How much of each state's BEAD plan went to satellite
In the 50 state final proposals summarized by NTIA, 829,696 of the 3,772,113 locations to be connected with BEAD money are assigned to low-Earth-orbit satellite. Montana leads at 63.7%1 of its plan; Connecticut, Delaware and North Dakota assign none. Plan and map do not line up: South Carolina and Ohio put close to half of their plans on satellite with few satellite-only homes and businesses on today's FCC map, while West Virginia, with one of the most, chose fiber.
Published November 13, 2026. Data: FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026); NTIA, BEAD Final Proposal summaries.
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file cb_2025_us_state_20m. Darker states are higher; DC is the dot.
Show the numbers
| State | BEAD locations assigned to low-Earth-orbit satellite |
|---|---|
| Montana | 63.7% |
| Colorado | 49.6% |
| South Carolina | 48.7% |
| Ohio | 48.1% |
| Oregon | 46.5% |
| Wyoming | 40.8% |
| South Dakota | 38.3% |
| Massachusetts | 34.8% |
| North Carolina | 34.6% |
| Alaska | 33.9% |
| Nebraska | 33.9% |
| Nevada | 28.2% |
| New York | 28.1% |
| Texas | 27.1% |
| California | 27.0% |
| Utah | 26.8% |
| Washington | 26.6% |
| Idaho | 26.4% |
| Florida | 26.2% |
| Alabama | 25.1% |
| Kentucky | 25.1% |
| Minnesota | 25.0% |
| Oklahoma | 25.0% |
| Maryland | 23.9% |
| Pennsylvania | 23.1% |
| New Hampshire | 21.5% |
| Hawaii | 18.3% |
| Arkansas | 16.2% |
| New Mexico | 15.4% |
| Mississippi | 14.4% |
| Vermont | 14.4% |
| Maine | 14.2% |
| Indiana | 14.1% |
| Wisconsin | 14.1% |
| Virginia | 12.9% |
| Michigan | 12.4% |
| Tennessee | 11.7% |
| Georgia | 11.4% |
| Missouri | 11.4% |
| Iowa | 9.5% |
| New Jersey | 8.7% |
| Louisiana | 8.4% |
| Illinois | 8.1% |
| Arizona | 6.4% |
| West Virginia | 6.4% |
| Rhode Island | 4.3% |
| Kansas | 3.0% |
| Connecticut | 0.0% |
| Delaware | 0.0% |
| North Dakota | 0.0% |
Every state's satellite share
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD) pays providers to bring service to locations without it. Each state's final proposal lists how many of those locations go to each technology. Across the 50 states, 2,368,238 locations are assigned to fiber, 829,696 to low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite and 499,1771 to fixed wireless. The chart ranks the satellite share of every state's plan.
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs.
Show the numbers
| State | BEAD locations assigned to low-Earth-orbit satellite |
|---|---|
| Montana | 63.7% |
| Colorado | 49.6% |
| South Carolina | 48.7% |
| Ohio | 48.1% |
| Oregon | 46.5% |
| Wyoming | 40.8% |
| South Dakota | 38.3% |
| Massachusetts | 34.8% |
| North Carolina | 34.6% |
| Alaska | 33.9% |
| Nebraska | 33.9% |
| Nevada | 28.2% |
| New York | 28.1% |
| Texas | 27.1% |
| California | 27.0% |
| Utah | 26.8% |
| Washington | 26.6% |
| Idaho | 26.4% |
| Florida | 26.2% |
| Alabama | 25.1% |
| Kentucky | 25.1% |
| Minnesota | 25.0% |
| Oklahoma | 25.0% |
| Maryland | 23.9% |
| Pennsylvania | 23.1% |
| New Hampshire | 21.5% |
| Hawaii | 18.3% |
| Arkansas | 16.2% |
| New Mexico | 15.4% |
| Mississippi | 14.4% |
| Vermont | 14.4% |
| Maine | 14.2% |
| Indiana | 14.1% |
| Wisconsin | 14.1% |
| Virginia | 12.9% |
| Michigan | 12.4% |
| Tennessee | 11.7% |
| Georgia | 11.4% |
| Missouri | 11.4% |
| Iowa | 9.5% |
| New Jersey | 8.7% |
| Louisiana | 8.4% |
| Illinois | 8.1% |
| Arizona | 6.4% |
| West Virginia | 6.4% |
| Rhode Island | 4.3% |
| Kansas | 3.0% |
| Connecticut | 0.0% |
| Delaware | 0.0% |
| North Dakota | 0.0% |
Four states put close to half or more of their plan on satellite: Montana (63.7%), Colorado (49.6%), South Carolina (48.7%) and Ohio (48.1%). Oregon (46.5%) and Wyoming (40.8%) follow. At the other end, Connecticut, Delaware and North Dakota assign no locations to satellite, and Kansas (3.0%) and Rhode Island (4.3%1) assign very few.
