Fiber Availability in the US: How Does It Compare in Rural vs Urban Areas?

Nearly half of U.S. households have access to fiber internet, but availability lags in rural areas.

By Kelly Huh

Mar 04, 2025

4 min read

Fiber-optic internet is the best type of internet you can get—it’s reliable, incredibly fast, and in some cases more affordable than other home Wi-Fi options. Fiber internet providers can deliver symmetrical upload and download speeds that reach gigabit and multi-gigabit speeds, surpassing the capabilities of cable internet.

While fiber internet has been around for decades, demand for “fiber-to-the-home” connections grew quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of Americans faced an urgent need for fast and reliable internet to support multiple household members to work, learn, and communicate online at the same time.

However, only 46% of American homes have access to fiber, compared to 82% that have access to cable internet—a much more common internet connection type that runs through coaxial networks of cable TV companies. Rural areas are especially underserved when it comes to fiber access, and the high cost of deploying fiber networks poses a major roadblock to making it accessible nationwide.

Reviews.org took a close look at data contained in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) National Broadband Map to find the states with the best and worst fiber internet coverage. We also looked at the gap in fiber access between rural and urban areas. Keep reading to see where you’re most likely to find fiber internet in the United States.

Guide to this report:

National Fiber Availability Trends
Best States for Fiber Availability
Worst States for Fiber Availability
Urban Rural Fiber Availability Gap
Methodology
FAQ

Key findings on national fiber availability:

Rhode Island offers the greatest fiber availability out of all U.S. states, with 80% of households having access to fiber internet.
Alaska offers the least fiber availability out of all U.S. states, with 9% of households having access to fiber internet.
75 million households have fiber access nationwide, accounting for 46% of the U.S.
However, only 38% of U.S. households have access to fiber in rural areas.

Overview of national fiber availability trends

Based on our analysis of the FCC’s National Broadband Map, nearly half of U.S. households have access to fiber internet. However, when checking fiber availability by state, there are stark differences:

Across the top 10 states with the most fiber availability, 70% of households have access to fiber internet coverage.
Across the 10 worst states with the least fiber availability, only 30% of households have access to fiber internet coverage.
49% of U.S. households in urban areas have access to fiber internet.
38% of U.S. households in rural areas have access to fiber internet.

It’s not surprising that 6 out of the 10 states with the least fiber availability also receive the most federal funding per state resident to improve internet access through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Michigan ranks in 4th place for the least fiber availability and also has gotten earmarked for the 4th highest total BEAD funding out of all the states.

What is the BEAD program?

The BEAD program allocates $42.5 billion in federal funds across states and territories to subsidize the cost of building high-speed internet networks according to each area’s needs. BEAD funding is critical in supporting rural areas to overcome the financial barriers of building fast and reliable internet infrastructure, bridging the gap between those who have internet access and those who don’t.

The 10 best states for fiber availability

We analyzed fiber availability across the U.S. and found that the 10 best states for fiber availability have widespread access to fiber, ranging from 60% to 80% of state households. The states with the best fiber availability are listed below:

Rank	State	Fiber Availability % (FCC)
1	Rhode Island	80.19%
2	Nebraska	68.50%
3	Connecticut	64.25%
4	North Dakota	63.66%
5	New Jersey	63.15%
6	New York	62.91%
7	Tennessee	61.42%
8	Kansas	60.45%
9	South Dakota	60.36%
10	Utah	59.88%

Sourced from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) National Broadband Map issued in June 2024

The 10 worst states for fiber availability

Of the 10 worst states for fiber availability, just 9% to 31% of households have access to fiber internet. The states with the worst fiber availability are listed below:

Rank	State	Fiber Availability % (FCC)
1	Alaska	9.18%
2	New Mexico	18.15%
3	Arizona	21.34%
4	Michigan	25.99%
5	Nevada	26.27%
6	West Virginia	28.87%
7	Montana	30.33%
8	Wyoming	30.62%
9	Illinois	30.85%
10	Idaho	31.50%

Top 10 States with the largest urban-rural fiber availability gap

There are wide disparities in fiber availability between urban and rural areas. Even though internet providers are sometimes able to use local and federal loans and grants to build out fiber networks, their fiber services are more commonly available in urban areas. The costs are steep to build out a fiber network, and so internet providers usually roll out fiber in population-dense areas where there are more customers to serve to recoup building costs.

