The 2026 U.S. Internet Competition Report
PUBLISHED JULY 2026 · ANALYSIS OF 33,617 ZIP CODES · FCC BROADBAND DATA
“Where Americans actually have a choice of internet provider — and where they don't.”We analyzed FCC National Broadband Map filings for 33,617 U.S. zip codes across all 50 states and Washington DC — every zip where at least one wired or 5G home internet provider reports residential service — to answer a simple question: where do Americans really get to choose their internet provider? The short answer: choice is far more widespread than a decade ago, but it is distributed in ways most people would not guess. The rural Midwest, not the urban coasts, is where competition is fiercest.
Key findings
1. True monopoly zips are now rare — but 1.1% of zips still have exactly one option. Of the zip codes analyzed, 98.9% have two or more providers reporting service and 94.7% have three or more. The single-provider zip — once the norm across rural America — now describes about 1 in 90 zips. (Satellite service, which reaches virtually every address, is excluded from these counts; the analysis covers fiber, cable, DSL, and 5G home internet.)
2. Iowa is the most competitive internet market in America. The average Iowa zip code has 10.1 distinct providers reporting service — the highest in the nation — and 98% of Iowa zips have five or more brands competing. Nebraska (9.3), Indiana (8.4), and Minnesota (8.4) follow. The engine behind this is not Big Telecom: it is the dense web of rural cooperatives, municipal networks, and family-owned regional telcos that built fiber across the Midwest while national carriers focused on metros.
3. The urban Northeast has surprisingly little brand choice. Rhode Island averages just 4.2 providers per zip, New Jersey 4.6, New York 4.6, and only 19% of Rhode Island zips see five or more brands. Dense states are dominated by one big cable incumbent plus one telco — competition exists, but it is a duopoly plus 5G, not a marketplace. By provider count, a zip in Kansas has roughly twice the choice of a zip in Massachusetts.
4. Alaska remains America's connectivity frontier. Just 49% of analyzed Alaska zips have a second provider, 51% are single-provider markets, and 66 Alaska zips have no wired or 5G provider at all — satellite only. It is the only state where the average zip has fewer than two providers (1.6).
5. Fiber is now reported in 94% of analyzed zips. A presence in a zip does not mean fiber at every address — buildouts are street-by-street — but the footprint stage of the fiber race is effectively over in most states: 100% of analyzed zips in Iowa, Minnesota, Georgia, and Connecticut have at least one fiber provider, and 42 of 51 states are above 90%.
Full state rankings
States ranked by average number of distinct providers per zip code. "5+ brands" is the share of zips where five or more distinct providers report service; "Fiber + cable + 5G" is the share of zips with all three modern connection types present.
| # | State | Avg providers / zip | Zips with 5+ brands | Zips with fiber | Fiber + cable + 5G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa | 10.1 | 98% | 100% | 84% |
| 2 | Nebraska | 9.3 | 96% | 100% | 81% |
| 3 | Indiana | 8.4 | 97% | 99% | 96% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 8.4 | 98% | 100% | 90% |
| 5 | Kansas | 7.6 | 95% | 99% | 81% |
| 6 | Texas | 7.5 | 90% | 99% | 84% |
| 7 | Missouri | 7.3 | 92% | 98% | 83% |
| 8 | Vermont | 7.2 | 97% | 96% | 90% |
| 9 | Arkansas | 7.1 | 93% | 98% | 79% |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 7.1 | 88% | 100% | 95% |
| 11 | Ohio | 7.1 | 96% | 98% | 97% |
| 12 | Georgia | 7.0 | 93% | 100% | 94% |
| 13 | Colorado | 6.9 | 81% | 92% | 72% |
| 14 | Utah | 6.9 | 71% | 97% | 71% |
| 15 | North Dakota | 6.8 | 91% | 100% | 71% |
| 16 | Tennessee | 6.8 | 93% | 99% | 96% |
| 17 | Oregon | 6.8 | 84% | 99% | 84% |
| 18 | Florida | 6.7 | 94% | 99% | 97% |
| 19 | Maine | 6.6 | 91% | 98% | 93% |
| 20 | South Carolina | 6.5 | 91% | 100% | 92% |
| 21 | Washington | 6.3 | 84% | 93% | 81% |
| 22 | New Mexico | 6.1 | 80% | 90% | 53% |
| 23 | Connecticut | 6.1 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 24 | California | 6.1 | 88% | 89% | 85% |
| 25 | Nevada | 6.1 | 82% | 92% | 73% |
| 26 | Alabama | 6.0 | 82% | 97% | 88% |
| 27 | Virginia | 5.9 | 80% | 97% | 93% |
| 28 | Arizona | 5.8 | 71% | 80% | 69% |
| 29 | West Virginia | 5.6 | 78% | 90% | 82% |
| 30 | Idaho | 5.6 | 62% | 94% | 73% |
| 31 | Kentucky | 5.5 | 73% | 92% | 85% |
| 32 | Louisiana | 5.5 | 74% | 94% | 87% |
