Wealthy, active, educated
owners include Natalie Portman

Wealthy, educated and active are adjectives that describe today's hybrid vehicle owners, who also tend to be Democrats and Independents, according to (pdf) a recent analysis from Scarborough Research, reports MarketingCharts.

Markets at or near the top of the list for household hybrid ownership include Tucson, San Francisco, Washington DC and Las Vegas. Near or slightly above 2 percent of households in these markets own a hybrid vehicle, compared with less than 1 percent of households nationwide.

Among Scarborough's other findings:

• Nearly half (42 percent) of US households that own or lease at least one hybrid vehicle have an annual income of $100,000 or more - more than twice the national average.
• The adults who live in those households, "Hybrid Owners," are more than twice as likely as all US adults to have a college degree, including 27 percent of Hybrid Owners who have a postgraduate degree, compared with 9 percent of adults overall.
• Hybrid Owners also skew older than average, and are 23 percent more likely than average to be age 50+.

(MarketingCharts provides additional findings in its coverage.)

"Hybrid vehicles…are generally acknowledged to be gaining momentum and popularity across the US," said Alisa Joseph, vice-president, advertiser marketing services, Scarborough Research.

"In marketing hybrids, local dealerships have an opportunity to tap into the high incomes and high-activity level of this consumer group with advertising and promotions," she said.