PPIC - Public Policy Institute of California

07/14/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2025 10:56

Digital Access in California

Digital access is at an all-time high in California-but progress has slowed since the early days of the pandemic.

  • A record-high 96% of Californians had access to internet-including satellite-at home in 2023, the year of most recent data. This is up from 92% in 2019. Access increased most among historically marginalized communities: 95% of Black households had internet, up from 88% in 2019; increases were similar among Latino, low-income, and rural households, as well as households headed by non-college graduates.
  • A lower share of California households have broadband/high-speed internet access (84%, the same as it had been in 2019), and the variation between race/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic groups is greater. Black (83%), Latino (80%), and low-income (77%) households have the lowest levels of high-speed access, and each saw only small increases of 1 or 2 percentage points since 2019.
  • The share of California households with a desktop, laptop, or other device (not counting mobile phones) increased by 2 percentage points, from 87% in 2019 to 89% in 2023. Device access increased between 4 to 6 percentage points among Black, Latino, and low-income households. Despite widespread distribution of devices in schools during the pandemic, households with school-aged children saw only a modest increase in access, from 93% to 94%.
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