Internet Health Assessment

In order to provide an objective analysis on the internet infrastructure in the United States, ISP Reports releases an updated Internet Health Assessment for every city, county, zip code, and state in the country every year.

Unlike other analyses, which primarily look at the level of connectivity available, our Internet Health Assessment combines the ISP infrastructure with the digital connectivity metrics of residents to give a well balance view of overall health. Our data is compiled using United States Census Bureau census and ACS (American Community Survey) data as well as FCC data regarding internet service providers.

Featured Cities

Chicago, IL

• ISP Report Card: B+
• Digital Connectivity Index: 73/100

Buffalo, NY

• ISP Report Card: C+
• Digital Connectivity Index: 58/100

Newport, RI

• ISP Report Card: D+
• Digital Connectivity Index: 69/100

ISP Report Card

How healthy is the internet infrastructure in a location? That’s what our ISP Report Card looks to answer. The final report is a combination of fiber availability, download speeds most households can get, and the number of providers available. This gives us a sense of the strength of options in any place in the United States. Click here to read more details about what goes into this report.

Measuring how much internet a location “needs” is a difficult task and can be hard to define. It’s tempting to just say that higher availability and more internet speeds are always a positive thing and leave it at that. We don’t believe it’s as simple as that and with a country as large as the United States, it’s not a simple task to bring 10,000 Mbps fiber to the door of every household.

Our solution for this question is a calculation that incorporates a variety of factors, which you can read about in depth here. We take a look at 6 factors that cover demographics, reported internet usage, and uptake of existing internet availability.