Internet in Cary, North Carolina
Fiber is available at 95.1% of the 52,862 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Cary, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 98.7%. 94.6% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 4.2% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Cary in North Carolina
Cary has the deepest fiber competition of any large North Carolina city. AT&T lists fiber at 89.7% of the town's homes and businesses and Google Fiber at 86.2%, so 82.2%1 can pick between two or more fiber companies. Subscriptions follow suit: 91.7%2 of Cary households pay for cable, fiber or DSL, the highest Census point estimate among large US cities.
Cary's internet providers, June 30, 2026
Inside the town limits used by the 2020 Census, the FCC lists 52,8621 broadband serviceable locations: houses, apartment buildings and businesses. Below is every company that reported service at one or more of them as of June 30, 2026 (FCC file revision dated November 10, 2026). Being listed means the company already serves the location or states it can install service there within ten business days; residents who find an error can file a challenge through the FCC National Broadband Map.
| AT&T | Fiber DSL Licensed wireless | 98.7% | 90.8% | 5 Gbps | 0.6% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | Fiber Cable | 98.0% | 98.0% | 1 Gbps | 3.5% |
| Google Fiber | Fiber Fixed wireless | 86.2% | 86.2% | 8 Gbps | 0.0% |
| T-Mobile | Licensed wireless | 86.2% | 54.0% | 100 Mbps | – |
| Verizon | Licensed wireless | 84.4% | 29.2% | 1 Gbps | – |
| Frontier | DSL | 0.2% | 0.0% | 10 Mbps | – |
| Hotwire Communications | Fiber | 0.0% | 0.0% | 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 (Starlink, HughesNet, Viasat) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
Spectrum is listed at 98.0% of Cary's locations, almost all over cable; it lists fiber at just 3.0%. AT&T appears at 98.7%. Its fiber covers 89.7% and the remainder is old copper DSL or fixed wireless, so DSL turns up at 43.5% of locations even though most of those addresses also have AT&T fiber listed. Google Fiber appears at 86.2%1.
Beyond those three, wired coverage is tiny. Frontier lists DSL at 104 locations; Hotwire Communications lists fiber at 201. The two mobile carriers, T-Mobile and Verizon, are discussed in the fixed wireless section.
Two fiber companies on most streets
Fiber from at least one company is listed at 95.1% of Cary's locations, which places the town 23rd highest among the 343 US cities with 100,000 people or more. Other large cities match that. Far fewer match the overlap: two or more fiber companies are listed at 82.2% of locations, 6th highest nationally and above every other large North Carolina city in the chart. Given the size of the two footprints, that overlap is mostly AT&T and Google Fiber. Statewide, overlapping fiber covers 17.4%; across the country, 12.1%1.
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 fiber networks |
|---|---|
| Cary | 82.2% |
| Raleigh | 67.5% |
| Durham | 67.2% |
| Greensboro | 28.0% |
| North Carolina | 17.4% |
| Charlotte | 16.8% |
| United States | 12.1% |
Adding Spectrum's cable, the typical Cary address can choose among three wired companies that sell 100/20 Mbps or faster. That holds at 81.2% of locations (8th highest among large cities), while across North Carolina it holds at 14.5%. Two such companies serve a further 13.3%1.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Different wired providers (fiber, cable or DSL; FCC provider IDs) reporting 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up or more at the same location. Fixed wireless and satellite are not counted.
Show the numbers
| Area | None | One | Two | Three or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cary | 1.3% | 4.2% | 13.3% | 81.2% |
| Raleigh | 2.1% | 7.1% | 24.5% | 66.2% |
| North Carolina | 5.8% | 39.5% | 40.3% | 14.5% |
| United States | 7.8% | 36.6% | 44.6% | 11.1% |
Where Cary still has one wire or none
At 4.2% of locations, 2,195 in all, just one wired company sells 100/20 Mbps; in 2022 the share was 6.2%3. Those single-wire addresses are almost all served only by Spectrum, which is the lone wired 100/20 option at 3.5%; AT&T is the lone option at 0.6%1.
The gaps below that are counted in dozens. 672 locations lack any wired 100/20 service. 5 count as unserved in federal terms, meaning neither wired nor licensed fixed wireless service reaches 25/3 Mbps, and 11 location has satellite as its only listed option.
Households on a wire
Subscription data come from a different source: the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, a sample of households with margins of error. Its 2025 one-year figures put Cary at 91.7% of households with a cable, fiber or DSL subscription (margin of error ±2.0 percentage points at 90% confidence), the highest point estimate of any large city. Comparable estimates are 83.7% for Raleigh (±2.1 percentage points), 84.2% for Durham (±3.0 percentage points) and 78.3% for the state (±0.4 percentage points2). Cary's interval sits clear of all three.
Phone-only connections are rare. 5.8% of households used nothing but a cellular data plan (±2.1 percentage points), 3rd lowest among large cities, and 1.9% paid for no internet at all (±1.1 percentage points2). The 2019 survey put wired subscriptions at 89.0% (±2.1 percentage points4); because the two intervals overlap, no change can be read from them.
