Exploring the Cost of Internet Across neighborhoods in Louisville

Given that many households across the country struggle to afford home internet service, local comparisons are critical for understanding the factors that influence internet pricing. Examining what drives local internet price differences is vital to understanding internet affordability nationwide and informing efforts to close the Digital Divide. This research revolves around two central questions: First, to what extent do internet prices vary across neighborhoods in the same city? Second, what neighborhood-level characteristics account for these price differences? To investigate these questions, we manually compiled a dataset of advertised internet speeds and prices for a random subset of residential addresses in Louisville (KY). Key findings include;

• Wireline internet prices vary significantly between neighborhoods. The average price of fiber internet from a top provider ranges from $0.09 per Mbps to $0.18 per Mbps, and the average price of cable internet from a second internet service provider ranges from $0.15 per Mbps to $0.22 per Mbps.
• One provider’s fixed wireless internet prices did not vary within or between neighborhoods.
• A provider offered neighborhoods with higher median household incomes significantly lower wireline internet prices than neighborhoods with a lower median household income when calculated by cost per megabit per second. Given that prices were averaged across speeds within neighborhoods, this difference likely reflects how the provider targets geographic areas for their internet plans.