Broadband Access and Census Internet Self-Response Rates: A Case Study of Four States and Their 270 Counties

The Census Bureau found that Mississippi, which has the lowest level of broadband access (76.3%) in the United States, was undercounted by 4.11% in the 2020 census. Washington, one of two states with the highest broadband access rate (90%), had no undercount. Using the 270 counties found in four states (one from each of the four regions of the United States), we examine this issue via a structural equation analysis employing three variables that correlate with census self-response rate through the internet (CCRINT): (1) percent of the population with broadband access (PctBroad): (2) the percent of the population that is urban (PctRural); and (3) the percent of the population that is non-Hispanic White (PctNHWhite). We find that PctRural has the largest total effect on CCRINT (−0.779), greater than that of PctNHWhite (0.345) and PctBroad (0.280) combined. We also find considerable variation across the four states. Our findings have policy implications: Continued federal, state, and local attempts to bridge the rural/urban digital divide are needed to reduce the non-response rates for the 2030 census, help lower its costs, and provide for a more equitable distribution of the resources that stem from the decennial census.