Internet Access in Pennsylvania

The state of Pennsylvania ranks 11th in terms of broadband access. The best coverage in the state is concentrated in the southeast and west-central ends. Currently, 43.4% of the population have access to fiber-optic service, which is nearly double the nationwide scale. Pennsylvania’s average download speed is 144.7 Mbps.

While some state residents have access to low-priced, high-speed internet, other Pennsylvanians remain without access to the same affordable technology. A large number of state residents, 95.1%, have high-speed internet access, with wired broadband with speeds of 25 Mbps or faster. While Pennsylvania has 213 internet providers 162,000 people in Pennsylvania don't have any wired internet providers available to them where they live. More than half of Pennsylvania’s residents have access to a low-priced internet plan costing $60 or less per month. This is nearly consistent with the nationwide average.

The five best-connected cities in Pennsylvania are Allentown, Bethlehem, Pittsburgh, Drexel Hill, and Philadelphia.

In opposition, West Middletown, Oakland Mills, Camel, Amberson, and Roxburyare the lowest ranking cities from a connectivity perspective, in the state.

Since 2010, the Department of Community and Economic Development has been awarded over $7 million in grants to further broadband development and mapping within Pennsylvania. An additional $128,444,692 in federal grants has funded broadband infrastructure projects throughout the state.