Baltimore's Digital Divide: Gaps in Internet Connectivity and the Impact on Low-income City Residents

Large numbers of Baltimore households lack two essential tools for getting online: wireline broadband service at home and access to a computer. According to the 2018 American Community Survey, 96,000 households in Baltimore (40.7%) did not have wireline internet service, such as cable, fiber, or digital subscriber line service. And some 75,000 Baltimore City households, or one in three, do not have either a desktop or laptop computer. Most of these households are lower income. The roots of these inequities are deep and systemic, but they are not insurmountable.  While there are proposals to help increase home internet and computer access at the federal level, the report finds that there are number of things that Baltimore City can do to make increased access a reality. The recommendations include:

• Develop a pipeline of device delivery to low-income households, prioritizing families with school-age children.
• Enhance the capability of community anchor institutions such as libraries and neighborhood nonprofits to provide tech support and digital skills training.
• Enlist a wide range of stakeholders to address digital inequality, e.g., deeper engagement among the business and university communities.
• Build capacity in city government on digital access issues so that Baltimore’s city government can have a stronger leadership position on this issue.