The homes and businesses with only one wired internet choice

How many places have only one wired provider

In the FCC National Broadband Map as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026), 42.4 million homes and businesses, 36.6%¹ of all locations, have exactly one wired provider offering at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. Wired here means fiber, cable or DSL; 100/20 Mbps is the FCC's current fixed broadband benchmark (definitions in the methodology). A location is a house, an apartment building or a small business, not a household.

That middle group sits between two others. 7.8% of locations have no wired provider at that speed, and 55.6%¹ have two or more. "Available" is what providers report: service they could install within ten business days of a standard request. Reports can be wrong for single addresses and can be challenged.

June 30, 2022December 31, 2025June 30, 2026

No wired choice7.8% −6.3 pts

One wired choice36.6% −12.6 pts

Two wired choices44.6% +11.8 pts

Three or more wired choices11.1% +7.1 pts

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Shares of broadband serviceable locations in each FCC release (latest revision of each); the small number is the change in percentage points since June 30, 2022. The FCC's count of locations is updated with each release, so shares are compared rather than counts.

Show the numbers

Measure	June 30, 2022	December 31, 2025	June 30, 2026	Change (points)
No wired choice	14.1%	8.2%	7.8%	−6.3 pts
One wired choice	49.3%	38.1%	36.6%	−12.6 pts
Two wired choices	32.7%	43.8%	44.6%	11.8 pts
Three or more wired choices	4.0%	9.9%	11.1%	7.1 pts

The single-wire share has fallen by 12.6 percentage points since June 2022, and the share with two or more wired providers has risen by 18.9 percentage points. Most of that fall came before December 31, 2025; in the six months since, the single-wire share moved by −1.5 percentage points¹.

The one wire is usually a cable network

The FCC data record, for each provider, the locations where it is the only wired option at 100/20 Mbps. Two cable companies account for more than half of all such locations: Spectrum at 12,749,844 locations and Xfinity at 12,657,596. Cox follows with 2,746,445, then Optimum with 1,236,057, Sparklight with 770,759 and Mediacom with 641,889¹.

The largest fiber builders look different. AT&T reports service at 65.7 million locations but is the only wired 100/20 option at 483,552 of them; Verizon, with 71.9 million locations across all its technologies, at 230,458¹. Where these companies report fiber, a cable network almost always reports service too. The one-wire map is, in large part, the map of cable systems that no fiber network has yet overlapped.

Where the share is highest: the interior West and the northern Plains

North Dakota59.3%

Nevada58.5%

Montana57.4%

Alaska55.0%

Arizona54.2%

New Mexico53.5%

South Dakota53.1%

Washington48.5%

Michigan46.9%

West Virginia46.7%

Wisconsin45.9%

Minnesota45.4%

Massachusetts43.7%

California43.2%

Vermont42.7%

United States36.6%

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.

Show the numbers

State	One wired choice
North Dakota	59.3%
Nevada	58.5%
Montana	57.4%
Alaska	55.0%
Arizona	54.2%
New Mexico	53.5%
South Dakota	53.1%
Washington	48.5%
Michigan	46.9%
West Virginia	46.7%
Wisconsin	45.9%
Minnesota	45.4%
Massachusetts	43.7%
California	43.2%
Vermont	42.7%
United States	36.6%

North Dakota has the highest share of any state at 59.3%, just ahead of Nevada at 58.5%, where Cox alone is the only wired 100/20 provider at 42.9% of the state's locations. Then come Montana at 57.4%, Alaska at 55.0% and New Mexico at 53.5%. In the western states on the list, one cable company accounts for most of that share: GCI at 48.0% of Alaska's locations, Xfinity at 38.1% of New Mexico's, Spectrum at 33.4% of Montana's and Cox at 37.6%¹ of Arizona's.

The lowest shares are in the dense Northeast and the capital: the District of Columbia at 5.5%, Rhode Island at 16.7% and Connecticut at 17.9%¹.

Shares and counts rank differently. California, with 43.2%, has the largest number of single-wire locations of any state, 4.4 million; Texas has 2.5 million even though its share, 24.2%, is the 5th lowest¹ among the states and DC.

Under 20%20% to 35%35% to 50%50% to 65%65% or more

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file cb_2025_us_state_20m. Darker states have larger gaps; DC is the dot. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.

Show the numbers

State	One wired choice
North Dakota	59.3%
Nevada	58.5%
Montana	57.4%
Alaska	55.0%
Arizona	54.2%
New Mexico	53.5%
South Dakota	53.1%
Washington	48.5%
Michigan	46.9%
West Virginia	46.7%
Wisconsin	45.9%
Minnesota	45.4%
Massachusetts	43.7%
California	43.2%
Vermont	42.7%
South Carolina	42.4%
Oregon	42.3%
Arkansas	42.3%
Mississippi	41.8%
Delaware	40.9%
North Carolina	39.5%
Maine	39.2%
Idaho	39.1%
Kentucky	38.0%
Alabama	37.5%
Louisiana	36.9%
New York	35.8%
Illinois	35.2%
New Jersey	34.8%
Pennsylvania	34.6%
Iowa	34.6%
Oklahoma	34.1%
Ohio	34.0%
Georgia	34.0%
Virginia	33.0%
Wyoming	32.7%
Colorado	32.4%
Indiana	32.4%
Maryland	32.0%
Tennessee	30.8%
Missouri	30.4%
Florida	30.2%
Utah	26.8%
New Hampshire	26.7%
Nebraska	25.4%
Kansas	25.2%
Texas	24.2%
Hawaii	19.0%
Connecticut	17.9%
Rhode Island	16.7%
District of Columbia	5.5%

