Internet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Who reports service in Cedar Rapids

Two wired networks carry most of the city's fast internet. Mediacom's network reaches 97.5% of the 47,684 homes and businesses inside city limits, with advertised downloads up to 5 Gbps. ImOn Communications reports service at 75.8%: fiber at 33.0% of locations, advertised up to 5 Gbps¹, and cable in the rest of its footprint. Both offer at least 100/20 Mbps wherever they report service.

The table lists what each provider filed with the FCC as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026), for locations inside the city limits as drawn for the 2020 Census. "Available" means the provider says it could install standard service within ten business days; filings can be challenged, and the FCC map is where a single address is checked. Satellite providers report service at every location and are left out of the coverage figures below.

CenturyLink's footprint is wider than ImOn's, at 89.3% of locations, but it is mostly DSL: CenturyLink offers 100/20 Mbps at only 5.1% of the city, and its fiber covers 1.2%¹.

Fiber at fewer than half of addresses

Across Iowa at least one provider reports fiber at 77.5% of locations, the 8th highest share among the states. Cedar Rapids, its second-largest city, sits far below that, at 35.2%, a share that ranks tied for 42nd lowest among the 343 cities of 100,000 or more. In Des Moines fiber reaches 93.6% and in Davenport 94.3%¹.

The city does not lack fiber companies. 9 providers report fiber somewhere inside city limits, up from 6 in 2022, most of them small networks: South Slope Cooperative at 3.4% and Atkins Telephone at 1.6%. Their footprints are small, and two or more fiber networks overlap at only 3.9% of locations. ImOn's network accounts for most of the fiber, and the citywide share has risen 27.0 percentage points¹ since June 2022, from 8.3%².

From one wire to two, and a step back

In the first National Broadband Map, as of June 30, 2022, 91.3%² of Cedar Rapids locations had exactly one wired provider offering 100/20 Mbps. By December 31, 2025, 86.5%³ had two or more. Today the second wire is usually ImOn, which offers 100/20 Mbps at 75.8% of locations, over fiber and over cable. The rise since 2022, 69.6 percentage points, ranks tied for 12th highest¹ among large cities.

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

Two or more wired choices77.5% +69.6 pts

One wired choice21.0% −70.3 pts

Fiber available35.2% +27.0 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)
Two or more wired choices	7.9%	86.5%	77.5%	69.6 pts
One wired choice	91.3%	13.0%	21.0%	−70.3 pts
Fiber available	8.3%	34.0%	35.2%	27.0 pts

The June 2026 filings moved the other way. The share with two or more wired choices fell 9.0 percentage points in six months, to 77.5%, a fall that ranks the lowest among large cities. The single-wire share rose to 21.0%, and at most of those 10,034 locations the one wire is Mediacom, the only wired provider at 100/20 Mbps at 20.3%¹ of the city. The share can move again as providers revise their filings.

At the other end, 679 locations have no wired provider at 100/20 Mbps, and 74 count as unserved under the federal BEAD program's definition. Only 11¹ locations are left with satellite alone.

Gigabit uploads without fiber

On upload speeds the city ranks far higher than its fiber share would suggest. Gigabit service with uploads of 100 Mbps or more, the FCC's 1,000/100 tier, is advertised at 98.5% of locations, more than twice the fiber share, so most of it comes over Mediacom's cable. Among large cities that share ranks tied for 47th highest, while the fiber share ranks tied for 42nd lowest. In June 2022 the same tier was advertised at 7.4%. Symmetrical wired service of 100/100 Mbps followed the same path, from 8.3%² to 98.5%¹.

Under 25 Mbps or none25–99100–249250–499500–939940–1,9992,000 or more

Cedar Rapids

Iowa

United States

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Maximum advertised download speed (Mbps) of any wired or fixed wireless offer at the location, as reported by providers to the FCC; satellite excluded. Advertised, not measured.

Show the numbers

Area	Under 25 Mbps or none	25–99	100–249	250–499	500–939	940–1,999	2,000 or more
Cedar Rapids	0.3%	0.7%	0.3%	0.1%	0.0%	0.8%	97.7%
Iowa	1.3%	1.7%	2.6%	1.7%	3.4%	37.8%	51.4%
United States	2.4%	1.6%	1.8%	1.4%	0.9%	31.0%	61.0%

The fastest advertised download is 2 Gbps or more at 97.7%¹ of locations; in 2022 it was about 1 Gbps at 99.2%². These are the maximum speeds providers advertise in their FCC filings, not measurements of what a connection delivers.

Copper lines and fixed wireless

CenturyLink's telephone network is still in place: DSL is reported at 88.3% of locations, the 5th highest share among large cities and well above the 54.1% across Iowa. DSL has risen 1.9 percentage points¹ since 2022.

Fixed wireless has spread since 2022. Verizon reports home internet over its mobile network at 80.2% of locations, most of it added since the first map, and AT&T, which reported no service in the city in 2022, now reports fixed wireless at 54.5%. T-Mobile reports 60.5% and Rise Broadband 51.1%. Licensed fixed wireless at 100/20 Mbps or more reaches 34.3%¹ of locations. Capacity on a tower sector is shared, so the carriers limit sign-ups by address; the filings show where they report service, not where every home could join at once.

A city that leans on cellular plans

The Census Bureau's 2025 American Community Survey asks households what they pay for, a different question from what the FCC filings report available. In Cedar Rapids, 21.1% of households relied only on a cellular data plan (margin of error ±3.3 percentage points), the 11th highest share among the large cities the survey covers. Across Iowa the figure was 14.1% (±0.5 percentage points⁴), and in 2019 the city's own was 14.2% (±2.5 percentage points⁵); both differences are larger than the margins of error.

Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)98.6%

Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)67.5% ±4.1

Households relying only on a cellular data plan21.1% ±3.3

Households with no internet subscription9.5% ±2.4

Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables. Availability is a share of locations as of June 30, 2026 (FCC); subscriptions are a share of households from the American Community Survey, 2025 (whiskers: 90% margin of error). Different units and dates: read the gap as a sign, not an exact number.

Show the numbers

Measure	Share	MOE
Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)	98.6%
Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)	67.5%	±4.1
Households relying only on a cellular data plan	21.1%	±3.3
Households with no internet subscription	9.5%	±2.4

Wired subscriptions, to cable, fiber or DSL, were reported by 67.5% of households (±4.1 percentage points), the 5th lowest share among large cities, and 9.5% had no internet subscription (±2.4 percentage points⁴). One-year estimates for a single city are noisy: the five-year survey for 2020–2024 puts wired subscriptions at 77.9% (±1.2 percentage points⁶). The survey counts households over a year and the FCC counts locations on one date, so neither figure measures homes without service.

Beside cities of its size

The table compares Cedar Rapids with the cities closest to it in population, all from the same FCC release.

Linn County, which contains the city, and every other Iowa county are mapped on the Iowa page.