Place and Inequality: Urban, Suburban, and Rural America

The stimulus programs have focused attention on rural disparities in broadband, but this chapter offers a broader overview, comparing Internet use anywhere and home broadband adoption for urban, suburban, and rural residents. Using the 2009 Current Population Survey and Federal Communications Commission survey, this chapter explores the data that informed federal policymaking at the launch of the stimulus efforts and the National Broadband Plan. Multivariate analysis offers a rigorous examination of the factors related to Internet use and broadband adoption, but the results are presented with graphs and estimates that require no statistical knowledge. The analysis shows that urban Latinos are the most technologically disadvantaged group, and that social inequality is the most important determinant of broadband adoption in both rural and urban areas.