These figures come from NTIA's one-page Final Proposal Overview for each state, dated between November 2025 and April 2026. Each carries the same caveat; Montana's, for example, says its data are "based upon Final Proposal submissions and subject to change pending NTIA curing and NIST final review and award." The shares are of locations, meaning homes and businesses on the FCC's list, not of dollars: the summaries do not split costs by technology. NTIA publishes no summary for the District of Columbia.
How satellite got into BEAD
BEAD's original 2022 rules made end-to-end fiber the priority technology. NTIA's BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice of June 6, 2025 describes those rules as having put "terrestrial wireless and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services" in "third-tier status". The notice removed the fiber preference, let LEO satellite, cable and fixed wireless compete in the same applications as fiber if they meet the program's performance requirements, and required every state to run a new selection round, the "Benefit of the Bargain Round", open to all technologies. The final proposals behind the chart were completed under these rules.
The notice also sets out how a satellite award works. With no local network for the government to hold an interest in, a state buys a "LEO Capacity Subgrant": the satellite provider reserves enough capacity to serve each location in the project area. The provider counts as serving a location when it can start service within ten business days of a request, with no extra charges for extending service there, and must keep offering it for a period of performance set in the notice.
Share and count tell different stories
A high share in a small plan is a small number of locations. Massachusetts assigns 34.8% of its plan to satellite, the 8th highest share, but its whole plan covers 3,808 locations, so satellite accounts for 1,326. South Dakota's 38.3% is 2,7051 locations.
Counted in locations, the largest satellite commitments are in big plans with middling shares. California's 27.0% is 72,937 locations and Texas's 27.1% is 65,901, more than Montana's 43,6621 at a share more than twice as high.
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs.
Show the numbers
| Area | BEAD locations assigned to low-Earth-orbit satellite |
|---|---|
| California | 72,937 |
| Texas | 65,901 |
| Oregon | 48,631 |
| Colorado | 47,652 |
| Washington | 44,332 |
| Montana | 43,662 |
| Ohio | 40,388 |
| North Carolina | 32,292 |
| Wisconsin | 24,721 |
| Michigan | 24,638 |
Satellite in the plan and satellite on today's map
On the FCC National Broadband Map as of June 30, 2026, 0.8%2 of US homes and businesses have satellite as their only reported option, with no wired or fixed wireless provider at all. That share and a state's BEAD satellite share point in the same direction in some states and in opposite directions in others.
