Rank: 58
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)
McLeod County: maybe the tide has turned
McLeod County ranks 58 (down 4 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. They have 77.21 percent coverage to broadband of 100 Mbps down and 20 up. They have 2903 households without access to broadband at that speed. Estimates indicate that it will cost $27 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 |
| McLeod | 25.2 | 12,736 | 77.21 | 2903 | 26997900 |
McLeod County has seen steady but incremental improvement in broadband access through the years. In December 2022, Nuvera Communications was awarded $1.8 million to serve 300 unserved and 154 underserved locations in the Belle Lake and Hutchinson area and Media got $99,156 to serve 87 unserved households and 2 unserved businesses in the Hale Township.
They retain their yellow ranking.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| 100/20 (2026 goal) | 77.21 | 75.48 | 58.09 | 56.13 | 58.59 | 58.57 | 56.92 |
| 25/3 (2022 goal) | 78.91 | 81.07 | 82.86 | 87.32 | 81.01 | 83.53 | 98.58 |
Grants:
- 2022: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – Belle Lake and Hutchinson East FTTP – GRANT $1,840,250
- 2022: Mediacom Minnesota LLC – Swan Lake – GRANT $99,156 (Learn more)
- MN State Grants awarded in 2021: Nuvera Communications, Inc. – Hutchinson SE FTTP – GRANT $169,369 This last mile project will serve 42 unserved and five underserved locations in the Hutchinson area of McLeod County.
- Winthrop Telephone Company, Inc. – Bismarck & Transit Township FTTP Project – GRANT $716,000 This last mile project will serve 148 unserved and six underserved locations, including homes, businesses and farms, in Bismarck, Transit and Round Grove townships in Sibley and McLeod counties.
Find more articles on broadband in McLeod County (http://tinyurl.com/hx65gqh)
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.
