The 10 Fastest and Slowest States for Internet Speeds in 2022

Our internet speed test shows the national average internet speed in 2022 is 119.03 Mbps. 

If you live in a land of weak Wi-Fi, you may want to move somewhere with more internet options to choose from. You can always look for a faster internet provider in your area, but sometimes you just can’t get the internet speed you need.

We ranked each state (and Washington, DC) by the fastest average internet speeds. How does your state measure up?

The average US internet speed in 2022

The national average speed for 2022 marks a big improvement for internet speeds nationwide. In 2021, the average internet speed was 99.3 Mbps—that means speeds have gone up 20%. 

As noted in our recent fastest internet provider report, internet speeds have been going up nationwide for the last four years. This ongoing trend reflects the increased demand for fast speeds as Americans have spent more time online for work, education, healthcare, and more. 

Many parts of the United States have also seen expanded access to technology like fiber internet and 5G, which further contributes to boosted speeds. 

Which US state has the fastest internet?

The East Coast is home to the fastest internet speeds in the United States. Average speeds in states like Delaware and New Jersey are more than double the speeds found in the rural states at the bottom of our list.

Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland all have average download speeds over 144 Mbps. And Virginia comes in close behind with average speeds of 139.6 Mbps.

Which US state has the slowest internet?

The states with the slowest speeds are mostly rural with relatively low population density—a reminder that America’s digital divide is most starkly felt in the most remote parts of the country.

Still, it’s a hopeful sign that even the slowest average speeds are more than twice as fast as the standards set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC defines broadband internet as a connection with minimum download speeds of 25 Mbps and minimum upload speeds of 3 Mbps—but FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has called for that minimum to be raised.¹

West Virginia comes in as the slowest US state with average speeds of just 60.7 Mbps. Montana and Wyoming also have average speeds below 70 Mbps, while Maine’s average speed is 71.8 Mbps.

Every state’s average internet speed, from fastest to slowest

Methodology

Our data comes from speed tests taken across 2,733 US cities from February 1, 2021, to March 9, 2022. We required a minimum of 100 speed tests for cities to be included in our data set.

We filtered out incomplete, duplicate, and cellular phone data to see what most people were working with on their laptops, desktops, and home-connected devices. After filtering, we used a total of 1,421,960 internet speed test results to rank states from fastest to slowest for average internet speeds.

We use the arithmetic mean download speed for our state averages, so some of the speeds may seem faster or slower due to outliers in the data.

Sources

1. Molly Wood and Kimberly Adams, Marketplace, “There’s a New Boss at the FCC. Let’s Talk About the Internet, Shall We?” July 5, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2022.