Congrats to Ramsey County for coming in at number 23 of the “Fastest 25” Broadband List! The list comes from Northfield-based ID Insight. They have been tracking broadband rates for communities looking to apply for ARRA funding. To create the Fastest 25, they have tracked usage as well as access. Here’s their very brief explanation:

BroadBand Scout uses a unique analytical survey process of accessing millions of records in ID Insight’s proprietary databases that were initially assembled to track Internet usage activity.

You can learn all about their methods on their web site.

It was great to see Ramsey County on the list, which otherwise seemed to be dominated by eastern states and Oregon. Here’s the full list:

1. Nassau County, N.Y.
2. Kent County, R.I.
3. Putnam County, N.Y.
4. Benton County, Ore.
5. Mercer County, N.J.
6. Richmond County, N.Y.
7. Delaware County, Ind.
8. Snohomish County, Wash.
9. Thurston County, Wash.
10. Frederick County, Va.
11. Washington County, R.I.
12. Arlington County, Va.
13. Yamhill County, Ore.
14. Providence County, R.I.
15. Calvert County, Md.
16. Bristol County, R.I.
17. Multnomah County, Ore.
18. Chester County, Pa.
19. Washington County, Ore.
20. Salem County, N.J.
21. Allen County, Ind.
22. Suffolk County, N.Y.
23. Ramsey County, Minn.
24. Island County, Wash.
25. Howard County, Md.