The 10 Fastest and Slowest States for Internet Speed

We saw internet speeds rise across the US in 2021, but while some states improved as a whole, some still drag behind.

Even so, the slowest average download speed in 2021 hit 69 Mbps, up from 24 Mbps in 2020. That’s a major improvement, especially considering a single person can likely enjoy almost every online activity with a speed of 69 Mbps.

Curious to see how your state stacks up? Take a peek and see which states are home to the fastest—or slowest—internet speeds.

This year’s fastest states for internet speed saw the return of northeastern states. Outside of Texas and California, the entirety of our top 10 list features states on the East Coast.

These 10 states sit at the bottom when it comes to internet speeds, but there’s still plenty of improvement to acknowledge here.

In 2020, Alaska was home to the slowest average download speed of 24 Mbps, but in 2021 it ranked 36th out of 51 states (and the District of Columbia) with an average download speed of 101 Mbps.

And while West Virginia now brings up the back of the line with a 2021 average download speed of 69 Mbps, that’s still a 56% improvement over its 2020 average download speed of 44 Mbps.

Speaking of state-by-state internet speed improvements, it comes as no surprise that Alaska saw the biggest boost in internet speed. The Last Frontier pumped up its download speeds by a startling 322% to reach an average of 101 Mbps in 2021. Now that deserves applause.

We’re excited to see a similar trend among nine other states that embraced change and made some serious improvements to internet speeds in 2021. (Granted, this is likely influenced by residents purchasing internet plans with faster speeds too. But the fact that faster speeds are offered is still worth noting.)

Upload speeds and latency may not be front of mind when we chat about internet, but they play an important role in activities like Zoom calls and gaming.

That’s why we also took a look at each state’s average upload speed and latency in 2021.

No surprise, Hawaii had the highest latency. But what was surprising is seeing Mississippi top the charts for upload speeds in 2021.

Latency is the time it takes for your data to leave your computer, bounce off the server of the site or app you're accessing, and travel back to you. It mostly affects gamers, since high latency can cause your in-game character to bounce around the screen, also called rubberbanding.

Some aspects of latency are out of our control, such as our location and the location of the server we’re trying to access. This is why you’ll see Alaska and Hawaii at the bottom of the list with the highest latency in 2021.

To determine the fastest and slowest states in terms of internet speed, we sifted through speed test results from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. We then filtered out any results for business internet, cellular data, and incomplete or duplicate entries.

Next, we averaged download speeds, upload speeds, and latency for each state.

We also compared average download speed results for 2020 and 2021 to determine which states improved the most over the past two years. We also used 2020 US Census data to include each state’s population.

See where your state lands on our list.