West Virginia has the 2nd highest satellite-only share on the map, 6.4%, and assigns 6.4% of its BEAD locations to satellite; 93.6% go to fiber. South Carolina is the reverse: 0.2% satellite-only on the map, the 6th lowest share, and 48.7%1 of its plan on satellite. Ohio, at 0.5%2 satellite-only, also put close to half of its plan on satellite. Montana, Wyoming and Alaska rank high on both measures.
| Montana | 63.7% | 3.5% | 9.1% | 42.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | 40.8% | 3.8% | 9.2% | 56.9% |
| Colorado | 49.6% | 1.2% | 4.0% | 59.7% |
| South Carolina | 48.7% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 67.4% |
| Ohio | 48.1% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 58.7% |
| Oregon | 46.5% | 1.7% | 3.8% | 55.2% |
| Alaska | 33.9% | 7.2% | 17.5% | 17.1% |
| West Virginia | 6.4% | 6.4% | 11.4% | 47.0% |
| Maine | 14.2% | 2.4% | 3.8% | 62.8% |
| United States | – | 0.8% | 2.4% | 62.6% |
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026.
The two measures count different things. Satellite-only locations are part of the FCC data; BEAD locations are the ones each state found eligible and then awarded, and under BEAD's rules those include underserved locations, which have terrestrial service but none at 100/20 Mbps. NTIA's summaries do not explain why one state chose satellite more than another, and this page does not guess.
What the rest of each plan is built with
A satellite share is easier to read beside the rest of the plan. Montana pairs its satellite share with 21.0% fiber, the 3rd lowest fiber share of any state. Wyoming adds 25.8% fixed wireless to its 40.8% satellite. Massachusetts assigns 48.6%1 of its locations to cable, more than to satellite or fiber.
Nebraska, with the lowest fiber share (9.2%), is not mainly a satellite plan: 56.9% of its locations go to fixed wireless. North Dakota's small plan, 279 locations, is 99.3%1 fiber.
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs. Locations in the state's approved BEAD Final Proposal by technology of the selected projects, as printed in NTIA's Final Proposal overview; subject to NTIA and NIST final review and award.
Show the numbers
| Technology | Share of BEAD locations |
|---|---|
| Fiber | 47.6% |
| Cable | 0.0% |
| Fixed wireless | 2.8% |
| Low-Earth-orbit satellite | 49.6% |
Colorado and South Carolina come closest to an even split between the two. Colorado's plan is 47.6% fiber and 49.6% satellite, with 2.8% fixed wireless; South Carolina's is 47.8% fiber and 48.7% satellite. Oregon's is 52.5% fiber to 46.5%1 satellite.
Reading a satellite award at your address
On the FCC map, a location in a BEAD satellite project can look the same before and after the award. One low-Earth-orbit provider, Starlink, already reports service at 99.7%2 of US locations as of June 30, 2026, which is why this site leaves satellite out of headline coverage figures (see satellite internet). On the map, "available" means a provider reports it can install service within ten business days, and every listing can be challenged.
To see whether a specific home is in a BEAD project, and with which technology and provider, use the state broadband office's award list or map, linked from each state's page in NTIA's BEAD award recipients list. Each state page here shows its plan's full technology mix, and the BEAD funding ranking compares allocations and cost per location.
Questions about satellite in BEAD
Does BEAD pay for satellite internet such as Starlink?
Yes. Since NTIA's June 6, 2025 restructuring notice, low-Earth-orbit satellite can compete for BEAD subgrants on the same terms as other technologies that meet the performance rules. The state final proposals assign 829,6961 locations to it. Which company holds each award is published by the state broadband office, not in NTIA's one-page summaries.
Which state put the largest share of its BEAD plan on satellite?
Montana: 63.7% of its 68,498 BEAD locations, ahead of Colorado (49.6%), South Carolina (48.7%) and Ohio (48.1%). By number of locations, California's plan has the most, 72,9371.
Will my address get fiber or satellite from BEAD?
NTIA's summaries give state totals only. The location-by-location awards are published by each state's broadband office, linked from the state's NTIA awardee page. The FCC map will show new service at an address only after a provider reports it there.
Sources
- NTIA BroadbandUSA, BEAD Final Proposal Overview one-page PDFs. broadbandusa.ntia.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Availability as of June 30, 2026; released November 10, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file cb_2025_us_state_20m. www2.census.gov
How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.