NJ is Sixth Best State for Internet Access

On Jun 1, 2022

New Jersey is the sixth best state with internet access, according to an analysis by insurance broker PolicyAdvisor.com that studied and scored states based on broadband costs, broadband coverage, and average download speeds. New Jersey boasts good coverage and speeds with an average broadband speed of 427.8 megabyte per second, and 95.5% broadband coverage for residents in the state, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island is the state with the best internet access. It offers the cheapest costs for internet, with a cost per megabit of $0.63. This, combined with low-cost broadband coverage available to 98.7% of the state and an average download speed of 433.3 megabytes per second, means Rhode Island comes top out of all 50 states.

Massachusetts comes in a close second, offering a cost per megabit of $1.13 and a low-cost broadband coverage of 97.7%. Higher quality broadband also covers 97.5% of the state, and average download speeds sit at 401.2 megabytes per second. Over 60% of Massachusetts residents also have the choice of over 100 internet providers, one of the highest amounts in the US.

Coming in third place is Maryland, with the state’s average download speeds of 506.7 megabytes per second rating as the highest in the top ten. It scores well in costs, with a megabit of internet costing $1.99 on average. 96.3% of the state is covered by broadband, and 90.6% of the state is covered by low-cost options as well. Despite broadband being available to most of the state’s residents, 25.9% of them don’t have an Internet connection at home.

#	State	Cost per megabit of Internet	Broadband coverage	Low-cost broadband coverage	Average download speed (mbps)	Internet access score /100
1	Rhode Island	$0.63	97.00%	98.70%	433.3	96.25
2	Massachusetts	$1.13	97.50%	97.70%	401.2	83.48
3	Maryland	$1.99	96.30%	90.60%	506.7	80.56
4	Delaware	$2.54	95.50%	96.80%	469.7	78.38
5	New York	$1.72	93.80%	90.90%	397.7	75.85
6	New Jersey	$3.01	95.50%	90.40%	427.8	73.72
7	Georgia	$1.65	82.70%	86.30%	414.9	73.08
8	Virginia	$6.74	89.30%	86.40%	505.6	72.06
9	Texas	$2.29	84.90%	87.00%	425.9	71.70
10	Pennsylvania	$4.48	91.60%	90.30%	430.8	71.13

On the other end of the spectrum, the states with the worst internet access were Montana and West Virginia.

Montana scored bottom due to high costs, with a megabit of internet costing $7.28 on average. The state also has low coverage for low-cost broadband with 61.8% and low speeds, with an average download speed of 110.5 megabytes per second. West Virginia also lacks coverage for broadband, with only 51.8% of the state’s residents being covered and only 67.4% of residents being covered by low-cost alternatives.

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson from PolicyAdvisor said: “It’s thought-provoking how much the US is divided regarding access to the internet. Some states are covered remarkably well with high-speed broadband, especially in the New England area, and other states lack coverage for even some of the most basic infrastructure. With net neutrality making a comeback in 2022, it’ll be interesting to see how internet connectivity across the country develops.”

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