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) | 98.7% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 91.7% | ±2.0 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 5.8% | ±2.1 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 1.9% | ±1.1 |
Fiber was already here in 2022; the overlap is newer
When the FCC published its first broadband map, with data as of June 30, 2022, Cary already had fiber listed at 92.8%3 of locations. There was little room left to grow: the change since then is +2.3 percentage points, 43rd lowest1 among large cities, and between December 31, 2025 and June 2026 the share stayed flat.
The second fiber network is what spread. Locations with two or more fiber companies went from 68.6% in 2022 to 82.2%, and those with three or more wired 100/20 Mbps options from 68.1% to 81.2%. Companies listing fiber somewhere in Cary numbered 33 then and 41 now.
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 | 92.8% | 95.0% | 95.1% | 2.3 pts |
| Two or more fiber networks | 68.6% | 81.2% | 82.2% | 13.6 pts |
| Three or more wired choices | 68.1% | 80.2% | 81.2% | 13.1 pts |
The comparison uses percentages because the FCC rebuilds its location list for every release, adding new construction and corrections; Cary's count has changed by +1,7851 since June 2022.
Advertised speeds: uploads follow the fiber
At 92.5% of locations some provider advertises downloads of 2 Gbps or faster, compared with 82.4%3 in June 2022; almost everywhere else the ceiling is roughly 1 Gbps. The highest tiers listed are 8 Gbps from Google Fiber, 5 Gbps from AT&T and 1 Gbps1 from Spectrum.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cary | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 6.2% | 92.5% |
| North Carolina | 2.7% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 41.5% | 52.5% |
| United States | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 31.0% | 61.0% |
Download speed barely distinguishes one network from another here, since a 1 Gbps download is on offer at 98.7% of locations, cable included. Upload speed does. Gigabit service with at least 100 Mbps up (the FCC's 1,000/100 benchmark) and symmetrical 100/100 Mbps each reach 95.1%1, matching fiber coverage. In the December 2025 data the 1,000/100 share was slightly higher, at 95.6%5. Every figure is an advertised maximum reported by providers, not a speed test.
Fixed wireless: faster tiers, slightly smaller reach
3 companies list licensed fixed wireless (the FCC's term covering 5G home internet) in Cary, together reaching 95.9% of locations: T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile's footprint is 86.2%, with 100/20 Mbps at 54.0% and a top tier of 100 Mbps. Verizon's is 84.4%, with 100/20 at 29.2% and tiers reaching 1 Gbps1.
Overall reach has shifted by −1.4 percentage points since 2022, but the share where fixed wireless meets 100/20 Mbps climbed from 25.7%3 to 61.0%1. Because everyone on a cell sector shares its capacity, carriers decide eligibility one address at a time, and a listed location may still be refused.
Cary next to its peers
Cities nearest Cary in population, measured in the same FCC release:
| Area | Fiber available | Gigabit (1,000/100) | Two or more wired choices | Fiber networks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cary, North Carolina | 95.1% | 95.1% | 94.6% | 4 |
| Newport News, Virginia | 92.9% | 77.2% | 89.8% | 2 |
| Ontario, California | 81.9% | 81.5% | 78.2% | 4 |
| Elk Grove, California | 70.9% | 90.0% | 70.6% | 4 |
| Aurora, Illinois | 41.1% | 99.7% | 47.0% | 4 |
| Glendale, California | 39.5% | 40.2% | 47.8% | 4 |
| Santa Rosa, California | 35.5% | 68.7% | 42.3% | 4 |
| Salem, Oregon | 26.9% | 82.2% | 34.4% | 7 |
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.
County maps and North Carolina's BEAD plan are on the North Carolina page. Raleigh and Durham share Cary's three wired networks, with less of the two-fiber overlap.
Questions about internet in Cary
Which companies sell home internet in Cary, NC?
In the FCC data as of June 30, 2026, three wired networks reach nearly the whole town: Spectrum (98.0% of locations, almost all cable), AT&T (98.7%; fiber at 89.7% of locations, copper DSL or fixed wireless elsewhere) and Google Fiber (86.2%). T-Mobile (86.2%) and Verizon (84.4%1) list fixed wireless home internet. Frontier and Hotwire Communications appear at a small number of addresses; satellite is listed everywhere.
Can I get Google Fiber in Cary?
Google Fiber lists fiber at 86.2% of the 52,862 locations in Cary, a larger share than in Raleigh (77.2%) or Durham (66.4%). Its fastest listed tier is 8 Gbps1.
How many internet providers does Cary have?
5 companies list wired service at one or more Cary locations and 4 list fiber, yet most of those serve a few buildings. The figure that matters at a given home is closer to three: a location averages 2.75 wired providers at 100/20 Mbps, and 81.2%1 of locations have at least three.
What share of Cary has fiber?
95.1% of Cary's locations, compared with 65.3% for North Carolina and 62.6%1 for the United States, as of June 30, 2026.
Checking one address in Cary
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 North Carolina
The state picture, county by county: internet in North Carolina. Other large cities in the state: Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, Wilmington, High Point and Concord. Compare Cary 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
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.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 2019 1-year detailed tables; 2019. api.census.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; Availability as of December 31, 2025; released November 3, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.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.