For most of human history, our basic needs — food, water, shelter and work — have stayed largely the same. But in today’s connected, digital world, one more essential has joined that list: access to high-speed internet.

In the three decades since the popularization of the world wide web, the American workplace has steadily moved online with more than 72% of employed Americans reporting that they could not do their jobs without access to the internet. It may surprise many, however, that 6.8 million U.S. households do not have reliable internet access in 2025, with a disproportionate 3.1 million of those households located in the heartland.