Key findings
- 4,612 ZIP codes (14.7% of the ZIP codes in this sample) have one or zero wired broadband providers: 4,070 have exactly one and 542 have none.
- 5G home internet is filed in 3,982 of those 4,612 ZIPs (86.3%). In most single-provider ZIP codes the only other service reported is fixed wireless rather than fiber or cable.
- Fiber is filed in 27,013 ZIP codes (86.0%), but unevenly: from 100% of Connecticut's ZIP codes down to 36.7% of Alaska's.
- California has more single-provider ZIP codes (303) than any other state and ranks seventh-worst nationally for fiber ZIP coverage at 73.6%.
Where wired competition does not exist
Counting distinct parent companies offering wired service (fiber, cable or DSL) in each ZIP — so a brand and its fiber sub-brand count once — produces this distribution.
| Wired providers in ZIP | ZIP codes | Share of ZIP codes |
|---|---|---|
| None | 542 | 1.7% |
| Exactly one | 4,070 | 13.0% |
| Two | 8,612 | 27.4% |
| Three | 8,227 | 26.2% |
| Four or more | 9,958 | 31.7% |
The states with the most single-provider or no-provider ZIP codes are California (303), Texas (268), Pennsylvania (266), New York (223) and Montana (194). As a share of each state, Alaska is the least competitive: 179 of its 237 ZIP codes (75.5%) have one wired provider or none.
5G home internet is filling the gap
Of the 4,612 ZIP codes with one wired provider or none, 3,982 (86.3%) have at least one 5G home internet service on file with the FCC.
So in the ZIP codes where wired choice is thinnest, the second name on the list is usually fixed wireless over a mobile network rather than a second cable company or a fiber overbuild. Whether that is a recent shift is not something this analysis can answer: it is a single filing vintage, with no earlier snapshot to compare against.
The fiber gap by state
Fiber is filed in 86.0% of U.S. ZIP codes nationally, but state coverage spans more than 63 percentage points.
| Least fiber coverage | % of ZIPs | Most fiber coverage | % of ZIPs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 36.7% | Connecticut | 100.0% |
| West Virginia | 66.8% | North Dakota | 99.2% |
| Wyoming | 69.6% | Tennessee | 98.7% |
| Arizona | 70.1% | South Dakota | 98.6% |
| New Mexico | 70.3% | South Carolina | 97.7% |
| Idaho | 72.7% | Rhode Island | 97.1% |
| California | 73.6% | Georgia | 96.9% |
California's position is the most counterintuitive result: the state that hosts the American technology industry ranks seventh-worst for the share of ZIP codes with any fiber provider on file, and leads the nation in single-provider ZIP codes.
Methodology
Source data is the FCC Broadband Data Collection (December 2024 filing vintage), the federal record of where providers report offering service, published at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. Provider filings were joined to the Census 2020 ZCTA-to-block crosswalk to produce ZIP-level coverage.
The analysis covers 342,028 residential service records across 31,409 ZIP codes and 51 states and territories. “Wired” means fiber, cable or DSL. Competition is counted by distinct parent company, so a cable operator and its fiber sub-brand count once — a deliberately conservative measure that understates rather than overstates monopoly conditions. Satellite is excluded because it is available nationwide and does not vary by market. All figures describe reported availability at ZIP level; service at an individual address can differ. Two providers filed for the same ZIP does not mean their footprints overlap at any given home — they may cover different halves of it. Shares are shares of ZIP codes in this sample, not of population, households or land area, and a single filing vintage cannot show change over time. This is our own analysis and has not been independently reproduced; the underlying tables are available on request so that it can be.
Citation and data access
This analysis may be quoted with attribution to Authorized Internet Retailer (authorizedinternetretailer.net). Suggested citation: “Authorized Internet Retailer analysis of FCC Broadband Data Collection (December 2024), 2026.”
Journalists, researchers and state broadband offices can request state-level or ZIP-level tables by emailing admin@authorizedinternetretailer.net. Per-state, per-city and per-ZIP coverage detail is published at authorizedinternetretailer.net/internet-providers/.
Frequently asked questions
How many U.S. ZIP codes have only one internet provider?
4,612 U.S. ZIP codes — 14.7% of the 31,409 ZIP codes in our sample — have one wired broadband provider or none, according to our analysis of the FCC Broadband Data Collection (December 2024). Of those, 4,070 have exactly one wired provider and 542 have none.
Is 5G home internet the alternative where wired choice is thin?
In the December 2024 filings, usually yes. Of the 4,612 ZIP codes with one wired provider or none, 3,982 (86.3%) have 5G home internet on file. Whether that share is rising is not something a single filing vintage can show.
Which state has the least fiber internet?
Alaska, where fiber is filed in just 36.7% of ZIP codes, followed by West Virginia (66.8%), Wyoming (69.6%), Arizona (70.1%) and New Mexico (70.3%). Connecticut leads the country at 100% of ZIP codes with fiber on file.
Coverage data: FCC Broadband Data Collection (December 2024) — broadbandmap.fcc.gov. Pricing is indicative, varies by address and changes often; confirm current offers with the provider or call (877) 365-2069.