Rank: 41
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Clay	95.87	34	93.61	34	19.91	85	14

Clay County: Continued improvement gets closer to the goal

Clay County has seen continued improvement in broadband access, most recent cause was probably their $5 million ReConnect award.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 30 locations in Clay County. Some of the locations will get fiber and some locations will get a satellite, which does not qualify as served in the MN statute.

There is still Line Extension funding yet to be distributed, which helps connect handfuls of  houses just beyond existing infrastructure. (Clay has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems hopeful for them as well.) There have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.

Clay County retains green status due to continued progress.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	93.61	87.89	90.71	92.06	89.08	87.57	82.32	82.52	74.13
25/3 (2022 goal)	95.87	93.23	96.75	95.56	95.66	90.31	95.82	95.45	83.15

Possible BEAD support

The Minnesota BEAD Final Proposal has not yet been approved so the information below is subject to change; it includes the number of locations by county specifying provider and broadband type. (Learn more.)

Locations in Clay: 30
The locations include a majority of satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	Tekstar Communications, Inc. (Arvig)	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber
Clay	13	17	30	Clay

Local Government Match for State Broadband Grants:

Over the years, many local governments (County, Municipal, Tribal) have invested in broadband deployment. This year, I have tracked how much local investment has been used to match MN State Grants. Local governments invest in other ways too, but this was one number I could realistically find and quantify investment by county, which means investment in that county, whether by county, cities or other local government entity.

Clay has not invested over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Clay County providers received $200,522.72 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards
• Gateway Fiber expands fiber into Moorhead (Clay County)
• More info on Red River Communications’ ReConnect broadband project in Clay County

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $2.6 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Clay ranked 27 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

• Clay County will benefit from a ReConnect award: Red River Rural Telephone Association – The investment will be used to deploy high-speed fiber optics to 17 businesses, 55 farms, and one school in Clay County, and 482 people will benefit. They received $5,166,742 as a grant.

Past Grants

• Red River Communications – Red River – Rural Hawley
  Grant: $970,411, Local Match: $970,411, Total Budget: $1,940,822

• 2022: 702 Communications – Western Clay County Kragnes Township– GRANT $2,624,830
• 2019: Arvig (Loretel Systems, Inc.) – Cormorant Lakes Area Project – GRANT $430,780

Find more articles on broadband in Clay County. (http://tinyurl.com/hcgg9rm)

The maps below come from the 

• Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2025 – tracking wireline access.
• The FCC National Broadband Maps, reflecting data updated November 28, 2025 – tracking fixed wireless access.

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)