According to the Digital Advancement Institute website…

The Muni index is based on the premise that expansion in the availability, affordability, adoption, and quality of digital tools is essential to building a strong foundation for a vibrant and growing city. Yet digital access alone will not lead to better outcomes. The Muni Index demonstrates that how cities invest in technology works jointly alongside other factors that influence quality of life.

The tool looks at 16 indicators to determine a city’s muni index score. (Outlined below.)

Here are the top 11 cities in Minnesota based on 2021 data.

I like the holistic view on digital advancement as well as the intersectionality of technology and all aspects of life and community. The downside of the index is that the smallest population they track is 65,000. That being said, with knowledge of the indicators a smaller community might be able to find and/or track indicators to help gauge their own standing or at least progress.

Here are the indicators used to determine score:

Technology

1. The average download speeds for households in a zip code or county,
2. share of households with a desktop/laptop computer,
3. share of households with broadband subscriptions, and
4. percent of households with only a cellular plan and no other subscription.

Socioeconomic

1. Poverty rate,
2. a white-black residential segregation measure,
3. percent of children with health insurance, and
4. percent of the population that is foreign born.

Education

1. Share of the total number of bachelor’s degrees in a STEM field out of all bachelor’s degrees,
2. share of teens (age 16 to 19) who are in school or the workforce,
3. share of population who are at least high school graduates, and
4. share of population who are at least college graduates.

Housing

1. Housing vacancy rate,
2. home value to income ratio,
3. homeownership rate, and
4. percent of occupied rental units that are not rent burdened.