In rural counties, one wire is often fiber

North Dakota's high share has a different shape from Nevada's. Fiber reaches 73.1% of North Dakota's locations, the largest provider in many of its rural counties is a telephone cooperative, and Midco, a cable company, is the only wired option at just 16.9%. In Emmons County, 100.0% of locations have one wired provider at 100/20 Mbps, and 100.0% have fiber: the county's single network is BEK Communications Cooperative's fiber. Wolfe County, Kentucky (100.0% fiber, served by Mountain Rural Telephone Cooperative), and Graham County, Kansas (100.0%¹ fiber, Nex-Tech), show the same pattern.

Under 20%20% to 35%35% to 50%50% to 65%65% or more

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file cb_2025_us_county_5m. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people. The table lists the 25 highest and 25 lowest counties; every county is in the downloads.

Show the numbers

County	One wired choice
Graham County, Kansas	100.0%
Burke County, North Dakota	100.0%
Golden Valley County, North Dakota	100.0%
Grant County, North Dakota	100.0%
Kidder County, North Dakota	100.0%
LaMoure County, North Dakota	100.0%
Logan County, North Dakota	100.0%
Nelson County, North Dakota	100.0%
Hyde County, South Dakota	100.0%
Sully County, South Dakota	100.0%
Menifee County, Kentucky	100.0%
Dickey County, North Dakota	100.0%
Ness County, Kansas	100.0%
Wolfe County, Kentucky	100.0%
Emmons County, North Dakota	100.0%
McIntosh County, North Dakota	100.0%
Ransom County, North Dakota	99.9%
Potter County, South Dakota	99.9%
Pickett County, Tennessee	99.9%
Harding County, South Dakota	99.9%
Jackson County, Kentucky	99.9%
McPherson County, South Dakota	99.9%
Clay County, Tennessee	99.9%
Hettinger County, North Dakota	99.9%
Sanborn County, South Dakota	99.9%
Martinsville city, Virginia	4.4%
Newton County, Arkansas	4.4%
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania	4.4%
Montgomery County, Maryland	4.3%
Idaho County, Idaho	4.1%
Custer County, Colorado	3.8%
Niobrara County, Wyoming	3.8%
Apache County, Arizona	3.4%
Gray County, Texas	3.1%
Columbia County, Washington	3.0%
Toole County, Montana	2.7%
St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana	2.7%
Wheeler County, Texas	1.7%
Falls Church city, Virginia	1.4%
Alexander County, Illinois	0.8%
Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska	0.7%
White Pine County, Nevada	0.5%
Esmeralda County, Nevada	0.5%
Mineral County, Montana	0.4%
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska	0.1%
Lewis County, Idaho	0.0%
Eureka County, Nevada	0.0%
Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska	0.0%
Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska	0.0%
Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska	0.0%

One choice of provider is not the same as a slow connection. In these counties the single wire is a fiber line; in a western suburb it is usually a cable network. What a single-wire location lacks is a second wired company to switch to.

Cities on one wire

Among the large cities this site covers, New Bedford, Massachusetts has the highest share of single-wire locations, 99.9%, with Xfinity the only wired 100/20 provider at 99.9% of locations and fiber reported at 0.0%. Albany, New York is next at 96.1%, almost all of it Spectrum's network (96.1%¹ of locations).

The same pattern runs through the West: Cox is the only wired 100/20 provider at 83.1% of locations in Tempe and 69.7% in Henderson, Nevada, and GCI at 87.1% in Anchorage. Worcester shows a city in transition: its single-wire share fell from 93.3% in June 2022 to 62.8%, as fiber went from 0.0%² of locations to 35.3%¹.

How a one-wire city gains a second

The steepest falls since 2022 came in cities where fiber went from rare to reported at nearly every location.

In Rio Rancho, New Mexico, 94.5% of locations had a single wired 100/20 provider in June 2022 and 3.6% do now; fiber went from 1.2% to 97.0%. In Brockton, Massachusetts the share fell from 99.4% to 9.9% as Verizon's fiber arrived. Simi Valley, California fell from 80.5%² to 0.9%, and 89.2%¹ of its locations now have two fiber networks.

The single-wire share can also rise as coverage improves. Montana (+1.7 percentage points) and Rhode Island (+1.0 percentage points) are the only states where it is higher than in June 2022. Over the same period Montana's share of locations with no wired 100/20 provider fell by 13.8 percentage points, from 37.7%² to 23.9%¹. That pattern fits places with no wired 100/20 provider gaining their first and moving into the one-wire group.

If your address shows one wired provider

The FCC National Broadband Map lists every provider and technology reported at an address, with the as-of date of the data. If a provider listed there cannot install service, the map's challenge process is the way to report it; corrections appear in later revisions.

A single wired provider does not always mean a single option. Licensed fixed wireless, which includes 5G home internet, is reported at 87.3% of US locations, and at 100/20 Mbps or more at 47.9%¹. Satellite service is reported almost everywhere. These options do not appear in the wired counts on this page, and like all speeds in the FCC data, theirs are advertised maximums. The FCC data contain no prices; each provider publishes a broadband facts label for its plans.