Multimedia
More money, more broadband
June 16, 2011
Wealthy people are far more likely to subscribe to high-speed Internet service than poor people in the Washington, D.C., region; but other factors — like geography and ethnicity — also play a role.
About this chart: The FCC measures broadband adoption rates at the Census tract level on a scale of 1 through 5; 1 is worst, and 5 is best. The Workshop calculated an average score for each city and county in the Washington, D.C., region by averaging the tract scores then adjusting for population. Each tract has an average of about 2,000 households. For a fuller explanation, please see methodology.
| City/County | Average Broadband Score | Median Household Income | Income Rank | Total Households | Score Breakdown By Census Tracts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||
| 1. Fairfax County, Va. | 4.50 | $104,259 | 3 | 368,239 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 44 | 104 |
| 2. Fairfax, Va. | 4.46 | $96,232 | 4 | 8,433 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 3. Calvert County, Md. | 4.44 | $90,621 | 7 | 29,734 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 |
| 4. Falls Church, Va. | 4.37 | $113,313 | 1 | 4,130 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5. Spotsylvania County, Va. | 4.20 | $77,225 | 14 | 40,690 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 6. Prince William County, Va. | 4.15 | $88,850 | 9 | 123,757 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
| 7. Arlington County, Va. | 4.13 | $93,806 | 5 | 90,303 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 13 |
| 7. Stafford County, Va. | 4.13 | $90,586 | 8 | 39,577 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 9. Montgomery County, Md. | 4.07 | $92,213 | 6 | 344,099 | 1 | 16 | 38 | 41 | 81 |
| 10. Prince George's County, Md. | 4.06 | $70,753 | 18 | 297,937 | 6 | 17 | 40 | 36 | 84 |
| 11. Frederick County, Md. | 3.93 | $80,970 | 12 | 81,274 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 8 |
| 12. St. Mary's County, Md. | 3.93* | $75,427 | 15 | 36,668 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| 13. Charles County, Md. | 3.84 | $86,141 | 10 | 48,971 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 8 |
| 14. Loudoun County, Va. | 3.83 | $112,021 | 2 | 91,028 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| 15. Manassas Park, Va. | 3.83** | $69,087 | 19 | 3,786 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16. Alexandria, Va. | 3.79 | $80,186 | 13 | 62,860 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
| 17. District of Columbia | 3.58 | $56,519 | 25 | 250,723 | 3 | 23 | 56 | 63 | 34 |
| 18. Jefferson County, W. Va. | 3.54 | $63,612 | 22 | 19,491 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 19. Warren County, Va. | 3.47 | $59,630 | 23 | 13,638 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 20. Shenandoah County, Va. | 3.42 | $50,436 | 27 | 16,745 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 21. King George County, Va. | 3.33 | $73,941 | 16 | 7,934 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 22. Fredericksburg, Va. | 3.25 | $43,154 | 28 | 8,903 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 23. Orange County, Va. | 3.23 | $55,416 | 26 | 12,572 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 24. Fauquier County, Va. | 2.84 | $82,872 | 11 | 22,705 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 25. Page County, Va. | 2.67 | $42,359 | 29 | 9,620 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 26. Clarke County, Va. | 2.53 | $68,768 | 20 | 5,487 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27. Culpeper County, Va. | 2.49 | $64,359 | 21 | 16,590 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 28. Rappahannock County, Va. | 2.16 | $58,500 | 24 | 3,076 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29. Manassas, Va. | 2.00 | $72,150 | 17 | 11,643 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
*St. Mary’s County’s score extended to three decimal points is 3.925.
**Manassas Park’s score extended to three decimal points is 3.826.
Sources: Workshop analysis of FCC data, Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2005-2009. This report was made possible by the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
