Rank:22
Code: Green
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

county	25/3	253 rank	100/20	10020 rank	Gig	gig rank	Providers
Washington	98.13	21	96.97	22	27.61	75	15

Washington County: nearly there with a grant in process

Washington County’s broadband coverage tracking has bounced around in the last three years but it seems to be back on track. (I’m sure the bouncing is more about the mapping that the coverage.) They are close to goal so they retain their Green status. Also, they should get some increased coverage from BEAD awards.

At the time of writing, the MN BEAD final proposal has not been approved, but the current proposal would mean coverage for 2,390 locations in Washington County. However, Some locations will get others; others 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. (Washington 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.

Broadband Access:

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
100/20 (2026 goal)	96.97	94.56	97.09	93.59	96.02	95.8	95.8	96.1	94.97
25/3 (2022 goal)	98.13	96.65	98.17	95.7	97.88	98.45	98.44	97.21	96.52

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 Washington: 2,390
The locations include a mix of fiber as well as cable, satellite and fixed wireless connections.

County	Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services LLC	IBT Group USA, LLC	Midco	Midco	Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	Xfinity	Locations         Grand Total	County
Technology Type	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fixed Wireless	Cable Coax	Fiber	Low Earth Orbit Satellite	Fiber
Washington	350	249	16	233	14	1,528	2,390	Washington

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 Washington $375,085 was invested in three projects over the years.

New Posts from 2025:

• Washington County providers received $680,789 in the first three rounds of Line Extension awards

• Gateway Fiber will deploy fiber to Cottage Grove (Washington County)

Highlights from Past Reports

• 2023 estimates indicated that it would cost $22.4 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, Washington ranked 4 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.

Past Grants

• County: Washington, Chisago – Midco Midco Scandia
  Grant: $689,700, Local Match: $689,700, Total Budget: $1,379,400
• 2023: Midco – Midco May Township – GRANT $1,580,300

• 2022: Midcontinent Communications, $975,131

• 2019: Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Scandia Project – GRANT $510,358

• MN State Grant awarded in 2021: Midco (Midcontinent Communications) – Scandia – GRANT $78,824 This last mile project will serve 78 underserved households and one underserved business in remote neighborhoods of Scandia in Washington County.

Find more articles on broadband in Washington County (http://tinyurl.com/z4dwzyy)

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)