Data analysis says Delaware’s average internet speeds are second only to Maryland

It may not always seem like it, especially if you work at home in a high internet traffic area, but Delaware has some of the fastest internet speeds in the nation, at least according to a data analysis of 2 million speed test results by HighSpeedInternet.com.

The average speed in Delaware, according to the analysis, is 80.9 Mbps, 3 Mbps slower than the fastest state, Maryland, which averages 84.1 Mbps. All of the top five fastest states are in the Mid-Atlantic, with New Jersey, Virginia and D.C. listed at third, fourth and fifth fastest. They’re followed by two New England states — Rhode Island and Massachusetts — at sixth and seventh, then the top 10 goes west, with Colorado, Washington and California rounding out the list.

The slowest state, according to the analysis, is Alaska (unsurprising, as the state kept its last two Blockbuster Videos open until 2018 with its low access to the high speeds needed to stream Netflix), averaging at only 20.6 Mbps.

When it comes to the fastest cities, Delaware didn’t make the cut. The fastest city on the list is Whitestone, in Queens, New York, with an average of 138.4 Mbps.

States and cities with slower internet speeds are predominantly places with small, spread-out populations and rural towns.

Delaware may not have a super high speed city according to the analysis, but it does have more broadband in its rural areas than vast states like Montana and Wyoming, in part due to an ongoing public-private partnership between Delaware Department of Technology and Information and Maryland-based high-speed internet company Bloosurf, which in 2019 launched a $2 million a plan to install wireless broadband in Kent and Sussex counties.