About 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies — including Target and Walmart — only accept job applications online. High school students who have broadband Internet at home have graduation rates 6 to 8 percentage points higher than students who don’t, says a 2008 study by the Federal Reserve. Consumers can save almost $8,000 a year by using online resources to find discounts on essentials like apartment rentals, clothes, gasoline and food, according to an analysis last fall by the Internet Innovation Alliance.

Nationwide, 40 percent of households with annual incomes below $20,000 (below the poverty line for a family of four) have broadband access at home, while 93 percent of households with incomes exceeding $75,000 have high-speed Internet, according to a 2010 Federal Communications Commission survey.


The survey found that cost was the most-cited factor as to why people didn’t adopt the Internet at home. Many experts say a lack of competition among Internet providers keeps prices high and is a big reason why many low-income Americans cannot afford service.

The Obama administration set aside $7.2 billion from the stimulus package to bring high-speed Internet to underserved areas. The money has allowed companies to install or upgrade 18,000 miles of new broadband networks, add or upgrade more than 16,000 computer workstations, and create more than 110,000 new subscribers in both urban and rural low-income areas, according to the Commerce Department.

Other measures are also underway to help bridge the divide. The Federal Communications Commission plans to overhaul its Lifeline program to provide discounted Internet service to families in need, and has partnered with major cable providers to supply $10 Internet access to households with a child enrolled in the national school lunch program.