A recent New York Times profile on the economic effects of a digital divide in Detroit has left some people wondering: Is Rochester any better off?

While the Times reports that only about 60% of Detroit’s 689,000 residents have dependable, private access to a broadband Internet connection, research from Arizona State University’s Center for Policy Informatics indicates that Rochester’s rate of home access is even lower — fewer than 60% for all residents.

In this hyper-connected age, a lack of Internet access can beget a vicious cycle of struggle: people without employment may find it difficult to make monthly payments for a broadband service provider, and yet Internet access is necessary for virtually any kind of job-seeking or employment application process today.

“All basic research for jobs and the forms we use to apply for jobs is online,” Jed Howbert, executive director for jobs and economic development in Detroit, told the Times. “Lack of broadband access is one of several obstacles to employment that we are systematically trying to take down.”

While Rochester’s unemployment levels, which have hovered around 5% throughout the past year, are less staggering than Detroit’s 11 to 13%, the city’s rate of broadband access is well below New York’s statewide 98% coverage at 25mbps or faster, the measure of speed of data transfer in millions of megabits per second.

“There are hundreds of communities across upstate that still don’t have basic access to broadband Internet,” Senator Chuck Schumer said last month after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reallocated $168 million in grants to service providers in the state. “It’s even hard to assess how much of a hindrance lack of high-speed Internet is to these communities.”

But the “digital divide” refers to more than just access. “Access is great; adoption is better,” Chike Aguh, CEO of a non-profit digital access service, told Vocativ. “Digital inclusion is a three-legged stool. The first leg is internet service the family can afford. The second is a device — a laptop, tablet, or desktop they can afford. Third is the digital literacy skills to make the most of the first two.”

Area organizations like Literacy Volunteers of Rochester are working to close the digital gap, acknowledging “digital literacy” in their educational efforts, too.

“Like telephones and electricity and television were in their decades, the Internet has now gone from a novelty to a luxury to a necessity,” Sen. Schumer said. “Everyone relies on it. We need to do our jobs, to study, to communicate. To do nearly everything. So that means reliable high-speed Internet is absolutely essential.”