US AI Diffusion Report 2026 Q1 — transcribed tables

These tables reproduce the existing in/out transcription of printed Microsoft report values. Notes retain source periods, units, approximations and known inconsistencies. Point values are not inferred from unlabeled charts. This is a transcription, not a new Microsoft dataset; verify critical figures against the linked original page.

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 2

College-age population and AI adoption

Narrative comparison; report does not specify weighting in this paragraph.

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College-age population and AI adoption
County population share ages 18–24Average AI user share (%)
More than 10%28.6
Smaller shares20.3

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 5

AI adoption by county urbanization class

Report classifications: metropolitan generally urban core ≥50,000; micropolitan 5,000–50,000; rural outside both. Population proportions rounded.

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AI adoption by county urbanization class
County classAI user share (%)Share of population (%)
Metropolitan32.987
Micropolitan21.810
Rural16.23

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 5

Urbanization and trust

The 0.17 is an association, not causation. Trust percentages come from National AI Opinion Monitor survey cited in report, not Microsoft telemetry.

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Urbanization and trust
MeasureValueUnit
AI user share per 1% more urban population0.17pp
Urban respondents: AI likely acts in public interest53%
Rural respondents: AI likely acts in public interest38%

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 7

Top 15 counties by AI user share, minimum 10,000 population

13 of 15 exceed 95th percentile of young-adult share nationally, per prose. Population cutoff matters: this is not the unrestricted ranking of all CSV counties.

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Top 15 counties by AI user share, minimum 10,000 population
RankCounty-equivalent areaStateAge 18–24 share (%)AI user share (%)Anchor institution
1WilliamsburgVirginia36.273.2College of William & Mary
2HarrisonburgVirginia32.767.5James Madison University
3MadisonIdaho46.467.2Brigham Young University-Idaho
4BrazosTexas26.464Texas A&M University
5StoryIowa30.663.8Iowa State University
6DentonTexas8.960.1University of North Texas
7ClarkeGeorgia2659University of Georgia
8DouglasKansas2357.2University of Kansas
9CharlottesvilleVirginia20.151.7University of Virginia
10ClevelandOklahoma1551.6University of Oklahoma
11HaysTexas14.251.4Texas State University
12LeeAlabama16.550.8Auburn University
13MontgomeryVirginia27.850.8Virginia Tech
14UtahUtah16.850.2Brigham Young University
15FredericksburgVirginia1849.3University of Mary Washington

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 7

Top-county context

Top 15 ranking applies to counties with at least 10,000 residents.

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Top-county context
MeasureValueUnit
Top 15 counties with a college or university15count
Top 15 above 95th percentile in age 18–24 share13count
Denton technology-access national rank12rank

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 8

35 largest metropolitan areas

Prose selection criterion is working-age population above 1.5 million. Figure caption merely says population > 1.5 million; preserve the more explicit prose definition.

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35 largest metropolitan areas
RankMetroStatesAI user share (%)
1WashingtonDC, VA, MD, WV39.7
2DallasTX39.4
3MiamiFL38.6
4HoustonTX38.4
5AtlantaGA38.0
6San FranciscoCA38.0
7AustinTX37.8
8SeattleWA36.8
9ChicagoIL, IN36.6
10Las VegasNV36.5
11San DiegoCA36.3
12OrlandoFL36.2
13San AntonioTX35.4
14New YorkNY, NJ35.2
15BostonMA, NH35.1
16RiversideCA35.1
17NashvilleTN34.7
18Los AngelesCA34.7
19TampaFL33.8
20BaltimoreMD33.7
21CharlotteNC, SC33.6
22PhoenixAZ33.4
23CincinnatiOH, KY, IN32.9
24DenverCO32.8
25PhiladelphiaPA, NJ, DE, MD32.6
26Kansas CityMO, KS32.4
27PortlandOR, WA31.1
28SacramentoCA29.6
29MinneapolisMN, WI29.2
30ClevelandOH29.1
31DetroitMI29.1
32IndianapolisIN28.8
33ColumbusOH28.7
34St. LouisMO, IL26.8
35PittsburghPA25.8

Microsoft-US-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q1.pdf · page 13

State AI diffusion ranking

50 states; Washington DC is not a state and excluded.

Read State AI diffusion ranking in the original PDF

State AI diffusion ranking
RankStateAI user share (%)
1Maryland36.3
2Utah35.7
3Texas35.3
4Virginia34.7
5New Jersey34.5
6Nevada34.2
7California34.0
8Connecticut34.0
9Georgia33.7
10Florida33.6
11Massachusetts33.4
12Illinois33.3
13New York32.7
14Rhode Island32.5
15Colorado32.3
16Washington32.2
17Arizona31.4
18Hawaii30.6
19Delaware30.6
20New Hampshire30.2
21North Carolina30.1
22South Carolina29.1
23Oklahoma28.9
24Idaho28.8
25Kansas28.6
26Tennessee28.5
27Oregon28.4
28Ohio28.3
29Wisconsin28.2
30North Dakota28.2
31Michigan27.4
32South Dakota27.4
33Alabama27.3
34Pennsylvania27.2
35Indiana26.8
36Missouri26.8
37Nebraska26.4
38Minnesota26.3
39Louisiana26.1
40Arkansas26.0
41Wyoming25.5
42Kentucky25.1
43Iowa24.4
44New Mexico23.9
45Alaska23.6
46Vermont23.3
47Mississippi22.9
48Montana22.7
49Maine21.4
50West Virginia20.8