Rank: 6
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Hennepin	99.69	7	99.64	6	59.83	43	20

 Hennepin County: population density helps attract broadband

Hennepin County benefits from being an urban/suburban county. It is easier to make a business case for serving broadband in most of Hennepin County.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 1,329 locations in Hennepin County. Some locations will get fiber, but the majority of locations will get a satellite or fixed wireless connection, 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. (Hennepin has benefitted from earlier Line Extension awards. So that seems hopeful for them as well.)

Statewide, there have been changes with local and national broadband providers, which also leads to uncertainty.

Hennepin is so close to goal, they retain their Green Status.

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	99.64	99.4	99.11	98.69	98.98	98.97	98.94	98.97	98.57
25/3 (2022 goal)	99.69	99.5	99.19	99.14	99.21	99.4	99.39	99.18	99.16

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 Hennepin: 1,329
The locations include some fiber with a majority of satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	IBT Group USA, LLC	Midco	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fixed Wireless	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Hennepin	451	655	165	58	1,329	Hennepin

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.

In Hennepin, $296,846 was invested in two projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Hennepin County providers received $198,769 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

Highlights from Past Reports

• L2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $27.7 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, Hennepin ranked 7 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past 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)

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)