With lower populations and larger ground to cover, rural areas draw the short straw for high-speed internet in general. Many rural parts of the country have limited access not only to fiber but to other common internet technologies as well.

We refer to this difference as the “urban-rural gap.” States with a wide urban-rural gap have higher fiber availability in urban areas, but less availability in small towns, unincorporated areas, and other remote parts.

We found that the states with the largest urban-rural gaps have a difference between 24% to 36% of fiber availability. For example, nearly 70% of households in urban areas of New York have access to fiber internet. But if you drive out to a village in the Catskills, your chances of getting fiber are less than half that.

The following states have the largest gap between urban and rural fiber availability:

State	Overall Fiber Availability (%)	Urban Fiber Availability (%)	Rural Fiber Availability (%)	Urban-Rural Gap (%)
New York	62.91%	68.35%	32.23%	36.12%
Pennsylvania	49.94%	59.05%	23.51%	35.54%
Virginia	56.46%	65.18%	34.18%	31.00%
New Jersey	63.15%	65.11%	36.09%	29.02%
Nebraska	68.50%	77.94%	49.92%	28.02%
Maine	40.60%	56.97%	30.90%	26.07%
Maryland	57.69%	61.83%	35.79%	26.04%
Delaware	49.94%	54.37%	29.58%	24.79%
West Virginia	28.87%	42.43%	18.86%	23.57%
Louisiana	36.95%	43.89%	20.52%	23.37%

This table excludes the District of Columbia, as it is considered an entirely urban area.

Methodology

We determined fiber availability by state from data provided by the latest Federal Communications Commission (FCC) National Broadband Map issued in June 2024. The FCC National Broadband Map includes availability data on a location-by-location basis, as reported by mass-market internet service providers biannually as part of the FCC Broadband Data Collection effort.

To find the percentage of households with fiber internet, we filtered the map for residential units covered by fiber and cable internet with access to speeds higher or equal to 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speed. We then filtered this by state to determine each state’s fiber coverage.

We also segmented data by urban vs. rural coverage (by zip code), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau’s urban-rural geographic area classification.

The FCC National Broadband Map has undergone several revisions to improve the accuracy of availability data. If you think there is incorrect information on the map, you can submit a Location Challenge or Availability Challenge from the address view of the map.

Fiber availability across all 50 states and DC

Here’s a full view of US fiber internet availability at a state-by-state level.

