The national average internet speed increased this year by 44% — from 119.03 Mbps to 171.30 Mbps — according to HighSpeedInternet.com. Speed can vary greatly by state due to network infrastructure and provider options.
The 10 fastest states by download speed are (from fastest to slowest, in Mbps): Connecticut (119.13 median, 194.01 average); New Jersey (118.57 median, 202.20 average); Florida (115.58 median, 185.24 average); Delaware (114.37 median, 204.29 average); New Hampshire (113.63 median, 190.14 average); South Carolina (110.31 median, 175.38 average); Massachusetts (109.60 median, 190.33 average); Maryland (107.63 median, 198.06 average); Virginia (97.95 median, 203.92 average); and Tennessee (95.88 median, 173.25 average).
The slowest state is Alaska, followed by (from slowest to fastest) West Virginia, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Vermont, Wyoming, Iowa, Arkansas and Louisiana. Many of these states also showed the most improvement, year-over-year, in internet speed, however.
The five most improved states compared to 2022 are Vermont (69% improvement), North Dakota (68%), Alaska (67%), West Virginia (66%) and Kansas (64%).
Some of the other highlights from the fourth release of this study, which was based on more than one million test results:
- Seven of the top 10 fastest states this year are located in New England or the New York tri-state area. Two of the states (Florida and South Carolina) are also on the East Coast, but farther south.
- Unlike much of New England, Vermont is one of the slowest states. Vermont did see the greatest improvement in internet speed over the past year; government initiatives played a role.
- The states with the slowest speeds are mostly rural with relatively low population density. The digital divide comes into stark focus in remote parts of the country.
Commentary in the piece suggested users are not opting for very fast tiers.
“Just look at the numbers in our speed test. America’s median speed (meaning the number that sits in the middle of the entire batch of speed tests) is just 90.96 Mbps,” wrote Peter Holslin. “That’s a significant drop compared to the average of 171.30 Mbps. The disparity between the two figures suggests that the majority of internet users still order relatively modest internet packages with speeds of 200 Mbps or below, usually due to factors like price and availability.”
The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge stimulus to internet speeds. In January 2022, Whistleout, a provider of Internet speed testing technology, found that the national average internet speed rose 40.1% from pre-pandemic levels to 2021. There were significant differences across the country in the rates of increase.
Find the average speed for your state in the HighSpeedInternet.com report.
