There is quite a divergence with rural broadband speeds across America, according to PC Magazine, citing a report from SatellieteInternet.com.
The report looked at communities with populations of less than 10,000 people that are at least an hour away from the nearest major city.
Those with geographical features, such as lakes mountains and streams had the highest rural broadband speeds, topped by two that were better than 100 Mbps — Boardman, OR (103.8Mbps) and Madisonville, LA (101.7Mbps).
Topping 90 Mbps were Rifle, CO (96.7Mbps), Pulaski, VA (96.6Mbps), Seaford, DE (96.4Mbps), Ware, MA (92.0Mbps), and Barnegat, NJ (90.1Mbps).
Others on the list for highest rural broadband speeds were:
| Lock Haven, PA (89.5Mbps) | Reedsburg, WI (81.3Mbps) |
| Cotati, CA (89.0Mbps) | Mahopac, NY (79.8Mbps) |
| Valley, AL (86.6Mbps) | Scottsville, KY (79.7Mbps) |
| Winchester, CA (85.9Mbps) | Erwin, TN (78.8Mbps) |
| Avon, CO (83.2Mbps) | Ruckersville, VA (78.7Mbps) |
| El Cerrito (82.8Mbps) | Chilhowie, VA (77.9Mbps). |
| Inwood, WV (82.4Mbps) |
On the other side of the spectrum, the slowest rural broadband speeds from the data include:
| Hyden, KY (4.2 Mbps) | Fairfax, VT (7.5 Mbps) |
| White Hall, AR (5.4 Mbps) | Caldwell, TX (7.7 Mbps) |
| Yale, MI (5.9 Mbps) | Mountain View, AR (7.7 Mbps) |
| Farmington, ME (6.4 Mbps) | Winnemucca, NV (8.3 Mbps) |
| Stevensville, MT (6.6 Mbps) | Bellville, OH (8.3 Mbps) |
| Stowe, VT (7.3 Mbps) | Mariposa, CA (8.6 Mbps) |
| Blue Hill, ME (7.3 Mbps) | Kingston, WA (9.2 Mbps) |
Coming in only slightly faster were Merrill, WI (10.3 Mbps), Linden, TN (10.9 Mbps), Sylva, NC (11 Mbps), Pecos, TX (11.1 Mbps), Spring Hill, KS (11.2 Mbps) and Grayson, KY (11.2 Mbps).
Low internet speeds in rural areas contribute to opportunity gaps while people are working from home and participating in online schooling, the report noted.
Current federal rural broadband funding programs have a mixed record on addressing broadband speed challenges. Some existing funding programs still support broadband at speeds of 10/1 Mbps, while others, including the upcoming RDOF auction, support rural broadband speeds of 25/3 Mbps.