Overall rank	State	% of Overall Fiber Availability	% of Urban Fiber Availability	% of Fiber Rural Availability	Total BEAD Funding Allocation
1	Rhode Island	80.19%	81.00%	72.35%	$108,718,820.75
2	Nebraska	68.50%	77.94%	49.92%	$405,281,070.41
3	Connecticut	64.25%	65.35%	57.53%	$144,180,792.71
4	North Dakota	63.66%	41.82%	89.56%	$130,162,815.12
5	New Jersey	63.15%	65.11%	36.09%	$263,689,548.65
6	New York	62.91%	68.35%	32.23%	$664,618,251.49
7	Tennessee	61.42%	62.14%	60.07%	$813,319,680.22
8	Kansas	60.45%	64.32%	52.18%	$451,725,998.15
9	South Dakota	60.36%	44.56%	77.06%	$207,227,523.92
10	Utah	59.88%	62.45%	45.42%	$317,399,741.54
11	Iowa	59.58%	60.31%	58.54%	$415,331,313.00
12	Maryland	57.69%	61.83%	35.79%	$267,738,400.71
13	District of Columbia	57.45%	57.45%	0.00%	$100,694,786.93
14	Virginia	56.46%	65.18%	34.18%	$1,481,489,572.87
15	Kentucky	56.35%	64.56%	45.84%	$1,086,172,536.86
16	Hawaii	52.82%	53.92%	47.13%	$149,484,493.57
17	Indiana	52.67%	55.68%	45.74%	$868,109,929.79
18	Arkansas	52.59%	49.67%	55.87%	$1,024,303,993.86
19	Oklahoma	52.38%	55.02%	48.26%	$797,435,691.25
20	Mississippi	52.06%	47.88%	55.52%	$1,203,561,563.05
21	Missouri	51.49%	57.80%	38.71%	$1,736,302,708.39
22	Texas	50.51%	53.87%	37.69%	$3,312,616,455.45
23	Vermont	49.98%	64.09%	43.09%	$228,913,019.08
24	Delaware	49.94%	54.37%	29.58%	$107,748,384.66
25	Pennsylvania	49.94%	59.05%	23.51%	$1,161,778,272.41
26	Georgia	49.17%	50.77%	45.00%	$1,307,214,371.30
27	New Hampshire	48.27%	49.12%	47.21%	$196,560,278.97
28	South Carolina	46.75%	43.30%	53.47%	$551,535,983.05
29	Alabama	45.93%	50.75%	39.83%	$1,401,221,901.77
30	North Carolina	45.82%	54.13%	31.18%	$1,532,999,481.15
31	Massachusetts	45.20%	46.60%	30.96%	$147,422,464.39
32	Oregon	44.92%	49.52%	28.45%	$688,914,932.17
33	Florida	44.19%	46.19%	24.50%	$1,169,947,392.70
34	Minnesota	43.65%	39.93%	51.13%	$651,839,368.20
35	Colorado	40.82%	43.34%	28.71%	$826,522,650.41
36	Maine	40.60%	56.97%	30.90%	$271,977,723.07
37	Ohio	39.42%	44.38%	23.72%	$793,688,107.63
38	Wisconsin	38.16%	41.56%	32.65%	$1,055,823,573.71
39	Louisiana	36.95%	43.89%	20.52%	$1,355,554,552.94
40	California	33.85%	35.29%	14.73%	$1,864,136,508.93
41	Washington	33.65%	37.38%	17.07%	$1,227,742,066.30
42	Idaho	31.50%	37.87%	20.22%	$583,256,249.88
43	Illinois	30.85%	31.26%	28.67%	$1,040,420,751.50
44	Wyoming	30.62%	35.40%	23.91%	$347,877,921.27
45	Montana	30.33%	24.74%	35.76%	$628,973,798.59
46	West Virginia	28.87%	42.43%	18.86%	$1,086,172,536.86
47	Nevada	26.27%	26.27%	26.27%	$416,666,229.74
48	Michigan	25.99%	26.39%	25.07%	$1,559,362,479.29
49	Arizona	21.34%	21.70%	18.83%	$993,112,231.37
50	New Mexico	18.15%	16.00%	23.31%	$675,372,311.86
51	Alaska	9.18%	6.12%	13.63%	$1,017,139,672.42

Fiber availability in the US FAQ

Each state has varying availability of fiber internet, with Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Connecticut
offering the highest fiber internet coverage. However, the best fiber internet providers are available across the country in various different states.

You can check if fiber internet is available in your area by typing your zip code in the search bar below, which will return a list of all the internet service providers in your area, including fiber providers, if they are available.

Find fiber internet in your area

Written by

Kelly Huh

Kelly Huh is a journalist who covers internet service providers for Reviews.org. Originally from New Zealand, Kelly bought a one-way ticket to America to study at Brigham Young University, where she graduated with a BA in Communications. Since college, Kelly has gone on to write and edit featured content for technology companies in the Economist, Forbes, Vox, Bloomberg Green, and industry trade publications.