The Commerce Department has released details of a study of just who uses the Internet. Here are some of the highlights:

• Internet usage is highest, at 62 percent, among those who earn $75,000 or more a year -- and lowest, at about 3 percent, among those who make $10,000 or less and live in rural areas.

• Non-Hispanic whites and Asians and Pacific Islanders are more likely to use the Net than blacks and Hispanics.

• Even at the same income levels, people in urban areas use the Internet much more than those in rural areas.

• But rural students in grades K-12 are far more likely to have Internet access at school than their counterparts in urban areas and inner-cities.

Among those who use the Internet at home, about 60 percent search for information, 46 percent check news, 36 percent take courses, 29 percent do job-related tasks and 25 percent shop or pay bills on line.

Source: David Lieberman, "Net Hangs Out of Reach of Have-Nots," USA Today, July 9, 1999.