The digital economy enhances overall life satisfaction but reduces equity among vulnerable groups: Empirical evidence from 287 cities in China

With the deepening of urban digitalization, existing research has focused on the growth effects of the digital economy, while paying less attention to its impact on residents' life satisfaction and equity, particularly among vulnerable groups. This study aims to address these gaps by integrating the dual perspectives of regional disparities and characteristics of vulnerable groups, and by examining the impact mechanisms of the digital economy on life satisfaction and its equity in different geographical and socio-economic contexts. We analyzed life satisfaction by integrating advanced language models with social media data, employing ridge regression and XGBoost combined with GeoShapley to quantify the spatial contributions of features. The results indicated that: First, the digital economy is positively associated with residents’ life satisfaction but is also correlated with widening gaps; Second, elderly, low-income, and low-education groups experience both the benefits and the growing divide in digital finance and mobile internet adoption; Third, the strengthening of digital infrastructure in the eastern coastal regions improves satisfaction but intensifies regional imbalances; Fourth, increasing internet employment opportunities in northern regions can enhance both life satisfaction and its equity; finally, coastal port cities demonstrate a “win–win” scenario, where high life satisfaction coexists with greater equity. In short, balancing “expanding digital dividends” with narrowing gaps for vulnerable groups is key to fostering inclusive digital economy development. • Advanced NLP quantifies urban satisfaction and equity in vulnerable groups. • GeoShapley reveals spatial heterogeneity in digital economy's satisfaction impacts. • Digital economy enhances residents' satisfaction but intensifies regional inequalities. • Digital finance and mobile internet amplify gaps in vulnerable populations. • Rising digital employment in northern China promotes equitable satisfaction growth.