Cities With the Most Residents Lacking High-Speed Internet
Photo Credit: Tero Vesalainen / Shutterstock
Earlier in November, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, one of the largest federal spending packages in history and a major component of Biden’s domestic agenda. The bipartisan bill includes billions of dollars in investment for infrastructure priorities like roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems. But one of the most significant items in the new bill is a $65 billion allocation to improve access and affordability for broadband internet.
Broadband advocates have been arguing for expanded access to high-speed internet for years. These advocates note that internet access is critical for participating in the modern economy but that many households and communities are unable to secure reliable internet service. In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission estimated that 21 million Americans lacked access to broadband internet, and others have placed the figure far higher than that. And even in communities where broadband is available, some lower-income households cannot afford the cost of service.
But the COVID-19 pandemic may have been the catalyst to push universal broadband forward as a policy priority. As millions of American households transitioned to working and schooling from home during the pandemic, a lack of reliable internet service left some workers unable to participate in the economy and deprived students of classroom instruction time.
This lack of access has disproportionately affected some communities more than others. Broadband access is highly correlated to a variety of demographic and economic factors, particularly income and race. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that as of 2021, 92% of adults making greater than $75,000 per year had access to high-speed internet, compared to just 57% of those who earned less than $30,000 per year. Along the lines of race and ethnicity, 80% of white adults have reliable high-speed internet access, compared to just 71% of Black adults and 65% of Hispanic adults.
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