What Factors Drive Broadband Affordability for Middle-Class Families?

This brief examines how place-based factors—such as education levels, social vulnerability, regional economic strength, and measures of income inequality—influence broadband affordability. These measures reinforce that income is not the only factor policymakers should consider when seeking to understand broadband affordability and adoption challenges. Together, these metrics provide a more holistic understanding of the variables that affect households’ ability to adopt broadband, which can help states develop effective, targeted policies for delivering affordable broadband to middle-class families. Pew’s analysis indicates that these and other social and demographic factors drive middle-class broadband affordability and that state broadband offices must account for these variables when evaluating whether their definition of “reasonable prices” is sufficient to yield truly affordable subscription plans for their communities. Accordingly, state policymakers should:

• Incorporate local social and economic demographics in their scoring metrics for BEAD applications to better reflect middle-class affordability in their communities.
• Consider multiple factors when crafting affordability plans to avoid pricing out targeted households.