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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Rural Health. 2021 Aug 6;38(3):512–518. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12614

Table 1:

Limitations in Device and High-Speed Internet Access of Households in 2019a

Characteristic Without desktop or laptop computer with high-speed internet Without smartphone with a data plan for wireless internet Without any digital access
Proportion (95% CI), % P value Proportion (95% CI), % P value Proportion (95% CI), % P value
Among the whole population 32.29
(32.17, 32.41)
NA 21.51
(21.40, 21,61)
NA 14.02
(13.93, 14.11)
NA
Geographic area
 Non-metro 48.01
(47.64, 48.39)
< .001 33.08
(32.73, 33.44)
< .001 23.42
(23.10, 23.74)
< .001
 Metro 30.64
(30.51, 30.76)
20.29
(20.18, 20.40)
13.03
(12.94, 13.13)
Race/Ethnicity
 Non-Hispanic White 28.36
(28.23, 28.49)
< .001 20.87
(20.75, 20.98)
< .001 12.55
(12.45, 12.65)
< .001
 Non-Hispanic Black 45.70
(45.39, 46.11)
27.97
(27.61, 28.33)
21.17
(20.84, 21.50)
 Hispanic 42.17
(41.82, 42.53)
22.46
(22.15, 22.76)
16.86
(16.59, 17.14)
 American Indian or Alaska Native 53.58
(51.77, 55.39)
34.24
(32.57, 35.90)
27.50
(25.95, 29.05)
 Asian or Pacific Islander 20.73
(20.29, 21.17)
12.57
(12.20, 12.94)
7.44
(7.14, 7.74)
 Other race 36.29
(33.18, 39.41)
20.25
(17.73, 22.78)
13.74
(11.57, 15.91)
 Two or more major races 28.26
(27.34, 29.19)
15.47
(14.71, 16.23)
10.15
(9.52, 10.78)
Health insurance coverage
 Private coverageb 20.77
(20.62, 20.91)
< .001 10.36
(10.25, 10.47)
< .001 5.26
(5.18, 5.35)
< .001
 Uninsured 49.71
(49.20, 50.21)
24.86
(24.42, 25.31)
19.30
(18.89, 19.71)
 Public coveragec 45.14
(44.95, 45.34)
36.76
(36.57, 36.94)
25.46
(25.28, 25.63)
Poverty Level (as a percentage of the poverty thresholds)d
 <100 58.22
(57.83, 58.60)
< .001 38.52
(38.14, 38.90)
< .001 31.36
(30.99, 31.73)
< .001
 100–200 50.07
(49.74, 50.40)
34.15
(33.84, 34.46)
25.50
(25.21, 25.79)
 200–300 38.53
(38.20, 38.86)
25.54
(25.25, 25.83)
16.62
(16.37, 16.87)
 300–400 29.97
(29.66, 30.29)
19.76
(19.49, 20.03)
11.23
(11.01, 11.45)
 ≥400 17.89
(17.75, 18.03)
11.81
(11.69, 11.92)
5.43
(5.35, 5.52)
Number of family members
 1 46.30
(46.07, 46.53)
< .001 35.28
(35.06, 35.49)
< .001 25.89
(25.69, 26.09)
< .001
 2 28.43
(28.24, 28.62)
19.76
(19.60, 19.93)
11.23
(11.09, 11.36)
 3 24.61
(24.31, 24.91)
12.29
(12.06, 12.52)
6.96
(6.78, 7.14)
 4 21.32
(21.00, 21.64)
9.58
(9.34, 9.81)
5.21
(5.03, 5.39)
 ≥5 25.56
(25.17, 25.95)
11.77
(11.46, 12.07)
6.88
(6.64, 7.12)
a.

Analysis based on 1,210,714 observations in the 2019 American Community Survey, among them 135,748 are non-metro and 925,711 are metro, after weighting, representing 10,010,638 and 95,302,321 households respectively.

b.

Poverty level expresses each family’s total income for the previous year as a percentage of the poverty thresholds established by the Social Security Administration, adjusted for inflation.

c.

Private coverage is classified by the Census Bureau to include employer- or union-provided insurance, plans purchases by individuals from private insurance companies and military health care.

d.

Public coverage is classified by the Census Bureau to include the federal insurance programs Medicare, Medicaid, and the Department of Veterans Affairs insurance.