How does your MN county rank for broadband access to 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up? (2024)

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It’s MN broadband county ranking time of year! The Office of Broadband Development updated the interactive broadband map on Dec 16, 2024. I have tracked county speeds at speeds of

For these rankings, I have looked at “wireline” access (not wireless) because that is the definition in Minnesota.

Here are the top 10 ranked counties for access to 100 Mbps down and 20 up

county percent covered rank
Red Lake 100 1
Lac qui Parle 99.94 2
Pope 99.75 3
Stevens 99.72 4
Ramsey 99.69 5
Pennington 99.51 6
Wadena 99.49 7
Hennepin 99.4 8
Swift 99.34 9
Rock 99.34 10

There are some changes in the top 10; I suspect because the last year has been spent challenging past maps in order to create a map that will determine which households that are eligible for federal (BEAD) funding. That lead to changes/corrections. (That being said, BEAD eligibility is defined based on wireless access.)

New to the top 10 maps:

  • Pope
  • Stevens

Removed from the top 10:

  • Lincoln
  • Big Stone

Here are the bottom 10 ranked counties for access to 100 Mbps down and 20 up

county percent 
covered		 rank
Kanabec 36.59 87
Murray 57.12 86
Todd 58.35 85
Yellow Medicine 58.77 84
Jackson 60.86 83
Pine 61.63 82
Norman 63.1 81
Sibley 63.23 80
Isanti 65.6 79
Carlton 66.77 78

If you are a community leader or resident, you will want to be thinking about how to improve your ranking.

New to the bottom 10 maps:

  • Sibley

Removed from the bottom 10:

  • Cass

Here are the most improved counties by ranking

county percent covered 2024 ranking 100/20 2023 100/20 ranking rank improve-ment
Pope 99.75 3 43 40
Faribault 91.83 32 72 40
Wilkin 93.68 28 49 21
Traverse 89.81 36 52 16
Otter Tail 88.12 41 56 16
Stevens 99.72 4 18 14
Kandiyohi 80.43 62 74 12
Carver 98.38 13 24 11
Mille Lacs 75.76 66 75 9

I hope to get the County Profiles done before the end of the year, where there will be more info and greater detail for each county based on the new maps and more.

Here’s the full list

County 100/20
(% covered)		 100/20 rank
Red Lake 100 1
Lac qui Parle 99.94 2
Pope 99.75 3
Stevens 99.72 4
Ramsey 99.69 5
Pennington 99.51 6
Wadena 99.49 7
Hennepin 99.4 8
Swift 99.34 9
Rock 99.34 10
Big Stone 98.97 11
Beltrami 98.73 12
Carver 98.38 13
Clearwater 98.33 14
Lincoln 98.08 15
Benton 97.95 16
Polk 97.6 17
Dakota 97.54 18
Anoka 97.34 19
Olmsted 97.23 20
Hubbard 96.87 21
Roseau 96.67 22
Kittson 95.92 23
Sherburne 95 24
Scott 94.61 25
Washington 94.56 26
Wilkin 93.68 27
Chippewa 93.63 28
Marshall 93.55 29
Crow Wing 93.32 30
Faribault 91.83 31
Itasca 91.62 32
Cook 91.61 33
Lake of the Woods 90.22 34
Traverse 89.81 35
Freeborn 89.55 36
Stearns 89.28 37
Winona 89.19 38
Dodge 88.96 39
Otter Tail 88.12 40
Clay 87.89 41
Steele 87.01 42
Lyon 86.83 43
Mower 86.44 44
Pipestone 86.43 45
Houston 86 46
Rice 85.44 47
Nobles 85.17 48
Morrison 84.91 49
Wright 84.5 50
Meeker 84.27 51
Brown 84.12 52
Douglas 83.48 53
Le Sueur 82.79 54
Becker 82.62 55
Lake 82.54 56
Redwood 82.38 57
McLeod 81.59 58
Nicollet 80.72 59
Chisago 80.71 60
Kandiyohi 80.43 61
Goodhue 80.13 62
Blue Earth 79.55 63
Mahnomen 78.69 64
St. Louis 75.79 65
Mille Lacs 75.76 66
Grant 75.14 67
Koochiching 74.92 68
Waseca 74.91 69
Martin 74.65 70
Wabasha 73.63 71
Fillmore 73.52 72
Aitkin 73.35 73
Renville 71.99 74
Watonwan 71.69 75
Cass 69.15 76
Cottonwood 68.46 77
Carlton 66.77 78
Isanti 65.6 79
Sibley 63.23 80
Norman 63.1 81
Pine 61.63 82
Jackson 60.86 83
Yellow Medicine 58.77 84
Todd 58.35 85
Murray 57.12 86
Kanabec 36.59 87
This entry was posted in County Profiles 2024, MN by Ann Treacy. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ann Treacy

Librarian who follows rural broadband in MN and good uses of new technology (blandinonbroadband.org), hosts a radio show on MN music (mostlyminnesota.com), supports people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota (elimstrongtowershelters.org) and helps with social justice issues through Women’s March MN.

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