Internet in Sterling Heights, Michigan
Fiber is available at 22.0% of the 39,898 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Sterling Heights, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 99.9%. 95.1% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 4.7% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Sterling Heights in Michigan
Sterling Heights has two cable companies and, more recently, two fiber builders. Xfinity and WOW! give 95.1% of its homes and businesses at least two wired choices at 100/20 Mbps. Fiber is still the minority layer at 22.0%1, but it rose from 11.7%2 in the six months to June 30, 2026, and AT&T and Ripple Fiber reach largely different parts of the city.
Two cable companies, AT&T's copper and fiber
The FCC's June 30, 2026 release (revision of November 10, 2026) counts 39,898 homes and businesses inside Sterling Heights. Three companies run wires past nearly all of them. Xfinity reports cable at 99.8%, WOW! at 94.3%, and AT&T reports some form of service at 93.4%1. Below them sit a smaller fiber company, Ripple Fiber, and the fixed wireless services of Verizon and T-Mobile.
| Xfinity | Fiber Cable | 99.8% | 99.8% | 2 Gbps | 4.7% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOW! | Cable | 94.3% | 94.3% | 1.2 Gbps | 0.1% |
| AT&T | Fiber DSL Licensed wireless | 93.4% | 32.0% | 5 Gbps | 0.0% |
| Verizon | Licensed wireless | 82.2% | 15.1% | 1 Gbps | – |
| T-Mobile | Licensed wireless | 76.3% | 35.3% | 100 Mbps | – |
| Ripple Fiber | Fiber | 10.1% | 10.1% | 8 Gbps | – |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Share of the area's broadband serviceable locations where the provider reports service as of June 30, 2026. "Only wired option" is the share of locations where it is the single wired provider at 100/20 Mbps. Provider-reported and challengeable; speeds are advertised maximums, not measured; no prices. Satellite providers (HughesNet, Viasat, Starlink) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
A provider counts here when it tells the FCC it could install service at a location within ten business days. The reports follow the city limits drawn for the 2020 Census and can be challenged on the FCC National Broadband Map.
Fiber: three builders, little overlap
Fiber from any provider reaches 22.0% of locations, 18th lowest among the 343 US cities of 100,000 or more. Michigan as a whole is at 42.6%. The pace has changed, though. In June 2022 the figure was 3.4%3 and in December 2025 11.7%2; the 10.3 percentage points rise in the first half of 2026 is the 19th highest1 six-month gain among large cities.
No single company carries that fiber. AT&T reports it at 13.2% of locations and Ripple Fiber at 10.1%. Their areas barely touch: only 1.3% of locations have two or more fiber providers, against 5.9%1 statewide. The fiber company available, if any, changes from one neighborhood to the next.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber available | 3.4% | 11.7% | 22.0% | 18.6 pts |
| Two or more fiber networks | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 1.3 pts |
| Three or more wired choices | 13.7% | 21.2% | 30.2% | 16.6 pts |
Ripple Fiber reported no Sterling Heights locations in June 2022 and reports 4,023 now, with advertised downloads of up to 8 Gbps. Michigan is the company's third-largest state, with 37,5431 locations, after North Carolina and Florida.
Two cable networks make choice the norm
Where fiber is missing, competition comes from cable. WOW! is a regional cable company with 712,558 Michigan locations, and in Sterling Heights its network overlaps Xfinity's almost everywhere. As a result 95.1% of locations have two or more wired providers offering 100/20 Mbps, the 23rd highest share among large cities, against 44.4% across Michigan. Where a third wired provider also offers that speed, the count reaches three or more: 30.2%1 of locations, up from 13.7%3 in 2022.
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
| Area | Two or more wired choices |
|---|---|
| Warren | 96.5% |
| Sterling Heights | 95.1% |
| United States | 55.6% |
| Michigan | 44.4% |
| Detroit | 35.3% |
The single-wire share is 4.7%, or 1,8881 locations, and in most of them Xfinity is the one provider. No location in the city lacks wired service at 100/20 Mbps, and none depends on satellite.
Copper is still on most streets
Sterling Heights keeps more DSL than almost any large city. Telephone-line internet is reported at 85.2% of locations, the 8th highest share among the 343 cities, against 42.5% across Michigan. Most of it is AT&T's, with advertised downloads of up to 100 Mbps; AT&T offers 100/20 Mbps or more at 32.0% of locations. The DSL share has hardly moved since 2022 (−1.6 percentage points1), so most locations where fiber has arrived still have DSL reported as well.
The number of wired companies has shrunk even as fiber spread. 53 wired providers reported service somewhere in the city in June 2022 and 4 do now; the fiber providers held steady at 31.
