers). The results across the two MTurk surveys were rather consistent, indicating that the results are rather trustworthy.

So, how Turkers compare to the general US Internet population? The short answers:
  • Turkers are younger. 54% of Turkers are between 21-35 years old, compared to 22% of the general population.
  • Turkers are mainly female. 70% of the Turkers are female, compared to 50% of the general population.
  • Turkers have lower income. 65% of Turkers have household income less than 60K, compared to 45% of the general population.
  • Turkers have smaller families. 55% of Turkers do not have children, compared to the 40% of the general population.
  • Geographical distribution of Turkers and Internet users is similar.
  • Race composition of Turkers and Internet users is similar, although there are slightly more Asians on Mechanical Turk.
Of course, the last two bullets may be simply the result of the first: Younger people have lower income, do not have children, and live in smaller households.

For those of you that would like to have a more detailed look at the statistics, here is the corresponding table:


June 2008 October 2008 December 2008

Internet Turks Turks
Total Audience 100 100 100
Persons - Age

Persons: 15+ 85.9 100 100
Persons: 18+ 80.1 99.6 99.5
Persons: 21+ 74.3 92.9 91.1
Persons: 35+ 52.4 39.3 37.1
Persons: 50+ 24.3 11.2 10.7
Persons: 55+ 16.2 5.2 5.4
Persons: 2-11 9.5 0 0
Persons: 2-17 19.9 0.2 0.4
Persons: 6-11 7.4 0 0
Persons: 6-14 12 0 0
Persons: 9-14 8.9 0 0
Persons: 12-17 10.4 0.2 0.4
Persons: 12-24 22.9 19 21.5
Persons: 12-34 38 57.8 60
Persons: 12-49 66.2 87.4 88.2
Persons: 18-24 12.5 18.7 21.1
Persons: 18-34 27.6 57.5 59.7
Persons: 18-49 55.8 87.2 87.8
Persons: 21-34 21.9 53.3 53.9
Persons: 21-49 50 82.9 82
Persons: 25-34 15.1 38.8 38.6
Persons: 25-49 43.2 68.4 66.7
Persons: 25-54 51.3 75.2 72.3
Persons: 35-44 18.7 22.4 21.5
Persons: 35-49 28.2 29.7 28.1
Persons: 35-54 36.2 36.4 33.7
Persons: 35-64 46.8 41.4 38.8
Persons: 45-54 17.6 14 12.2
Persons: 45-64 28.1 19 17.4
Persons: 55-64 10.5 5 5.2
Persons: 65+ 5.7 0.7 1.1
Males - Age

All Males 49.5 28 36.6
Male: 15+ 42.1 28 36.6
Male: 18+ 39.1 27.8 36.3
Male: 21+ 36.1 24.7 32.4
Male: 35+ 25.7 9.5 11.3
Male: 50+ 12 2.8 2.6
Male: 55+ 8.1 1.4 1.1
Male: 2-11 4.9 0 0
Male: 2-17 10.4 0.1 0.2
Male: 6-11 3.9 0 0
Male: 6-14 6.3 0 0
Male: 9-14 4.5 0 0
Male: 12-17 5.5 0.1 0.2
Male: 12-24 11.6 7.5 9.1
Male: 12-34 18.9 17.3 24.2
Male: 12-49 32.5 25 33.9
Male: 18-24 6.1 7.4 8.9
Male: 18-34 13.4 17.2 23.9
Male: 18-49 27.1 24.9 33.7
Male: 21-34 10.4 15.2 21.1
Male: 21-49 24.1 22.9 30.8
Males: 25-34 7.3 9.8 15
Male: 25-49 20.9 17.6 24.8
Male: 25-54 24.8 19 26.3
Males: 35-44 9.1 6 8
Male: 35-49 13.7 7.7 9.7
Male: 35-54 17.5 9.1 11.2
Male: 35-64 22.6 10.6 12.3
Male: 45-54 8.4 3.1 3.2
Male: 45-64 13.5 4.5 4.3
Males: 55-64 5.1 1.4 1.1
Males: 65+ 3 0 0.1
Females - Age

All Females 50.5 72 63.4
Female: 15+ 43.8 72 63.4
Female: 18+ 41 71.9 63.3
Female: 21+ 38.2 68.2 58.7
Female: 35+ 26.8 29.8 25.8
Female: 50+ 12.3 8.3 8.1
Female: 55+ 8.1 3.8 4.3
Female: 2-11 4.6 0 0
Female: 2-17 9.5 0.1 0.1
Female: 6-11 3.6 0 0
Female: 6-14 5.7 0 0
Female: 9-14 4.5 0 0
Female: 12-17 4.9 0.1 0.1
Female: 12-24 11.3 11.5 12.3
Female: 12-34 19.1 40.5 35.9
Female: 12-49 33.6 62.4 54.3
Female: 18-24 6.4 11.5 12.2
Female: 18-34 14.2 40.5 35.8
Female: 18-49 28.7 62.4 54.1
Female: 21-34 11.5 38.1 32.8
Female: 21-49 25.9 60 51.2
Females: 25-34 7.8 28.9 23.6
Female: 25-49 22.3 50.9 41.9
Female: 25-54 26.5 56.2 46
Females: 35-44 9.5 16.4 13.4
Female: 35-49 14.5 21.9 18.4
Female: 35-54 18.7 27.3 22.4
Female: 35-64 24.1 30.8 26.5
Female: 45-54 9.2 10.9 9
Female: 45-64 14.6 14.5 13.1
Females: 55-64 5.4 3.6 4.1
Females: 65+ 2.6 0.7 1
HH Income (US)

HHI USD: Less than 15,000 6 11.4 12.9
HHI US: Under $25K 9.3 22.8 23.1
HHI US: Under $60K 44.5 64.8 60.5
HHI US: $60K+ 55.5 34.8 39.1
HHI US: $75K+ 43 22.7 27.5
HHI USD: 15,000 - 24,999 3.4 11.4 10.1
HHI USD: 25,000 - 39,999 9.9 21.8 18.9
HHI USD: 40,000 - 59,999 25.3 20.2 18.6
HHI USD: 60,000 - 74,999 12.6 12.1 11.6
HHI USD: 75,000 - 99,999 17.7 10.2 11.5
HHI USD: 100,000 or more 25.3 12.5 16
Region (US)

Region US:West North Central 7.6 5.8 7.5
Region US:Mountain 6.9 6.4 7.4
Region US:Pacific 15.4 13.3 15.7
Region US:New England 5.5 6.4 4.7
Region US:Mid Atlantic 14.2 13.9 15.8
Region US:South Atlantic 18.7 19.2 19.9
Region US:East South Central 5.1 8.3 5.2
Region US:West South Central 10.5 10.7 9
Region US:East North Central 16.1 15.7 14.8
Children


Children:No 39.3 52.7 57.6
Children:Yes 60.7 47.3 42.3
HH Size


HH Size: 1 4.4 17.7 17.3
HH Size: 2 24.2 28.9 30.6
HH Size: 3 21.4 19.7 19.2
HH Size: 4 25.3 20.5 21.9
HH Size: 5+ 24.8 12.9 10.7
HH Size: 1-2 28.5 46.6 47.8
HH Size: 3+ 71.5 33.5 32.7
Race


Race:White 87.3 82.7 82
Race:Black 8 6.5 5.3
Race:Asian 1.6 5.7 6.8
Race:Other 3.1 4.9 5.8