Best & Worst States for Broadband, 2023

Best & Worst States for Broadband, 2023

Written by
May 9, 2023 | Published: February 8, 2023

Every year we use a combination of public and proprietary data to create a comprehensive report on the quality of internet in all 50 states and D.C., and this year we made some key changes to our ranking algorithm so that this report is the most comprehensive ranking yet. We explain more about what we changed and why in the methodology section at the end.

Key Findings

  • Availability of low-priced broadband remains low across the US. In half of all states, less than 20% of the population has access to a broadband plan for $60 per month or less, and Washington was the only state with over 50% of their population having access at 54%.
  • The category with the largest geographic disparity in the country is latency (round trip time), with 18 states earning a score of 0 for that section.
  • We support changing the definition of broadband from 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up to 100Mbps down and 25Mbps up, but we’re a long way away from widespread access to those speeds. Nationally, 100Mbps down is in the 62nd percentile and 25Mbps up is in the 69th percentile.
5 Best States for Broadband 5 Worst States for Broadband
Maryland West Virginia
New Jersey Alaska
New York Mississippi
Delaware Arkansas
Washington Vermont

Why the best?

Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware earned their spots in the top 5 through near-universal access to broadband internet and incredible internet quality.

Washington pushed its way into the top 5 by having the highest access to low-priced broadband in the country despite its lower median download and upload speeds.

Why the worst?

All 5 of the worst states scored poorly for internet quality across the board, with all five receiving a score of 0 for latency.

Excluding Vermont, they also have some of the lowest access to broadband internet in the country.

State Rankings

Below are the rankings for each state in the US based on access to broadband internet – including access to low price plans and fiber-optics – and the quality of their internet.

State Rank Wired / Fixed Wireless Broadband (%) Wired Low-Priced Broadband (%) Fiber-Optic Service (%) Median RTT RTT Score Median Download Speed Download Score Median Upload Speed
Maryland 1 97 34.8 63.8 9.5 79.84496124 88.4 69.348659 21.2
New Jersey 2 98.5 18.8 69.7 6.5 100 89.2 70.37037037 23.3
New York 3 98.8 18.8 65.7 7.3 96.89922481 88.5 69.47637292 21.2
Delaware 4 97.3 15.4 57.8 11.4 65.11627907 92.5 74.58492976 20.5
Washington 5 96.7 54.2 45.2 10.3 73.64341085 58.2 30.77905492 10.2
South Carolina 6 94.3 31 38 9 83.72093023 43.7 12.2605364 30.6
Virginia 7 93.6 19 56.3 9.9 76.74418605 84.3 64.11238825 19.5
Oregon 8 94.8 44 53.8 12.1 59.68992248 75.8 53.25670498 11.7
Massachusetts 9 98.3 19 45.9 10 75.96899225 63 36.90932312 21.1
Illinois 10 95.7 24.1 29.3 8.1 90.69767442 85.1 65.13409962 15.2
Rhode Island 11 99.8 16.7 84.2 11.3 65.89147287 75.9 53.3844189 15.1
Colorado 12 94 33.3 40.8 8.5 87.59689922 68.5 43.93358876 11.6
California 13 96.5 33.3 37.7 7.7 93.79844961 57.8 30.26819923 11.2
Connecticut 14 99.4 16.7 26.2 11.4 65.11627907 87.3 67.94380587 16.1
Georgia 15 95.2 29.4 53.6 8.1 90.69767442 55.7 27.5862069 11.5
Texas 16 87.3 25.9 46.5 10.3 73.64341085 72 48.40357599 15
Pennsylvania 17 96.1 18.8 48.2 14.8 38.75968992 77.7 55.68326948 16.9
Florida 18 97.5 22.6 45.5 15 37.20930233 90 71.39208174 12.7
District of Columbia 19 99.5 19 78.3 6.8 100 42.2 10.34482759 10
North Dakota 20 97.2 14.3 49.6 32.1 0 85.1 65.13409962 20.3
New Hampshire 21 97.4 11.1 40.1 17 21.70542636 91.8 73.69093231 17.3
Nebraska 22 93 41.2 46.3 33.2 0 71.6 47.89272031 11.1
Tennessee 23 95.1 31 54 18.8 7.751937984 73.4 50.19157088 12.3
Hawaii 24 97.8 28.6 60.4 62.6 0 80.1 58.74840358 10.8
Indiana 25 92.3 23.1 41.9 14.2 43.41085271 59 31.80076628 13.1
Utah 26 96.9 11.1 49.6 18.1 13.17829457 65 39.46360153 17.3
Alabama 27 89.8 30 34.3 18.4 10.85271318 68.7 44.1890166 11.2
Nevada 28 94.8 14.3 34.1 13.8 46.51162791 65.4 39.97445722 10.6
South Dakota 29 95.5 0 43.2 38.8 0 88 68.83780332 17.7
Kansas 30 91.5 36.8 44.2 17.9 14.72868217 34.4 0.3831417625 10.8
North Carolina 31 94.1 24.1 43 19.7 0.7751937984 64.8 39.20817369 11.3
Michigan 32 93.5 23.1 47.8 22.1 0 66.3 41.1238825 11.1
Iowa 33 94.8 15.4 48.8 24.5 0 60.9 34.22733078 14.3
Idaho 34 83.9 38.5 28.9 21 0 55.7 27.5862069 11.7
Montana 35 84.1 38.5 20.7 37.9 0 62.6 36.39846743 10.9
Louisiana 36 82.1 24.1 28.7 17.6 17.05426357 48.8 18.77394636 16.9
Kentucky 37 93.7 14.3 51.9 31.5 0 73.9 50.83014049 11.4
Ohio 38 95.8 22.6 30.1 26.9 0 52.2 23.11621967 11.6
Minnesota 39 95.6 11.1 38.1 17.7 16.27906977 64.3 38.56960409 11.2
Wyoming 40 84.4 36.4 16.7 35.3 0 57.5 29.88505747 10.5
Arizona 41 90.5 14.3 17.5 17.9 14.72868217 72.5 49.04214559 10.5
Wisconsin 42 93.5 14.3 25.5 20.2 0 61.9 35.50446999 11.2
Maine 43 97.2 20 10.6 32.2 0 53.7 25.03192848 9.2
Oklahoma 44 82.3 25 31.3 18.6 9.302325581 58.3 30.90676884 10.7
New Mexico 45 88.8 11.1 21.4 17.7 16.27906977 55.4 27.20306513 13.1
Missouri 46 86.9 15.4 38.1 18.2 12.40310078 49.8 20.05108557 11.1
Vermont 47 94.6 11.1 31.2 23.3 0 50.6 21.07279693 11.2
Arkansas 48 77.5 24.1 33.2 23.8 0 51.9 22.73307791 10.3
Mississippi 49 79.9 14.3 25 28.6 0 45.6 14.68710089 11
Alaska 50 86.6 0 11.1 47.3 0 38.2 5.236270754 7.6
West Virginia 51 65.8 11.1 5.5 21.4 0 51.3 21.96679438 9

