Is Your State Among Those with the Fastest or Slowest Average Internet Speeds?

Highest and lowest average Internet speed by state
Anyone who spends even a small amount of time on the Internet usually wishes the speed of their Internet connection would be faster than it actually is. It can be one of the most frustrating aspects of being on the Internet, especially when downloading and watching movies. While it’s easy to complain, you might be surprised at how fast (or slow) your Internet speed is compared to other states around the US.

While it isn’t an exact science, since a consumer’s true Internet speed depends a lot on the specific location of their house, and which broadband provider they use, Akamai has put together a “State of the Internet” report (PDF) which details the average speed of Internet of all the states in the US. These statistics were then taken by IT service provider Broadview Networks which put together a map showing a color spectrum of Internet speeds by state (see below).

Color spectrum of average Internet speeds by state in the US
Green indicates faster Internet speeds with the darker the green, the faster the speed. On the opposite end, red indicates slower Internet speeds with the darker the red, the slower the speed. Virginia has the fastest average Internet speeds in the nation at 13.7 Mbps according to the Akamai stats, while Alaska has the slowest average Internet speeds at 7.0 Mbps.

Top 10 Highest Average Internet Speed States

1. Virginia 13.7 Mbps
2. Delaware 13.1 Mbps
3. Massachusetts 13.1 Mbps
4. Rhode Island 12.9 Mbps
5. Washington DC 12.8 Mbps
6. Washington 12.5 Mbps
7. New Hampshire 12.3 Mbps
8. Utah 12.1 Mbps
9. Michigan 11.8 Mbps
10. Connecticut 11.7 Mbps

Top 10 Lowest Average Internet Speed States

1. Alaska 7.0 Mbps
2. Arkansas 7.3 Mbps
3. Kentucky 7.3 Mbps
4. Montana 7.3 Mbps
5. West Virginia 7.5 Mbps
6. Mississippi 7.6 Mbps
7. New Mexico 7.6 Mbps
8. Idaho 7.7 Mbps
9. Louisiana 7.7 Mbps
10. Missouri 7.7 Mbps

There were a few surprises in the middle. For example, California, where the high tech industry was born, came in middle of the road at #20 in average Internet speed. While this may seem to be a surprise, California is a huge state with many rural areas which brought down the average speed across the state.

While some of you may be jealous of the average speeds in Virginia, they pale in comparison to what consumers in South Korea can expect. With an average speed of 23.6 Mbps, not even Virginia comes close.

Below is the list of all 50 states and Washington DC and how they rank in Internet speed:

1. Virginia 13.7 Mbps
2. Delaware 13.1 Mbps
2. Massachusetts 13.1 Mbps
4. Rhode Island 12.9 Mbps
5. Washington DC 12.8 Mbps
6. Washington 12.5 Mbps
7. New Hampshire 12.3 Mbps
8. Utah 12.1 Mbps
9. Michigan 11.8 Mbps
10. Connecticut 11.7 Mbps
10. North Dakota 11.7 Mbps
10. Oregon 11.7 Mbps
13. Wisconsin 11.5 Mbps
13. New York 11.5 Mbps
15. Maryland 11.3 Mbps
15. Pennsylvania 11.3 Mbps
17. Ohio 11.2 Mbps
17. New Jersey 11.2 Mbps
19. Minnesota 11.1 Mbps
20. California 10.9 Mbps
21. South Dakota 10.8 Mbps
22. Georgia 10.7 Mbps
22. Indiana 10.7 Mbps
24. Vermont 10.2 Mbps
25. Nevada 10.1 Mbps
25. Florida 10.1 Mbps
27. Tennessee 9.9 Mbps
28. Colorado 9.7 Mbps
28. South Carolina 9.7 Mbps
38. North Carolina 9.7 Mbps
31. Nebraska 9.5 Mbps
32. Texas 9.4 Mbps
33. Illinois 9.2 Mbps
34. Alabama 8.9 Mbps
34. Oklahoma 8.9 Mbps
36. Iowa 8.8 Mbps
37. Maine 8.7 Mbps
37. Arizona 8.7 Mbps
39. Kansas 8.6 Mbps
40. Hawaii 8.4 Mbps
41. Wyoming 8.0 Mbps
42. Idaho 7.7 Mbps
42. Louisiana 7.7 Mbps
42. Missouri 7.7 Mbps
45. New Mexico 7.6 Mbps
45. Mississippi 7.6 Mbps
47. West Virginia 7.5 Mbps
48. Montana 7.3 Mbps
48. Kentucky 7.3 Mbps
48. Arkansas 7.3 Mbps
51. Alaska 7.0 Mbps

(Top photo courtesy of reynermedia)


12 Responses to Is Your State Among Those with the Fastest or Slowest Average Internet Speeds?

  1. dean says:

    My Internet sucks. I wish Google fiber would come to my city!!!

  2. steve says:

    I live in a city where Google fiber is available (Kansas City) and it’s the best thing ever. I can’t believe how bad the other services are compared to it. Once you have it, you realize how bad it was before even more.

  3. robert12 says:

    I’m surprised that Virginia is the state with the fasted Internet. Not surprised at all that Alaska has the slowest speed. it would be great to get this information for major cities around the US.

  4. redsea says:

    It’s a national shame at how slow our speeds are compared to some other nations. This is one area where we should dominate, but don’t. I hope more cities take it upon themselves to create their own networks and take out he service providers all together that charge too much for too slow of speeds.

  5. don says:

    what kind of saturation does Google fiber have in KC? Is it pretty much available anywhere in town?

  6. steve says:

    It’s only available on the Missouri side of the city. You can see a map here: (figure c)

  7. Ed says:

    Too bad but many other more important things to worry about.

  8. Rick says:

    Overall speeds are pitiful.
    In large part it is due to local municipality driven monopolies that kill any competition that would
    A Drive prices down
    B Drive speeds up
    Competition is good, though we have forgotten that
    in the area of connectivity.
    It never ceases to amaze me how we manage to shoot ourselves in the foot nationwide, decade after decade.
    Competition is the key.

  9. Big_Erk says:

    That map is incredibly outdated. Google Fiber actually started first on the Kansas side in KCK. They have since added a large portion of the metro just recently agreeing to terms with Overland Park, KS.

    This should give you an up to date ideo of what portions of the metro they have covered.

    I have the service, and it is awesome.

  10. cr says:

    Right, on point. How bout the needed new power grid be convertible to comm networking, 2020 or so, when power could be decentralized or even shared. Too.

  11. RC says:

    I have Comcast in New Jersey and I can’t believe we are only rated at #17! I dont even have the best service and Im getting 127Mbs Download and 15Mbs upload and that’s with 7 devices connected through a Gigabit router running 2 high end Gaming PC’s! If you running faster than that your not telling the truth!

  12. ian says:

    Actually, it is possible to worry about many things at once. To often everything stops because people are arguing about one thing. You can build better roads while you build better internet while you build a better health care system while you fully fund schools so that our PhD’s are the best in the world….

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