KHI.ORG Informing Policy. Improving Health. VARIATIONS IN INTERNET ACCESS ACROSS KANSAS With social distancing, reduced health care services and school building closings during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing need for adequate internet access, which is required for telehealth, education, business and social activities. While information ISSUE BRIEF is available on areas with broadband What is Adequate Internet Access? coverage, households still might not have adequate internet access due to technical and Adequate internet access requires both infrastructure issues, or prohibitive costs. device availability and a high-speed internet connection. This brief examines variations in adequate internet access by geography, population Deice availability A desktop, laptop or characteristics, insurance coverage and other tablet that provides appropriate screen factors to better understand how each one sie and allows full features of impacts Kansans. It uses data from the U.S. applications for telehealth and online Census Bureau 2019 American Community learning. Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) to better understand barriers to High-speed internet connection: The FCC currently defines a high-speed adequate internet access prior to the COVID-19 internet connection as pandemic, which can help policymakers identify 25 megabits per second geographic areas and vulnerable populations (bps) download speeds that might require additional assistance during and 3 Mbps upload speeds. and after the pandemic. This includes cable, fiber-optic and digital Variation by scriber line (DSL). Geographic Area Note: For the ACS, the type of internet is only asked of Overall, three in 10 (29.8 percent) Kansans people who pay for internet. Some Kansans might receive free or subsidized coverage. Smartphones and cellular data lacked adequate internet access (Figure alone are not considered as adequate internet access due to 1, page 2). Breaking down those lacking variations in functions, speed and data plans, as well as requirements for people with disabilities. adequate internet access, 10.2 percent lacked FEBRUARY KEY POINTS Adequate internet access — which is adequate internet access than were non- dependent on both device availability and a Hispanic White Kansans (45.6 percent, 39.8 high-speed internet connection — is critical percent and 28.5 percent, respectively). for telehealth, virtual learning and staying connected in a socially-distanced manner. Nearly half (48.6 percent) of Kansans with household income less than 100 percent of Three in 10 (29.8 percent or 884,700) Kansans the federal poverty level (FPL) lacked adequate did not have adequate internet access. There was a six-fold difference between the regions internet access. with the highest (46.4 percent) and lowest (7.7 percent) inadequate internet access rates. Even among those with household income greater than 400 percent of FPL, one in five (19.5 percent) Kansans who are Non-Hispanic Black or lacked adequate internet access, suggesting that Hispanic, Any Race, were more likely to lack the barriers are more than just financial. 2021 KHI/21-09 Figure 1. Lack of Adequate Internet Access in Kansas by Geographic Area, 2019 10.2% 16.4% 3.2% 29.8% 70.2% Kansas 15.4% 27.4% 3.6% 46.4% 53.6% Flint Hills 25.2% 17.6% 2.7% 45.5% 54.5% Shawnee County — Topeka Only 15.7% 27.4% 1.6% 44.7% 55.3% East Central Kansas 9.4% 33.6% 1.4% 44.4% 55.6% Shawnee (not Topeka), Osage, Jackson, Brown and Wabaunsee 17.7% 21.4% 4.5% 43.6% 56.4% Southeast Kansas 17.4% 18.6% 6.7% 42.7% 57.3% Southwest Kansas 17.1% 16.1% 6.7% 39.9% 60.1% Wyandotte County 17.9% 16.7% 5.0% 39.6% 60.4% Sedgwick County — Central Wichita 13.5% 19.3% 3.2% 36.1% 63.9% North Central Kansas 7.5% 23.1% 2.6% 33.2% 66.8% Northeast Kansas 9.5% 19.3% 4.3% 33.1% 66.9% Central Kansas 13.6% 14.1% 5.3% 32.9% 67.1% South Central Kansas 11.5% 17.7% 1.3% 30.5% 69.5% Northwest Kansas 9.2% 15.5% 3.3% 28.0% 72.0% Sedgwick County — South Wichita and Derby and Butler — Southwest 7.8% 12.0% 6.3% 26.1% 73.9% Sedgwick County — Northwest and Harvey County 6.0% 16.6% 3.1% 25.6% 74.4% Riley, Geary, & Pottawatomie Counties 6.1% 15.7% 1.8% 23.6% 76.4% Sedgwick County — Northeast 3.0% 11.6% 2.7% 17.4% 82.6% Douglas County 2.9% 10.3% 0.6% 13.9% 86.1% Johnson County — Southwest 3.3% 7.3% 2.6% 13.2% 86.8% Johnson County — Northwest 4.2% 7.1% 0.8% 12.1% 87.9% Johnson County — Northeast 6.1% 7.7% 92.3% Johnson County — Southeast 1.4% 0.2% 0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0% Percent of residents with no high-speed internet connection and no device. Inadequate Internet Access Percent of residents with no high-speed