Recent data analysis has revealed Rhode Island as the state with the best broadband coverage in the United States thanks to affordable costs combined with high speeds and wide coverage.
These States Have the Best Broadband Coverage
The research conducted by Policy Advisor ranked states according to the cost of broadband as well as the available coverage and average download speeds. In second and third place were Massachusetts and Maryland, while the three states with the worst internet connectivity were Montana, West Virginia and Arkansas.
How Rhode Island Has the Best Internet Access
The New England state of Rhode Island ranked highest for internet accessibility in part due to the relatively low cost of broadband. Rhode Island’s average cost per megabit is $0.63, compared to bottom-placed Montana’s $7.28 average cost per megabit of internet.
The low cost of broadband coverage is also available to 98.7% of Rhode Island residents, with an average download speed of 433.3 megabytes per second. In contrast, Montana’s broadband coverage is available to only 61.8% of residents, and has a low average download speed of 110.5 megabytes per second.
States with the Best Broadband Coverage
Massachusetts ranked second for the best broadband coverage, with an average cost per megabit of $1.13. The low cost coverage was also close to Rhode Island at 97.7%, with higher quality broadband covering a near identical 97.5% of the state. The average download speeds in Massachusetts were also impressive at 401.2 megabytes per second. The study by Policy Advisor also revealed that over 60% of Massachusetts residents have the choice of over 100 internet providers, which is one of the highest amounts in the United States.
The third-placed state was Maryland where a megabit of internet costs $1.99 on average. It also ranked highest out of the top ten states for average download speeds which came in at 506.7 megabytes per second. The available coverage of high quality broadband was also excellent at 96.3%, with a healthy 90.6% of the state able to access low-cost options. Interestingly, despite the superb internet accessibility, over a quarter of Massachusetts residents still do not have an Internet connection at home.
Delaware was the fourth best state for broadband, with low-cost broadband available to 96.8% of residents and more expensive options available to 95.5% of residents. Delaware’s average download speeds of 469.7 megabytes per second was also the third best out of the top ten states.
New York also has low costs and high coverage with reasonable speeds. High quality broadband in New York covers 93.8% of all residents, with the low-cost options available to 90.9% of the state.
States with the Worst Broadband Coverage
As previously mentioned, Montana was the worst state with high costs, limited coverage and slow average download speeds. The second worst state was West Virginia which offers high quality coverage to only 51.8% of the state’s residents, with only 67.4% of residents able to access the low-cost alternatives.
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I’m impressed to see some of the larger states in the top 10. Props to NY, TX, GA, PA and VA.