Households with an internet subscription by state

Colorado and California have the highest share of households with an internet subscription, 95.6% each, and West Virginia the lowest, 89.7%. Washington (95.4%) is third; New Mexico (90.5%) and Mississippi (91.0%¹) are just above the bottom. The figures are the Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates for 2025, the latest year published, and count a broadband subscription of any type. The table gives each state's margin of error and three companion shares: households with no subscription, those relying only on a cellular data plan, and those with satellite service.

What the survey counts

The American Community Survey asks a sample of households whether anyone in the home pays for internet service, and of what kind. A household counts here if it has a cable, fiber or DSL subscription, a cellular data plan, satellite service or another non-dial-up connection. One answer covers the whole household; the survey does not ask about speed, provider or price, and it groups fiber with cable and DSL.

That makes this a ranking of adoption, not of networks. The FCC National Broadband Map, used on the rest of this site, records where providers report service is available at homes and businesses; this ranking records what households buy. The one-year estimates rest on twelve months of interviews and are the most current, but the Census Bureau describes them as less reliable than the five-year estimates, which pool five years of interviews. Every state figure here carries a margin of error, shown in the table beside it.

All but one state above nine in ten

In every state and DC but one, nine households in ten or more have a subscription; only West Virginia falls short. The median state is at 93.5%¹, and the whole table spans less than six percentage points.

In a range that narrow, the survey's precision decides what can be said. Colorado is estimated at 95.6% (±0.3 percentage points) and California at 95.6% (±0.1 percentage points); the ranges of the first five, through Washington, Massachusetts and Delaware, overlap. At the bottom, West Virginia (89.7%, ±0.7 percentage points) and New Mexico (90.5%, ±0.6 percentage points¹) overlap, so the survey cannot say which of the two is lower. Both are clearly below the median. Positions in the middle of the table often differ by a tenth of a point and should be read as groups, not places.

The same headline, different connections

Behind similar totals are different kinds of service: wired lines in the Northeast, satellite in the mountain West and Alaska, cellular plans in parts of the South.

Alaska ranks 8th highest on the headline at 94.9%, yet it has the lowest share of households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL, 66.6%, and the highest share with satellite service, 16.0%. Wyoming is second for satellite at 14.1%. New Hampshire is the opposite case: 84.0% of its households have a wired subscription, the highest¹ share of any state.

Louisiana has the highest share of households whose only subscription is a cellular data plan, 16.6%, and Mississippi the 2nd highest, 16.1%¹. A cellular plan counts the same as a fiber line in the headline, so the cellular and satellite columns say more about a state's connections than its rank does.

Where service is available but not bought

Set against the FCC map, some states show high availability and middling adoption. In North Dakota, wired service of at least 100/20 Mbps is reported at 99.3% of homes and businesses as of June 30, 2026, 2nd highest³ among the states. Its subscription share, 92.2%, is 9th lowest, and 7.7%¹ of its households have no internet subscription at all.

Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations)99.3%

Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)77.4% ±1.7

Households relying only on a cellular data plan11.9% ±1.3

Households with no internet subscription7.7% ±0.9

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)	99.3%
Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census)	77.4%	±1.7
Households relying only on a cellular data plan	11.9%	±1.3
Households with no internet subscription	7.7%	±0.9

Alaska is the reverse. The FCC reports wired 100/20 Mbps service at 65.8%³ of its locations, the lowest share in the country, while its households subscribe at a higher rate than all but seven states, and its satellite share is the highest of any state. The two sources measure different things: the FCC counts locations and reported availability as of June 30, 2026 (file revision of November 10, 2026), the Census counts households and their answers during 2025. The gap between them is a sign of where adoption, not coverage, is the question; our article on homes where service is available but not subscribed looks at it in more detail.

Since 2019, the bottom moved most

In the 2019 survey, Mississippi had 76.8% of households with a broadband subscription; in 2025 it had 91.0%, the largest rise of any state. New Mexico went from 78.5% to 90.5% and Arkansas from 79.8% to 91.6%. Utah, already near the top, rose the least, from 90.8%⁴ to 94.5%¹.

Mississippi's change was a shift toward wired service. Households with a cable, fiber or DSL subscription went from 49.6% to 68.6%, and those relying only on a cellular plan fell from 20.8%⁴ to 16.1%, the largest fall of any state on that measure. The most recent year moved less: New Mexico was at 90.5%⁵ in 2024 and is at 90.5%¹ now. The survey does not record why households subscribed.

Who is still offline

Age and income divide households within each state. West Virginia has the highest share of households without any internet subscription, 10.1%, and the lowest share of people aged 65 and older living in a household with a computer and broadband, 82.2%. Montana has the lowest share for households with incomes under $20,000, 76.7%, against 97.0%¹ for households earning $75,000 or more.

The NTIA's Internet Use Survey of November 2023 asked households where no one uses the internet at home for their main reason. In West Virginia, where 18.3% of households were in that group, 67.7% gave no need or interest, 13.8% cost, and 1.1% that service was not available. Mississippi's answers were similar: 59.1% no need or interest, 21.7% cost, 4.8%⁶ no service. The margins of error on these answers are wide, so the two states cannot be told apart.

Reading the ranking correctly

• Estimates, not counts. Each figure is a survey estimate with a margin of error. States closer together than their margins are not meaningfully different.
• Households, not locations. The Census counts households; the FCC counts homes, apartment buildings and small businesses as locations. Shares from the two sources should not be subtracted from each other.
• "Broadband" here is not the FCC's 100/20 Mbps. The Census definition includes cellular data plans and satellite at any speed. The broadband coverage ranking uses the FCC's benchmark for wired service.
• One-year and five-year figures differ. The five-year estimates for 2020–2024 include earlier, lower years. So a page that quotes them, often without saying which survey, will show lower shares than this table.
• No speeds or prices. The survey asks neither. For what is offered at an address, use the FCC National Broadband Map; the methodology explains how this site uses both sources.