internet connection, but with a device. Percent of residents with a high-speed internet connection, but no device. Adequate Internet Access Percent of residents with a high-speed internet connection and a device. Note: All Kansans (civilian noninstitutionalized population) =2,872,404. Percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. Source: KHI analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample files. both high-speed internet and a device. Another 18 times greater than that in Southeast Johnson County 19.6 percent lacked either high-speed internet (1.4 percent). A high-speed internet connection does access (16.4 percent) or a device (3.2 percent). not guarantee adequate internet access, because a device also is required to get online. High-speed internet There was a six-fold difference in the rate of without device availability was highest in Wyandotte inadequate internet access across regions of the County and Southwest Kansas, impacting 6.7 percent state. The area with the highest rate of inadequate of residents in both areas, more than 30 times greater internet access was the Flint Hills region, than the rate of inadequate access in Sortheast Johnson encompassing 11 counties extending from Emporia County (0.2 percent). Conversely, Kansans that had a to the Oklahoma state line, where nearly half (46.4 device but not a high-speed internet connection peaked percent) of residents lacked adequate internet access at one in three (33.6 percent) residents in the area (See Insert Map). Six out of the 22 regions in Kansas encompassing Brown, Jackson, Osage, Shawnee (not had an inadequate internet access rate of 40 percent Topeka) and Wabaunsee counties, more than five times or greater. The region with the lowest inadequate the rate in Southeast Johnson County (6.1 percent). internet access rate was Southeast Johnson County (7.7 percent). The five regions where fewer than one in five residents lacked adequate internet access all Variation by Population fell within Johnson and Douglas Counties. Characteristics Different strategies are needed to address the lack The availability of a device and a high-speed internet of adequate internet access across regions. One in connection that provide adequate internet access can four (25.2 percent) Topeka residents lacked both a be influenced by many characteristics, such as age, device and a high-speed internet connection, a rate race/ethnicity and income (Figure 2, page 3). 2 February 2021 Variations in Internet Access Across Kansas Figure 2. Lack of Adequate Internet Access in Kansas by Population Characteristic, 2019 60.0% 50.0% 48.6% 45.6% 43.0% 43.2% 42.1% 40.0% 39.8% 30.0% 29.8% 29.2% 29.6% 26.7% 28.7% 28.5% 20.0% 19.5% 10.0% White, Black, All With Without Non- Non- Hispanic, 100%- 200%- 0.0% Kansans 0-18 19-64 65+ Disability Disability Hispanic Hispanic Any Race <100% 199% 399% ≥400% Percent Access Lacking Adequate Internet Percent Age Group Disability Race Ethnicity Federal Poverty Level (FPL) Note: All Kansans (civilian noninstitutionalized population) =2,872,404. People who did not report household income were not included in the analysis by federal poverty level (FPL). Percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. Source: KHI analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample files. Age households at or above 400 percent FPL (19.5 percent, among those with income more than $103,000 for a One in four (26.7 percent, or 198,648) Kansas children family of four in 2019). Still, the finding that nearly one age 0-18 lived in households that lacked adequate in five people in households with income above 400 internet access, potentially making remote learning percent FPL lacked adequate internet access suggests difficult for school-aged children. Over one-quarter that the barriers are more than just financial. (29.2 percent) of non-elderly adults also lacked adequate internet access, potentially impacting their ability to work remotely. Older adults were the most likely to lack Insurance Coverage adequate internet access (43.0 percent lacked it) which As seen in Figure 3 (page 4), uninsured Kansans and could affect their ability to use telehealth services and those with public health insurance (including Medicare, stay connected with family and friends. Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) were more likely to lack adequate internet Disability access than those with private insurance (including Percent of residents with a high-speed internet connection and a device. employment-based or direct-purchase coverage) (46.2 Kansans with a functional disability were 1.5 times percent, 42.0 percent and 23.1 percent, respectively).