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By Hugh Cameron
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Broadband prices have been improving across the U.S., though many regions and states lag behind their peers when it comes to overall internet access and quality.
"Where you live in the U.S. still decides whether you can get fast, reliable home internet," according to a recent report for the broadband comparison website CompareInternet.com. "And in some states, the gap between the best-connected neighborhoods and the rest of the state is bigger than ever."
In its 2026 State Internet Index, the company mapped key regional trends in speed and access, as well as the "gap" between urban and rural availability, highlighting clear regional divides when it comes to which states enjoy the best internet.
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And these disparities come amid a nationwide and ongoing decline in internet costs. In May, United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) released this year’s Broadband Pricing Index, revealing a 6 percent drop in prices for the most popular internet services in 2025, which occurred even as speeds rose 22 percent.
Which States Have the Best Internet?
Compare Internet’s study was based on broadband data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with states ranked on their success across several "measures of residential wired broadband infrastructure": high-speed availability, fiber availability, gigabit availability, and the gap between urban and rural access.
Among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, North Dakota ranked first when it came to the best home internet, with an overall score of 94.1 on Compare Internet’s 100-point composite scale.
"99.2 percent of homes get high-speed service, and there’s almost no gap between city and countryside access," the report read.
The remaining states in the top 10 benefited from similarly high levels of overall access and speed as well as minor disparities between the internet enjoyed by those in the states’ cities and rural areas.
- North Dakota—94.1
- Connecticut—92.3
- Tennessee—89.8
- D.C.—89.1
- New Jersey—87.7
- New Hampshire—86.9
- Maryland—83.9
- Rhode Island—82.7
- Hawaii—81.9
- New York—81.6
Which States Have the Worst Internet?
On the other end of the scale, Compare Internet found that Alaska came last across all of its tracked metrics. The state consistently places bottom in similar rankings of broadband access, owing to its unique geography, associated issues with building and maintaining infrastructure, and federal subsidy programs which have been criticized for poor management and reliance on outdated equipment.
"It’s the only state in the country that ranks last on every metric we measured: just 71.5 percent high-speed access, 14.2 percent fiber access, 12.5 percent gigabit access, and a 60-point gap between its cities and everywhere else," the report read.
And its weak scores across all categories placed it among what the report dubbed "Internet Deserts," alongside New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In the remainder of its bottom 10, Compare Internet noted that California and Washington were surprising additions, given they are "home to some of the largest technology companies in the world." This, however, is due largely to the difference in access depending on where one lives, with city coverage of around 96 percent comparing to only 52 to 57 percent for both states’ rural areas.
"The index demonstrates that a state’s geographic size or strong statewide averages do not guarantee uniform infrastructure," Caroline Lefelhoc at Compare Internet wrote in the report.
Initiatives are underway to improve broadband access in these underserved regions. For example, the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is providing $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas. As of 2026, all states and territories have submitted final proposals, most have received federal approval, and funding is moving into implementation and construction phases, although rollout timelines vary by state.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and James Debens
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