Methodology

Our new methodology still includes scoring each state based on a selection of weighted categories, but the categories and their weights have been changed slightly from previous years. They are:

  • Access to Wired or Fixed Wireless Broadband: 35%
  • Access to Wired Low-Priced Broadband: 30%
  • Median Round Trip Time: 10%
  • Median Download Speed: 10%
  • Median Upload Speed: 10%
  • Access to Fiber-Optic Service: 5%

Wired or Fixed Wireless Broadband refers to DSL, Copper, Cable, Fiber, or Fixed Wireless connections with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speed.

Wired Low-Priced Broadband refers to DSL, Copper, Cable, or Fiber connections with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speed that are also available for $60 per month or less.

Each of these categories is either based on access or quality.

Access:

In previous years there were four access categories. Two were for access to wired and fixed wireless broadband and access to wired broadband prices, while the other two were for access to broadband and broadband prices that included non-wired connections.

This year we did away with the two that included non-wired connections. This is because those categories were already weighted very low which meant they had minimal impact on the results, and because satellite internet provider Starlink is becoming fully operational, which means that non-wired access will soon be 100% in every state, making that metric obsolete.

We also added a new access category based on access to fiber-optic service, because it is the fastest and most reliable internet technology available today.

Quality:

Previously the only quality category was download speed which paints an incomplete picture of the overall broadband situation.

This year we added upload speed and round trip time, which is a measure of latency. Depending on what you use the internet for, any one of those three metrics could be the most important thing to you. People who play a lot of online competitive video games may consider latency to be the most important, a live streamer or business owner might prioritize upload speed, while an everyday user who mostly uses the internet for watching streaming services could be most interested in download speeds. You can use our bandwidth calculator to find out what’s right for you.

We analyzed over 106 million speed tests from the M-Labs NDT Data Set between June 1st to September 30th, 2022 for their upload speed, download speed, and round trip time.

Scoring:

Each state receives a score from 0 to 100 for each of the six categories, and the scores are then weighted and added together to get a final score from 0 to 100.

The three access categories are percentages that already range from 0 to 100, so those were not modified for their score.

The three quality categories were scored by defining the national 65th percentile speed as 100 points and defining the national 35th percentile speed as 0 points, creating a range of speeds around the national median. Each state is then scored based on where its median falls in that national range. Below are the national level statistics used to determine the scores:

  • Upload 35th percentile: 8.5 Mbps
    Upload median: 12.3 Mbps
    Upload 65th percentile: 22.6 Mbps
  • Download 35th percentile: 34.1 Mbps
    Download median: 64.8 Mbps
    Download 65th percentile: 112.4 Mbps
  • Round trip time 35th percentile: 19.8 ms
    Round trip time median: 11.9 ms
    Round trip time 65th percentile: 6.9 ms

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