Jefferson County is genuinely hard to serve. 36.8% of locations here have no fixed broadband at all, so for a lot of addresses the real choice is satellite or a cellular home-internet gateway, not a wired provider.
Everything below comes from the FCC's Broadband Data Collection, the filings providers are legally required to make about where they offer service. It describes the county; your own address can differ, and that is exactly why the technology mix matters.
Where Jefferson County sits in Washington
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 10%
10% to 17%
17% to 19%
19% to 31%
31% to 38%
38% to 48%
48% and above
not published
This county is outlined. Darker means a larger share of addresses with no fixed broadband. Select any county to open it.
What reaches homes in Jefferson County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 18,814 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber1,822 · 9.7%
Cable0 · 0.0%
Licensed fixed wireless2,903 · 15%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper0 · 0.0%
Served, underserved, unserved
The FCC's three categories. "Served" means at least 100/20 Mbps is available; "underserved" means at least 25/3 but below 100/20; "unserved" means below 25/3 or nothing at all.
Category
Locations
Share of county
Served
4,589
24.4%
Underserved
7,297
38.8%
Unserved
6,928
36.8%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Jefferson County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 5,000 to 20,000, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 6).
About 33,605 people live across those locations, roughly 1.8 people per serviceable address.
6,928 locations, 36.8% of the county, have no fixed service reaching 25/3 Mbps. That is more than a third of every address here.
Another 7,297 can get something, but not the 100/20 Mbps the FCC now treats as the benchmark.
The most widely available technology here is licensed fixed wireless, reaching 2,903 locations (15.4%); next is fiber at 9.7%.
Fiber reaches 1,822 locations, 9.7% of the county.
Filings come from 12 providers, of which 5 offer fiber and 3 licensed fixed wireless.
Fiber reached 229 more locations in Jefferson County over the last twelve months, a 1.2% swing in the county's total.
Served locations fell 66.97% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Jefferson County is harder-served than the typical Washington county, where the median unserved share is 14.4%.
Fiber lags the rest of Washington, where the median county is at 30.6%.
What people actually measure in Washington
Median of real speed tests run on each network during 2024, from M-Lab. This is measured performance, not an advertised plan speed, and not a customer review. The middle-half column shows how consistent a network is: a wide spread means your experience depends heavily on where and when.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
Comcast Cable Communications
136 Mbps
49.7 Mbps to 315 Mbps
16.1 Mbps
8 ms
405,920
Space Exploration Technologies
47.4 Mbps
16.3 Mbps to 92.7 Mbps
6.3 Mbps
25 ms
73,158
CenturyLink Communications
59.3 Mbps
11.3 Mbps to 211 Mbps
25.9 Mbps
6 ms
62,842
Verizon Business
32.6 Mbps
8.2 Mbps to 90.5 Mbps
4.5 Mbps
38 ms
52,867
Wholesail networks
101 Mbps
31.0 Mbps to 250 Mbps
91.2 Mbps
5 ms
50,831
Charter Communications
121 Mbps
46.8 Mbps to 243 Mbps
10.7 Mbps
21 ms
31,676
Wave Broadband
106 Mbps
47.0 Mbps to 233 Mbps
11.8 Mbps
8 ms
28,937
AT&T Enterprises
53.0 Mbps
21.6 Mbps to 113 Mbps
4.2 Mbps
4 ms
17,383
SECFIREWALLAS F.N.S. HOLDINGS
67.2 Mbps
25.7 Mbps to 142 Mbps
11.9 Mbps
0 ms
11,473
Ziply Fiber
83.5 Mbps
35.6 Mbps to 94.5 Mbps
76.0 Mbps
7 ms
5,692
Cellular networks, measured
The same measurement for the mobile networks behind 5G home internet. These tests come from phones as well as home gateways, so treat them as an indication of network health in the state rather than a home-internet plan speed.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
T-Mobile USA
41.8 Mbps
8.3 Mbps to 113 Mbps
4.7 Mbps
63 ms
78,484
Latency is the number that decides whether video calls and gaming feel right, and it is where satellite differs most from everything else. Measured data is statewide: below county level there are usually too few tests to report an honest number.
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Your realistic options in Jefferson County
Satellite
Starlink
Low-earth-orbit satellite. Latency is low enough for video calls and most gaming, unlike older satellite services.
Best for
Anywhere with a clear view of the sky and no wired option
Watch out
Hardware costs money up front, and heavy tree cover or a north-facing obstruction will cost you throughput