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Digest of Education Statistics
2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 218.70. Number and percentage distribution of 5- to 17-year-old students with known poverty status living in households, by home internet access, poverty status, and locale: 2019
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Poverty status and locale Number of
students1
(in thousands)
Percentage distribution of students,1 by home internet access2
Total Access with a broadband subscription Access without
a subscrip-
tion3
Either no
access or only
dial-up access4
Total, any
broadband
subscription
Fixed broadband
(of any sort)5
Mobile broadband
(alone or with
dial-up)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Total 50,942 (28.4) 100.0 (†) 93.5 (0.07) 82.2 (0.11) 11.3 (0.08) 1.8 (0.03) 4.7 (0.06)
City 15,596 (37.0) 100.0 (†) 92.7 (0.13) 80.4 (0.19) 12.3 (0.14) 2.0 (0.06) 5.3 (0.12)
Large 8,914 (25.8) 100.0 (†) 92.3 (0.16) 79.5 (0.25) 12.8 (0.19) 2.0 (0.08) 5.8 (0.13)
Midsize 3,232 (18.0) 100.0 (†) 92.7 (0.26) 80.3 (0.40) 12.4 (0.30) 2.2 (0.13) 5.1 (0.22)
Small 3,450 (19.3) 100.0 (†) 93.9 (0.24) 82.8 (0.33) 11.0 (0.29) 1.9 (0.11) 4.3 (0.23)
Suburban 20,843 (35.7) 100.0 (†) 95.5 (0.09) 87.3 (0.15) 8.2 (0.12) 1.5 (0.04) 3.1 (0.07)
Large 17,774 (30.4) 100.0 (†) 95.6 (0.09) 87.6 (0.15) 7.9 (0.13) 1.4 (0.05) 3.0 (0.07)
Midsize 1,982 (16.5) 100.0 (†) 95.0 (0.29) 85.5 (0.49) 9.5 (0.39) 1.5 (0.14) 3.5 (0.27)
Small 1,087 (12.2) 100.0 (†) 94.6 (0.39) 84.4 (0.57) 10.2 (0.50) 1.7 (0.20) 3.6 (0.36)
Town 4,648 (39.5) 100.0 (†) 91.8 (0.22) 78.7 (0.33) 13.0 (0.22) 2.4 (0.11) 5.9 (0.18)
Fringe 1,307 (17.3) 100.0 (†) 93.5 (0.41) 81.8 (0.64) 11.7 (0.46) 1.8 (0.20) 4.8 (0.40)
Distant 2,113 (22.0) 100.0 (†) 91.4 (0.37) 78.0 (0.47) 13.3 (0.32) 2.7 (0.19) 6.0 (0.29)
Remote 1,228 (17.7) 100.0 (†) 90.6 (0.41) 76.7 (0.52) 14.0 (0.45) 2.5 (0.23) 6.9 (0.35)
Rural 9,856 (47.5) 100.0 (†) 91.4 (0.15) 75.8 (0.23) 15.6 (0.18) 1.9 (0.08) 6.7 (0.13)
Fringe 5,098 (28.8) 100.0 (†) 93.9 (0.19) 81.8 (0.30) 12.1 (0.24) 1.8 (0.10) 4.3 (0.16)
Distant 3,763 (30.7) 100.0 (†) 89.2 (0.24) 69.5 (0.39) 19.7 (0.30) 2.0 (0.11) 8.9 (0.21)
Remote 995 (15.3) 100.0 (†) 86.5 (0.41) 68.5 (0.57) 18.0 (0.43) 2.5 (0.17) 11.0 (0.37)

Below poverty threshold6
8,157 (58.3) 100.0 (†) 84.2 (0.23) 64.0 (0.31) 20.2 (0.25) 3.3 (0.10) 12.5 (0.21)
City 3,291 (32.3) 100.0 (†) 85.2 (0.40) 63.7 (0.48) 21.5 (0.43) 3.2 (0.17) 11.6 (0.36)
Large 1,947 (24.1) 100.0 (†) 85.3 (0.52) 63.7 (0.60) 21.6 (0.55) 2.7 (0.21) 12.0 (0.49)
Midsize 661 (13.1) 100.0 (†) 84.8 (0.87) 63.0 (1.14) 21.8 (1.06) 4.2 (0.43) 11.0 (0.73)
Small 683 (14.5) 100.0 (†) 85.2 (0.73) 64.5 (0.98) 20.7 (0.89) 3.5 (0.32) 11.3 (0.69)
Suburban 2,506 (31.6) 100.0 (†) 86.5 (0.45) 69.4 (0.62) 17.0 (0.47) 3.1 (0.23) 10.4 (0.38)
Large 2,051 (29.0) 100.0 (†) 86.6 (0.48) 69.5 (0.68) 17.1 (0.55) 3.0 (0.24) 10.4 (0.39)
Midsize 283 (8.8) 100.0 (†) 85.3 (1.19) 67.7 (1.67) 17.7 (1.36) 4.0 (0.78) 10.7 (1.12)
Small 171 (7.3) 100.0 (†) 86.4 (1.55) 71.3 (1.86) 15.1 (1.48) 3.4 (0.85) 10.2 (1.41)
