Internet Access and Inequality


As the Internet has developed in America, so has a so called "digital divide". Americans of contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds have greatly differing abilities to use and access innovative technologies. This digital divide not only exacerbates inequality across the country, it feeds into itself as well. Many tech companies continue to develop products that cater more to the upper class and their own profit margins, than those that may benefit from technological advances the most. As Internet access has become essential part of many Americans' everyday lives, elsewhere in the country, large swaths of America are increasingly being left behind.


US Census American Community Survey 2017

Internet Access and Poverty are Strongly Linked


Counties that have a larger proportion of people below the poverty line, also have a larger proportion of people without any Internet access. Likely influential in this relationship is the amount of value that customers or Internet Service Providers get for their service. People already living on tight budgets will likely choose to forgo paying for Internet, especially in urban areas, where free WiFi is more widely available in places like libraries and cafes.

Internet Speeds Also Relate to Poverty

The FCC defines broadband Internet as having a minimum download speed of 25 mbps and an upload speed of at least 3 mbps for fixed Internet services. Despite these conservative speeds, still large proportions of American counties do not meet these standards for Internet speeds. Counties with the worst broadband adoption rates are also typically counties with the highest poverty rates.

Internet Access May Contribute to Unemployment


Internet access is vital to finding a job. As more job applications shift to being online only, an Internet connection may be the only way to apply to jobs, even ones nearby. Internet job boards also allow for those looking for a job to do so much more quickly and efficiently.

People of Color Have Less Access to the Internet


In the rural South, communities of color have much higher rates of people who do not have Internet access. This exacerbates issues like poverty in these communities, by restricting more of the opportunities members of these areas have available to them.

Native Americans Disproportionately Have Worse Internet


Native American communities have been continually exploited and abandoned by state and federal governments, resulting in significantly higher levels of inequality in their communities. Lack of investment in Native communities by governments could have also led to a degredation of infrastructure in these areas, making it more costly to upgrade to newer and better Internet choices.

Counties with Higher Incomes Have Households With Multiple Devices


Higher incomes give households the ability to afford multiple Internet connected devices. However, this is also made possible by the ability to afford faster Internet that can handle multiple devices at once. This allows for increased economic and educational opportunities, that give already privileged individuals an additional leg up over lower income households

Higher Housing Costs Also Mean Better Access to Internet


Naturally, people with higher incomes will flock to better neighborhoods that cost more to rent or buy in. However, increased Internet access in more expensive areas also speaks to the effects of amenities on upper-class housing decisions. Households with higher incomes can be more selective on where they live, and will likely choose areas that have more features that improve their quality of living, like high-speed Internet access.

Older Americans are More Likely to Only Own a Desktop


A trope in pop-culture is the techno-phobic grandparent that can barely check their email and refuses to buy a smartphone. However, there may be some truth to this stereotype, as counties with a higher median age also tend to have a higher proportion of the population that uses a desktop as their only computing device. Another factor may be the limited incomes of many retirees, resulting in a purchase of a desktop before the prevalence of smartphones, and little expendable income to spend on an additional device.

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Let the social scientist inside of you run wild! Or just look at the pretty colors. The choice is up to you! Making a variable into a dummy variable will collapse the scale of that variable into only two categories, giving more contrast to extreme differences. Reversing the variable's scale will switch which end of the color or opacity scale starts at the lower end of the scale.

Credits

All data is from the US Census American Community Survey from 2017

Created by Adam Shelton

Histogram inspiration from d3noob

Update cycle inspiration from Mike Bostock

Code for reloading page from the beginning from ProfNandaa

And a lot of help from Scott Murray's Interactive Data Visualization for the Web and our esteemed instructor Alex Engler