Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone Use Higher In Urban Areas With More College Graduates

Are you a college graduate who lives in a more urban area that also hosts fellow college degree holders? You’re more likely using an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone according to the results of a new study.

That insight is from a new Chitika study in which researchers found out that state-by-state usage rates of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s smartphone correlated with “educational level” and “population density”.

“iPhone usage shares are positively correlated with level of education and population density at the state-level,” Chitika wrote in its whitepaper.

According to the data culled by the advertising firm, Alaska, Montana and Vermont had the highest percentage of iPhone users at 65.5%, 60.1% and 59.4% respectively. Per capita, New Mexico, Iowa and Delaware had the lowest percentage of iPhone users at 40.5%, 42.5% and 42.2% respectively.

The study was done using Cidewalk data gathered from December 25 through December 31, 2014 to include traffic from devices given as gifts during the holiday season. According to Chitika, the sample size for the study was in the “hundreds of millions”. Cidewalk is the local advertising platform of Chitika and the platform allegedly sees billions of app-based advertisements in the U.S. every week.

Based on the study, increased wealth is linked to more Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) smartphone sales, but “the high correlation in median income and education level resulted in redundancy of this particular variable.”

Furthermore, the results mean that the more dense a state’s population, the higher the iPhone sales in the state.

Apple, is AAPL a good stock to buy, population density, Chitika, educational level, iPhone usage, U.S.,

Nonetheless, before proclaiming that a college education and residence in an urban area is always linked with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone use, it’s important to note that Chitika itself says that model and analysis “are not comprehensive”. That’s despite “hundreds of millions” for their sample size. They do also point out that “a great deal of granularity” is absent from the study because it was done on a state level.

Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital owned about 2.08 million Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares by the end of 3Q2014.