It’s hard to imagine a household not having internet access in 2017.
But a new report from Governing magazine found many low-income communities in the U.S. still lack internet access despite the proliferation of the internet and digital devices.
Slightly less than half of all U.S. households with incomes under $20,000 reported having internet access, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent American Community Survey. By comparison, about 93% of households with annual incomes exceeding $75,000 were connected. A more recent Pew Research Center survey found similar disparities. For its analysis, Governing reviewed connection rates for metro areas with at least 100,000 households and found the lowest-income bracket was connected at roughly half the rate of all other households.
In Baton Rouge, that means about 46% of households earning less than $20,000 have internet access. Those in the lowest income bracket in Lafayette are connected at a similar rate to Baton Rouge, but the digital divide is even greater in the New Orleans-Metairie (40%) and Shreveport-Bossier City (32%) metro areas.
