Our Methodology
Our team of technology experts analyzed four metrics, including best speed per state, best broadband access for rural citizens per state, best measure of support in each state, and an overall ranking which combines all factors.
For internet access per state, our team analyzed the percentage of school districts meeting a minimum of 100 Kbps per student.9 We also examined the percentage of those with an internet subscription, and the total percentage of users with any access to the internet at all, be it in the form of a community library, town hall, or school.4
We made sure to analyze speed by the average Mbps per state, and we evaluated states on whether they had a stimulus project, broadband task force, or whether the state had barriers preventing them from expanding the connectivity of those living in the area (i.e. laws, infrastructure support, prohibitions, etc.).10,11,8 As for rural area access, we investigated the number of households that had broadband internet in both urban and rural areas.4