Town 983 (20.5) 100.0 (†) 82.1 (0.64) 60.9 (0.93) 21.3 (0.63) 4.3 (0.37) 13.5 (0.54)
Fringe 215 (8.1) 100.0 (†) 84.2 (1.48) 62.7 (2.11) 21.5 (1.59) 3.7 (0.70) 12.2 (1.29)
Distant 498 (13.3) 100.0 (†) 83.1 (0.88) 62.6 (1.23) 20.5 (0.91) 4.5 (0.52) 12.4 (0.75)
Remote 270 (8.9) 100.0 (†) 78.8 (1.38) 56.2 (1.54) 22.6 (1.35) 4.5 (0.73) 16.7 (1.16)
Rural 1,377 (14.8) 100.0 (†) 79.3 (0.58) 57.2 (0.61) 22.1 (0.56) 3.1 (0.26) 17.5 (0.51)
Fringe 549 (12.4) 100.0 (†) 82.7 (1.01) 62.4 (1.16) 20.4 (1.02) 3.7 (0.53) 13.6 (0.89)
Distant 619 (10.3) 100.0 (†) 78.0 (0.77) 54.5 (1.03) 23.6 (0.87) 2.5 (0.27) 19.5 (0.74)
Remote 209 (6.1) 100.0 (†) 74.4 (1.10) 52.0 (1.22) 22.4 (1.07) 3.4 (0.49) 22.2 (1.07)

100 to 185 percent of
    poverty threshold6
9,191 (55.6) 100.0 (†) 90.4 (0.18) 74.3 (0.26) 16.1 (0.21) 2.3 (0.08) 7.3 (0.17)
City 3,286 (31.4) 100.0 (†) 89.9 (0.35) 73.7 (0.45) 16.2 (0.34) 2.5 (0.17) 7.6 (0.31)
Large 1,957 (23.0) 100.0 (†) 89.4 (0.48) 73.0 (0.64) 16.4 (0.49) 2.5 (0.21) 8.1 (0.41)
Midsize 666 (12.2) 100.0 (†) 88.9 (0.70) 73.0 (1.04) 15.9 (0.76) 2.5 (0.35) 8.6 (0.65)
Small 663 (11.4) 100.0 (†) 92.2 (0.61) 76.6 (0.92) 15.6 (0.71) 2.5 (0.31) 5.3 (0.55)
Suburban 3,230 (30.0) 100.0 (†) 92.5 (0.29) 79.2 (0.52) 13.3 (0.43) 2.1 (0.14) 5.5 (0.23)
Large 2,698 (26.9) 100.0 (†) 92.3 (0.32) 79.7 (0.53) 12.7 (0.43) 2.1 (0.16) 5.6 (0.25)
Midsize 353 (10.5) 100.0 (†) 94.2 (0.75) 78.1 (1.21) 16.1 (1.05) 1.3 (0.33) 4.5 (0.68)
Small 180 (8.2) 100.0 (†) 91.8 (1.17) 74.1 (1.99) 17.8 (1.74) 2.4 (0.62) 5.8 (0.99)
Town 1,011 (17.7) 100.0 (†) 90.2 (0.47) 73.7 (0.68) 16.5 (0.55) 2.7 (0.25) 7.2 (0.44)
Fringe 242 (8.8) 100.0 (†) 88.7 (1.38) 73.9 (1.51) 14.8 (1.26) 2.7 (0.61) 8.5 (1.26)
Distant 493 (10.5) 100.0 (†) 91.0 (0.63) 74.1 (0.97) 16.9 (0.73) 2.6 (0.37) 6.4 (0.55)
Remote 275 (8.6) 100.0 (†) 89.9 (0.83) 72.6 (1.24) 17.2 (1.13) 2.7 (0.44) 7.4 (0.66)
Rural 1,664 (17.8) 100.0 (†) 87.7 (0.37) 66.5 (0.56) 21.1 (0.54) 2.2 (0.19) 10.1 (0.32)
Fringe 694 (13.2) 100.0 (†) 90.7 (0.55) 72.6 (0.85) 18.0 (0.65) 1.9 (0.25) 7.4 (0.49)
Distant 743 (12.9) 100.0 (†) 85.8 (0.58) 61.7 (0.88) 24.2 (0.85) 2.3 (0.31) 11.8 (0.52)
Remote 227 (5.3) 100.0 (†) 84.3 (1.01) 63.6 (1.19) 20.8 (1.05) 3.0 (0.36) 12.7 (0.97)

Greater than 185 percent of
    poverty threshold6
33,594 (78.3) 100.0 (†) 96.6 (0.05) 88.7 (0.09) 7.9 (0.07) 1.3 (0.03) 2.1 (0.04)
City 9,019 (34.3) 100.0 (†) 96.5 (0.11) 88.9 (0.18) 7.6 (0.15) 1.3 (0.07) 2.2 (0.09)
Large 5,009 (26.3) 100.0 (†) 96.1 (0.15) 88.2 (0.24) 8.0 (0.19) 1.4 (0.09) 2.5 (0.12)
Midsize 1,905 (16.7) 100.0 (†) 96.8 (0.21) 88.9 (0.37) 7.9 (0.31) 1.3 (0.11) 1.9 (0.17)
Small 2,104 (18.0) 100.0 (†) 97.2 (0.20) 90.8 (0.32) 6.4 (0.29) 1.1 (0.11) 1.7 (0.14)
Suburban 15,107 (43.7) 100.0 (†) 97.6 (0.06) 92.0 (0.11) 5.7 (0.10) 1.0 (0.04) 1.4 (0.05)
Large 13,025 (37.5) 100.0 (†) 97.7 (0.06) 92.1 (0.12) 5.5 (0.11) 1.0 (0.04) 1.3 (0.05)
Midsize 1,346 (14.6) 100.0 (†) 97.2 (0.22) 91.2 (0.41) 6.1 (0.33) 1.1 (0.13) 1.7 (0.19)
Small 736 (12.7) 100.0 (†) 97.2 (0.32) 90.0 (0.54) 7.2 (0.55) 1.2 (0.20) 1.6 (0.24)
Town 2,654 (21.3) 100.0 (†) 95.9 (0.19) 87.3 (0.29) 8.7 (0.25) 1.5 (0.12) 2.6 (0.16)
