Population: 113,317,879

As in the Midwest, only 56 percent of eligible Southern households are using broadband. Five of the six states in the country with the lowest broadband usage are in the South, with less than a third of eligible Mississippians using broadband (32 percent). Florida (68 percent) and Virginia (65 percent) had the highest broadband usage (surprisingly, putting them both higher than California's 64 percent out west). At an average price of $40.25 per month, the South region falls almost exactly halfway between the Midwest, which pays the lowest rates ($38.35), and the Northeast, which pays the most ($42.19). Arkansas ($34.37) and Oklahoma ($35.79) pay the lowest rates in the country.

Fiber loses its edge in the South. Both Cox (1.12 Mbps) and Comcast (1.08 Mbps) were faster than Verizon's FiOS (1.05 Mbps). Road Runner was only slightly behind at 1.0 Mbps. AT&T provides the fastest DSL service in the region, with a SurfSpeed of 780 Kbps whereas Qwest (614 Kbps) was the slowest.

Fastest ISPs: South AwardFastest ISP in the South: Cox Cable
Despite fiber still being in the mix, Cox managed to leap ahead by a few Mbps to become the leader for speed in Southern ISPs.

SurfSpeed by Region: South

Penetration and Cost by Region: South
Source: Centris