Rank: 9
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
Hennepin County: population density helps attract broadband
Hennepin County ranks 9 (up one) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 99.11 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up si. They have 2983 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $27.7 million to get to ubiquitous broadband in the county.
| County | Residential Location Density | number of residential locations | ≥ 100 Mbps Download/20 Mbps Upload Speeds | unserved households | Cost to close gap |
| Hennepin | 552.7 | 335,210 | 99.11 | 2983 | 27741900 |
They have had more than 98 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up since we started tracking. In December 2022, Comcast Cable got a Border to Border grant for almost $2 million. In 2023, Midco received $1.5 in funding to serve 423 households, businesses, farms and community anchor institutions in rural Independence and Greenfield.
Hennepin County is in the top 10 ranking and nearly at 100 percent coverage and therefore they have earned an easy green ranking.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 99.11 | 98.69 | 98.98 | 98.97 | 98.94 | 98.97 | 98.57 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 99.19 | 99.14 | 99.21 | 99.4 | 99.39 | 99.18 | 99.16 |
Grants:
- 2022: Comcast Cable Communications LLC, $1,941,841.00
- 2017 – Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Medina 2018 Broadband Build – GRANT $62,219
- 2021: Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Minnestrista Project – GRANT $189,752 This last mile project will serve 80 unserved households in Minnestrista in Hennepin County.
Checklist:
Find more articles on broadband in Hennepin County. (http://tinyurl.com/z9n7ea6)
I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:
- Red (yikes)
- Yellow (warning)
- Green (good shape)
The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on Oct 31, 2023. Red dots represent locations unserved with wireline broadband; the Orange dots represent underserved locations. The map on the right comes from the FCC National Broadband map showing access to wired and licensed fixed wireless access, the darker the color, the greater percentage of broadband coverage.
