Mapping the digital divide: What predicts internet access across America?

Digital infrastructure and internet access facilitate the economic, educational, social, and recreational activities that are critical to supporting access to inclusive and equitable community participation. However, significant disparities, or digital divides, persist for many people and communities based on social, demographic, and environmental characteristics. This paper explores the associations between socio-demographic characteristics and internet access at the county level using geographic statistical analysis using spatial regression, specifically a spatial error model and a residual analysis. Our results highlight the spatial nature of persistent social, demo-graphic, and environmental digital divides, particularly as they pertain to race, rurality, and education. Results suggest that current efforts to expand access to digital opportunity continue to fall short in lower resource communities and communities with higher rates of marginalized individuals.