Norman County Digital Equity Profile – ranked 72

Every year, the Blandin on Broadband blog does County Broadband Profiles (and will do again when the new maps come out) but given federal opportunities are making it possible to get funding for access and adoption, I thought I’d try to present information for counties to assess their digital equity standing (see table below) and give options for who to contact locally for more information.

Summary

Norman County ranks 72 out of 87 counties for digital equity. Norman County does not rank well; one telling tract ranking is subscription rate rank at 84. That means a lot of people are choosing not to get broadband. That might indicate a need to help county residents better understand the need and use of broadband to build a culture of use.

Scroll down for details and suggested resources for more information.

Blandin Foundation is using the Microsoft Digital Equity Tool to determine needs by county and make high level recommendations for next steps to consider based on the data. (With special thanks to Carter Grupp, Broadband Coordinator Broadband Coordinator at American Connection Project for Otter Tail County.) Visit the tool if you want to look up more statistics on your community.

Demographic Data and Ranking (out of 87)

Norman County	Ranking
Access to 100/20	66
No bachelors	56
No HS degree	59
Below 150% poverty (last 12 months)	45
Below poverty (last 12 months)	29
Disability	41
No computer	79
No broadband access	38
No subscription	84
Overall average	72

The map below shows digital inequity by census tract. The bluer the better; yellow and orange colors indicate more inequity. This map can be helpful in figuring out which parts of your county need the most help.