Fringe 849 (12.8) 100.0 (†) 97.2 (0.28) 88.9 (0.60) 8.3 (0.51) 1.0 (0.17) 1.8 (0.23)
Distant 1,122 (12.8) 100.0 (†) 95.2 (0.34) 86.6 (0.47) 8.6 (0.39) 1.9 (0.20) 3.0 (0.27)
Remote 683 (11.0) 100.0 (†) 95.6 (0.42) 86.3 (0.62) 9.2 (0.52) 1.7 (0.26) 2.8 (0.34)
Rural 6,814 (46.2) 100.0 (†) 94.7 (0.14) 81.8 (0.22) 12.9 (0.18) 1.6 (0.07) 3.7 (0.11)
Fringe 3,855 (26.9) 100.0 (†) 96.1 (0.16) 86.2 (0.27) 9.9 (0.23) 1.5 (0.09) 2.5 (0.13)
Distant 2,400 (27.0) 100.0 (†) 93.1 (0.24) 75.8 (0.41) 17.3 (0.35) 1.7 (0.12) 5.2 (0.19)
Remote 559 (10.7) 100.0 (†) 92.0 (0.42) 76.7 (0.66) 15.3 (0.58) 2.0 (0.23) 6.0 (0.34)
†Not applicable.
1 Includes students who are 5 to 17 years old, live in a household, and are in the poverty universe. The poverty universe includes all children who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption and includes unrelated children age 15 and over. The householder is the person (or one of the people) who owns or rents (maintains) the housing unit. Poverty status is determined by the total family income of the householder for related children and individual income for unrelated children. Poverty status cannot be determined for unrelated children under age 15 (e.g., foster children) because their family and individual income is not known.
2 Percentages refer to students whose household members access the Internet at home by the means specified.
3 Includes respondents living in a city or town that provides free internet services for its residents.
4 Includes households where no member accesses the Internet at home as well as households where members access the Internet only with a dial-up service.
5 Excludes mobile broadband but includes all other non-dial-up internet services, such as DSL, cable modem, and fiber-optic cable.
6 Students are considered to be in poverty if their family income falls below the Census Bureau's poverty threshold, which is a dollar amount that varies depending on a family's size and composition and is updated annually to account for inflation. In 2019, for example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $25,926. Respondents were interviewed throughout the year and reported on the income they received during the previous 12 months.
NOTE: Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population residing within the United States. However, this table includes only students living in households, because respondents living in group quarters (e.g., shelters, healthcare facilities, or correctional facilities) were not asked about internet access. Some students living in households were also excluded from this table, because their poverty status could not be determined (see footnote 1). As noted in footnote 6, the Census Bureau determines poverty status using a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition. For additional information about poverty status, see https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2019, Restricted-Use Data File. (This table was prepared September 2021.)

2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest