New Census Data Highlights Impact of Affordable Connectivity Program

More than nine out of 10 American households now have an internet subscription, according to new Census data released on Sep 12. That's a significant leap forward from the 76.7% the Census Bureau reported in 2015. When you dig into the census numbers, it becomes clear that the majority of new internet subscribers came from the lowest income groups. That means, according to analyst Blair Levin, that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) "was doing what it set out to do." In total, 2.8 million American households added an internet subscription in 2023. That’s less than the 3.2 million households that got online in 2022, and the second smallest jump since the Census Bureau began collecting the data in 2015. In other words, the digital divide continues to narrow.