A look at whether ZIP codes that received federal broadband funding saw broadband adoption move afterward, compared with similar areas that weren't funded.
Data sources: FCC/USAC High-Cost Program (deployment & disbursement records) · US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates
Each tile shows how many ZIP codes survive that stage, and why. Hover a tile for the reason.
Each area's adoption is measured using a rolling 5-year average that shifts one year at a time — for funding received in 2017, that means comparing the 2013–2017 average to the 2014–2018, 2015–2019, and 2016–2020 averages. The bars below show the change from the first to the last of those windows (own adoption change, no peer adjustment).
Each point is a 5-year ACS rolling average, labeled by its actual window — not a single year's adoption rate.
Uses only each provider's tested, large-deployment ZCTAs — not their full funded footprint. Eligible counts range 1–29 per provider (median 7); treat every provider's number as a small-sample estimate. Both charts below share the same provider order (sorted by extra gain), so a provider's position can be compared across them.
A separate plot, deliberately not the same chart as adoption gains above — pairing funding dollars visually with a performance metric invites a "money caused this" reading the data can't support (see Methodology). Paired here only with zip count.
All zips with a valid 3-year checkpoint at the current population filter. "% of housing reached" = locations funded in year T ÷ total housing units — a continuous measure of deployment-event size. Click a column header to sort; hover a truncated cell for the full value.
Own adoption flat or down over the 3-year window — funded, but adoption didn't follow.
Large-deployment, tested ZCTAs only. Broadband adoption = ACS table B28002 (cable/fiber/DSL subscription, any speed) — not general internet access, and not specific to the 100+ Mbps funding threshold.