A “Reverse” Digital Divide in Indiana?

The Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) partnered with the Indiana University Center for Survey Research (IU-CSR) to gather data on Indiana residents on several digital equity indicators. A surprising finding was that the difference between Whites and racial/ethnic minorities was not statistically significant but more importantly, they were “reversed” to what was expected. In other words, White non-Hispanics in Indiana lag racial/ethnic minorities when it comes to paying for home internet for all previous 12 months. There are two possible explanations for this unexpected finding: (1) survey results may be capturing the effectiveness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), as the program has a higher share of African American households enrolled compared to White non-Hispanic households; (2) may be due to a higher share of Indiana rural residents—more likely to lack home internet access, be less educated, and/or have lower incomes—being White non-Hispanic.