Kansas Health Institute
TOPEKA – In today’s increasingly digital world, internet access is vital for education, employment and health care.
As technology continues to play an essential role in accessing these services, it becomes critical that individuals have adequate access to both digital devices and reliable internet connectivity.
However, the digital divide — the gap between those with sufficient access to these technologies and those without — remains a significant challenge, particularly in rural communities.
In Kansas, about 1 in 10 (12.0 percent) households do not have broadband, and 1 in 20 (5.8 percent) households do not have a computer to access the web.
In the Kansas Health Institute’s (KHI’s) latest research, an interactive Digital Divide dashboard provides a county-by-county look at broadband and computer access across Kansas.
A computer can include a number of devices used to access the internet, such as a desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet. The dashboard highlights disparities in ownership and availability.
“High-speed internet, known as broadband, allows residents to quickly and efficiently access online activities, such as streaming, browsing and downloading,” said Kaci Cink, KHI analyst. “Kansans use broadband to engage with health care providers and access health-related information, so not having connectivity can create barriers to health. And we are seeing this among populations that may need health care services the most.”
Rural counties often face unique challenges, such as infrastructure limitations, that make high-speed internet expensive and difficult to implement. Additionally, socioeconomic factors — such as income and age — can further restrict access to computers and broadband services.
In Kansas, one-third (30.9 percent) of individuals with a household income less than $20,000 do not have broadband. This rate is almost seven times higher than those in households making $75,000 or more (4.5 percent).
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which replaced the Emergency Broadband Benefit on Dec. 31, 2021, ended on June 1 due to a lack of additional funding.
Over its two and a half years, ACP enrolled more than 23 million households nationwide, significantly reducing the digital divide. The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 has been introduced but is pending.
On June 26, 2023, Governor Laura Kelly announced that Kansas received nearly $452 million from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to expand broadband infrastructure statewide.
Launched in 2020, the Broadband Acceleration Grant aims to invest $85 million over 10 years to bridge the digital divide in Kansas. In September 2024, Gov. Kelly announced an additional $22.7 million for broadband projects across 14 rural counties.
Using 2022 U.S. Census Bureau ACS data, the KHI Digital Divide dashboard allows users to explore county-level data on access to computers and broadband, as well as demographic breakdowns of populations without computer or broadband access by age, race, ethnicity, employment, education and income. This tool helps communities target efforts to close the digital divide.
For more information, contact KHI Director of Strategic Communication and Engagement Theresa Freed at
