So where do all the big spending online shoppers live? Nielsen has some insights.

Around 25% of American adults are now spending $500 or more a year online on average, but there’s a few standout cities with seemingly deeper pockets. According to Nielsen’s 10 Lists For 2008 (PDF), Top U.S. markets for adults who spent more than $500+ online in 2007 are:

Washington, D.C. DMA - 39%
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose DMA - 35%
Seattle/Tacoma DMA - 34%
Honolulu DMA - 33%
Phoenix DMA - 32%
Boston DMA - 32%
San Diego DMA - 32%
Austin DMA - 31%
Baltimore DMA - 31%
Denver DMA - 31%

As for the US cities with the most prolific downloaders, i.e those adults who download podcasts, video games, music/other audio clips, movies, other video or TV programs in any month, the national average is 24%, but these were the top cities:

San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose DM - 31%
San Diego DMA - 31%
Austin DMA - 31%
Washington, D.C. DMA - 30%
Salt Lake City DMA - 29%
Syracuse DMA - 29%
Phoenix DMA - 28%
Columbus DMA - 28%
Seattle/Tacoma DMA - 28%
Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News DMA - 28%

In case you’re wondering, yes; it’s been pretty slow on ecommerce and marketing news these past few days :)