These 10 States Have the Highest Fiber Broadband Availability
Source: https://www.americancityandcounty.com/, Ryan Kushner, First Published June 28th, 2025
The most notable increases in fiber-to-the-home availability per capita were in central, southwestern and New England states, according to a recent study.
Fiber broadband availability in the U.S. has come a long way in the past decade, but some states have seen more progress than others, according to a recent study published by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and conducted by RVA LLC, a market research and consulting agency.
The most notable increases in fiber-to-the-home availability per capita were in central, southwestern and New England states, according to the study, which analyzed data from 2013, 2016 and 2024.
Rhode Island, the smallest state, along with North Dakota and Nebraska, led the U.S. in fiber broadband availability per capita at 83.2%, 81.9% and 80.6%, respectively. The bottom three states for availability as of 2024 were Alaska (13.0%), New Mexico (21.5%) and Arizona (23.4%).
“This data confirms that fiber deployment is accelerating across much of the country, but also shows there is still significant opportunity ahead,” Deborah Kish, vice president of research and workforce development at the FBA, said in a press release. “State-level progress underscores the vital role that policy, competition and local initiatives play in advancing broadband access.”
The study also highlighted states that have seen some of the most significant improvements in fiber broadband availability over the past 11 years, such as Arkansas and Mississippi, which saw availability jump from 1.8% and 3.1% in 2013 to 62.8% and 66.9% in 2024, respectively.
The number of fiber broadband deployments in 2024 set a new annual record at 10.3 million homes, FBA found. However, an estimated 25 million Americans remain without high-speed internet access, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The FBA also noted recent challenges for states seeking funding through the NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The $42.45 billion program, which provides states grants to improve high-speed internet access, is under scrutiny by the Trump administration, which issued a 90-day pause on the funding in April.
Impacted states include West Virginia (35.5% fiber broadband availability per capita) and Nevada (28.6% availability per capita), according to FBA.
FBA President and CEO Gary Bolton said the pause “jeopardizes deployment plans the states have spent years tailoring to individual communities.”
“Furthermore, NTIA hasn’t provided the necessary guidance on what changes are expected,” Bolton added in a statement issued after the pause. “Delaying a program that’s ready to deliver high-speed, reliable broadband slows progress for the communities BEAD was designed to help and has a chilling effect on additional private and public investments.”