Advertised speeds moved up on cable
The fastest advertised download is 2 Gbps or more at 66.3% of locations, compared with 1.1%3 in June 2022. Gigabit service with uploads of at least 100 Mbps, the FCC's 1,000/100 tier, is advertised at 67.9%, more than fiber alone covers, so much of it is cable. That tier grew by 20.1 percentage points in six months, the 6th highest1 increase among large cities. These figures are maximum speeds providers advertise, not measurements.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Heights | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 33.6% | 66.3% |
| Michigan | 3.2% | 2.5% | 1.9% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 43.6% | 47.4% |
| United States | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 31.0% | 61.0% |
Fixed wireless: carriers and a local network
Verizon reports home internet over its cellular network at 32,790 locations, more than in June 2022, with downloads advertised up to 1 Gbps. T-Mobile reports 76.3% of locations, advertising up to 100 Mbps1.
Subscriptions in Sterling Heights homes
The Census Bureau's 2025 survey found 92.6% of Sterling Heights households with a broadband subscription of some kind (margin of error ±3.0 percentage points) and 76.8% with cable, fiber or DSL (±3.3 percentage points). 5.2% had no computer at home (±2.5 percentage points), tied for 13th highest4 among large cities by point estimate. These are survey estimates of households over a year; the FCC counts locations on one date.
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) | 99.9% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 76.8% | ±3.3 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 13.8% | ±2.6 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 7.4% | ±3.0 |
Sterling Heights, Warren and Detroit
Warren, on the city's southern border, has the same two cable companies and more fiber, nearly all of it AT&T's, so more of its locations reach three wired choices. Detroit has one cable network at most addresses and less fiber than either suburb. What sets Sterling Heights apart is the last six months: its fiber share rose by 10.3 percentage points, against 1.9 percentage points in Warren and 0.6 percentage points1 in Detroit.
| Area | Fiber available | DSL available | Two or more wired choices | Three or more wired choices | Fiber available: change since December 31, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Heights, Michigan | 22.0% | 85.2% | 95.1% | 30.2% | 10.3 pts |
| Warren, Michigan | 49.8% | 51.9% | 96.5% | 54.5% | 1.9 pts |
| Detroit, Michigan | 27.4% | 64.6% | 35.3% | 0.0% | 0.6 pts |
| Michigan | 42.6% | 42.5% | 44.4% | 13.8% | 4.0 pts |
| United States | 62.6% | 36.2% | 55.6% | 11.1% | 2.7 pts |
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.
The Warren page and the Detroit page cover those cities in detail, and the Michigan page maps every county, including Macomb, where Sterling Heights sits.
Questions and answers
What internet providers serve Sterling Heights, Michigan?
Xfinity (99.8% of locations) and WOW! (94.3%) report cable service across almost the whole city. AT&T reports 93.4%, mostly DSL with fiber at 13.2%. Ripple Fiber (10.1%1) reports fiber in parts of the city, and Verizon and T-Mobile report fixed wireless.
Is fiber internet available in Sterling Heights?
At 22.0% of homes and businesses as of June 30, 2026, against 42.6% across Michigan and 62.6% nationally. The fiber comes from AT&T, Ripple Fiber and, on a few blocks, a third company. Only 1.3%1 of locations have two fiber providers.
How many internet providers are in Sterling Heights?
4 wired providers report service somewhere in the city, down from 53 in June 2022, and 6 if fixed wireless is included. At one address the count that matters is smaller: the average location has 2.281 wired providers offering 100/20 Mbps.
Is 5G home internet available in Sterling Heights?
Verizon reports fixed wireless home internet at 82.2% of locations and T-Mobile at 76.3%. Both report 100/20 Mbps at smaller shares: 15.1% for Verizon and 35.3%1 for T-Mobile. Carriers accept orders address by address because a cell sector's capacity is shared.
Checking one address in Sterling Heights
The figures on this page describe the whole area. Which providers report service at a single home or apartment is shown only on the FCC's own map: search the address at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. If a provider is listed there but cannot actually connect you within ten business days, or the location is missing or misplaced, the map has a button to file a challenge; providers must respond, and corrections flow into later releases. Prices and plans are not part of the FCC data: each provider must show them on its broadband facts label at the point of sale.
More on internet in Michigan
The state picture, county by county: internet in Michigan. Other large cities in the state: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Dearborn. Compare Sterling Heights with any other city or state in the comparison tool.
Sources
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Availability as of June 30, 2026; released November 10, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; Availability as of December 31, 2025; released November 3, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; Availability as of June 30, 2022; released May 10, 2024. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.gov
Margins of error (±) are at the 90% confidence level. A difference is called significant only when it passes the Census Bureau's test at that level. How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.