The Need for Speed: Rural Users Tend to Have Slower Internet Connections

As the federal government, along with states, gets ready to make a once-in-a-lifetime investment in broadband infrastructure, the concept of the digital divide remains somewhat the same as it was back in the mid-1990s, when the term was coined. Namely, who has access to the internet and who does not? Increasingly, being on the “right” side of the divide is moving beyond a yes/no access at home and more toward determining whether a user’s connection satisfies their needs. While there are areas with no connectivity whatsoever, increasingly the question is becoming: Who is using the internet at faster speeds? Are connections symmetrical—where download and upload speeds are similar? Or are most internet users driving down a six-lane paved road (faster download speeds) and driving back on a dirt road (slower upload speeds)? To address these questions, we looked at speed test results from the Speedtest by Ookla Global Fixed Network Performance Maps and the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 from the US Census Bureau. Overall, as the share of a tract’s population is more rural, the average download and upload speeds are slower.

[Roberto Gallardo is vice president for engagement at Purdue University, director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development, and an associate professor in the Agricultural Economics Department.]