Polk County Digital Equity Profile – ranked 44

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

Polk County ranks 44 out of 87 counties for digital equity. They ranking by tract are interesting. Their broadband subscription rate ranks higher (30) that computer ownership (56); the bachelor’s attainment rank (29) is higher than population living below poverty (64). Because of those differences, they seem to be in a position where they need to work on the three pillars of digital equity: affordable access to broadband, device ownership and the skills to use them.

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)

Polk County	Ranking
Access to 100/20	50
No bachelors	29
No HS degree	58
Below 150% poverty (last 12 months)	60
Below poverty (last 12 months)	64
Disability	60
No computer	56
No broadband access	22
No subscription	30
Overall average	44

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.