| 33 | Montana | 5.3 | 63% | 98% | 48% |
| 34 | Maryland | 5.3 | 66% | 93% | 93% |
| 35 | Delaware | 5.2 | 71% | 96% | 96% |
| 36 | Washington DC | 5.2 | 71% | 71% | 71% |
| 37 | Massachusetts | 4.8 | 53% | 84% | 83% |
| 38 | New York | 4.6 | 49% | 99% | 97% |
| 39 | New Jersey | 4.6 | 47% | 94% | 94% |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 4.2 | 19% | 95% | 95% |
| 41 | Wyoming | 3.9 | 37% | 92% | 51% |
| 42 | Hawaii | 3.0 | 1% | 99% | 98% |
| 43 | Alaska | 1.6 | 0% | 89% | 13% |
States with partial source data
For eight states, one FCC technology file was unavailable or corrupt at download time, so their figures below are floors (actual competition is higher than shown) and they are excluded from the rankings above for fairness. We will re-rank them in the next data refresh.
| # | State | Avg providers / zip | Zips with 5+ brands | Zips with fiber | Fiber + cable + 5G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | South Dakota | 7.2 | 89% | 100% | n/a |
| — | Illinois | 7.0 | 82% | 99% | n/a |
| — | Oklahoma | 4.9 | 60% | 0% | n/a |
| — | Mississippi | 4.5 | 45% | 99% | n/a |
| — | Michigan | 4.1 | 36% | 96% | n/a |
| — | North Carolina | 3.8 | 31% | 99% | n/a |
| — | Pennsylvania | 3.3 | 20% | 93% | n/a |
| — | New Hampshire | 3.2 | 11% | 100% | n/a |
What this means if you're shopping for internet
Averages are interesting; your address is what matters. Even in first-place Iowa, individual streets have one option; even in Alaska, downtown Anchorage has real choice. The only way to know your options is an address-level check — which is precisely what we do all day. Type your address into the search on our coverage page, or skip to the phone: one call and a real person reads out every provider at your address with real prices.
Check every provider at your address — (855) 240-4535
Methodology
Source data: FCC National Broadband Map (Broadband Data Collection) availability filings, most recent public release, downloaded June–July 2026. We aggregated provider filings from census block to zip code using the U.S. Census Bureau ZCTA-to-tract relationship file. A provider is counted in a zip only if it reports serving at least five residential locations there (noise filter); business-only records are excluded. Technologies counted: fiber-to-the-premises, cable, DSL (copper), and licensed fixed wireless (5G home internet). Satellite and unlicensed fixed wireless are excluded from competition counts because satellite reaches virtually all addresses and would flatten the comparison. Important caveat: FCC data reflects what providers report at the zip level; presence in a zip does not guarantee availability at any specific address. Zip counts: 33,617 zips analyzed with at least one qualifying provider, of 33,782 residential zips known to our database; the remaining 165 are satellite-only. Full state-level data available on request for journalists and researchers.
Use this data
Journalists, bloggers, and researchers are welcome to cite this report with attribution and a link. Copy-paste embed of the top-10 table:
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px"><caption style="font-weight:bold;padding:6px">Most competitive U.S. internet states, 2026 (avg providers per zip)</caption><thead><tr><th>#</th><th>State</th><th>Avg providers/zip</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Iowa</td><td>10.1</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Nebraska</td><td>9.3</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Indiana</td><td>8.4</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Minnesota</td><td>8.4</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Kansas</td><td>7.6</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Texas</td><td>7.5</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Missouri</td><td>7.3</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Vermont</td><td>7.2</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Arkansas</td><td>7.1</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Wisconsin</td><td>7.1</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="font-size:12px;font-family:sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://myinternetonlineshop.com/internet-competition-report-2026.html">My Internet Online Shop — 2026 U.S. Internet Competition Report</a>, built from FCC National Broadband Map data.</p>
Cite as: "The 2026 U.S. Internet Competition Report," My Internet Online Shop, July 2026. Media inquiries: call (855) 240-4535 or use our contact page.
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