Rural Internet

Rural internet in West Virginia

13.0% of locations in West Virginia have no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps. The state median rural county sits at 15.2% unserved and 43.6% fiber coverage. Pick your county below for the specific picture.

35 of West Virginia's 55 counties are classed as rural by the USDA. Across the whole state the FCC records 116,924 locations with no fixed broadband, out of 896,138.

West Virginia at a glance

Barbour County, WV: 49%, 4,264 of 8,706 locationsBerkeley: not publishedBoone: not publishedBraxton County, WV: 55%, 4,224 of 7,691 locationsBrooke: not publishedCabell: not publishedCalhoun County, WV: 51%, 1,963 of 3,862 locationsClay: not publishedDoddridge County, WV: 11%, 472 of 4,227 locationsFayette: not publishedGilmer County, WV: 4.4%, 162 of 3,687 locationsGrant County, WV: 25%, 1,831 of 7,272 locationsGreenbrier County, WV: 21%, 4,113 of 19,705 locationsHampshire: not publishedHancock: not publishedHardy County, WV: 12%, 1,089 of 9,051 locationsHarrison County, WV: 9.8%, 3,230 of 32,813 locationsJackson County, WV: 21%, 2,982 of 14,415 locationsJefferson: not publishedKanawha: not publishedLewis County, WV: 27%, 2,475 of 9,214 locationsLincoln County, WV: 23%, 2,309 of 10,101 locationsLogan County, WV: 6.0%, 935 of 15,709 locationsMcDowell County, WV: 11%, 1,283 of 11,445 locationsMarion County, WV: 10%, 2,736 of 26,891 locationsMarshall: not publishedMason County, WV: 19%, 2,612 of 14,039 locationsMercer County, WV: 12%, 3,509 of 30,379 locationsMineral County, WV: 10%, 1,419 of 13,684 locationsMingo County, WV: 15%, 1,800 of 11,833 locationsMonongalia: not publishedMonroe County, WV: 63%, 5,284 of 8,441 locationsMorgan: not publishedNicholas County, WV: 31%, 4,475 of 14,355 locationsOhio: not publishedPendleton County, WV: 32%, 1,873 of 5,897 locationsPleasants County, WV: 33%, 1,251 of 3,759 locationsPocahontas County, WV: 34%, 2,503 of 7,456 locationsPreston: not publishedPutnam: not publishedRaleigh: not publishedRandolph County, WV: 15%, 2,206 of 15,071 locationsRitchie County, WV: 14%, 879 of 6,316 locationsRoane County, WV: 54%, 4,442 of 8,239 locationsSummers County, WV: 46%, 3,694 of 7,959 locationsTaylor County, WV: 7.0%, 586 of 8,317 locationsTucker County, WV: 27%, 1,554 of 5,704 locationsTyler County, WV: 39%, 2,019 of 5,226 locationsUpshur County, WV: 27%, 3,319 of 12,337 locationsWayne: not publishedWebster County, WV: 29%, 1,469 of 5,153 locationsWetzel County, WV: 17%, 1,468 of 8,873 locationsWirt: not publishedWood: not publishedWyoming County, WV: 12%, 1,282 of 11,118 locations

Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps

  • 0.0% to 10%
  • 10% to 12%
  • 12% to 19%
  • 19% to 27%
  • 27% to 32%
  • 32% to 49%
  • 49% and above
  • not published

Darker means a larger share of addresses with no fixed broadband. Select any county to open it.

The ten hardest-served rural counties in West Virginia

Ranked by the share of locations with no fixed service at 25/3 Mbps or better.
CountyLocationsUnservedShare unservedFiber share
<a href="/west-virginia/monroe-county-internet/">Monroe County</a>8,4415,28462.6%0.0%
<a href="/west-virginia/braxton-county-internet/">Braxton County</a>7,6914,22454.9%0.2%
<a href="/west-virginia/roane-county-internet/">Roane County</a>8,2394,44253.9%4.6%
<a href="/west-virginia/calhoun-county-internet/">Calhoun County</a>3,8621,96350.8%25.5%
<a href="/west-virginia/barbour-county-internet/">Barbour County</a>8,7064,26449.0%24.4%
<a href="/west-virginia/summers-county-internet/">Summers County</a>7,9593,69446.4%19.8%
<a href="/west-virginia/tyler-county-internet/">Tyler County</a>5,2262,01938.6%35.9%
<a href="/west-virginia/pocahontas-county-internet/">Pocahontas County</a>7,4562,50333.6%52.3%
<a href="/west-virginia/pleasants-county-internet/">Pleasants County</a>3,7591,25133.3%11.6%
<a href="/west-virginia/pendleton-county-internet/">Pendleton County</a>5,8971,87331.8%58.2%

Every rural county in West Virginia

What people actually measure in West Virginia

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.
NetworkMedian downloadMiddle half of testsMedian uploadLatencyTests
Comcast Cable Communications132 Mbps52.1 Mbps to 315 Mbps17.5 Mbps20 ms25,965
Optimum113 Mbps50.9 Mbps to 278 Mbps17.6 Mbps26 ms24,131
Frontier Communications of America18.2 Mbps5.8 Mbps to 149 Mbps1.7 Mbps34 ms22,815
Shenandoah Cable Television93.1 Mbps35.7 Mbps to 157 Mbps10.4 Mbps23 ms4,138
Charter Communications123 Mbps50.4 Mbps to 262 Mbps10.9 Mbps33 ms2,648
Community Antenna Service128 Mbps49.1 Mbps to 298 Mbps34.0 Mbps30 ms1,946
CityNet82.4 Mbps36.1 Mbps to 147 Mbps42.1 Mbps25 ms1,894
West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing83.0 Mbps30.0 Mbps to 195 Mbps82.2 Mbps30 ms1,653
Hughes Network Systems22.9 Mbps7.3 Mbps to 41.4 Mbps2.5 Mbps65 ms1,630
Armstrong104 Mbps55.8 Mbps to 223 Mbps19.2 Mbps32 ms1,413
Breezeline125 Mbps62.3 Mbps to 280 Mbps38.5 Mbps18 ms1,109
LUMOS Networks88.5 Mbps24.4 Mbps to 109 Mbps75.9 Mbps19 ms926
Space Exploration Technologies64.4 Mbps25.9 Mbps to 120 Mbps6.8 Mbps26 ms890
Labyrinth Solutions92.5 Mbps66.3 Mbps to 116 Mbps82.0 Mbps17 ms875

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.

Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up for a service or buy equipment through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which options we list or the order we rank them in, and we do not accept payment for a better placement.

Options that work statewide

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

See Starlink

5G home internet

T-Mobile Home Internet

Home internet over T-Mobile’s cellular network. A gateway box you plug in yourself; no truck roll, no dish.

Best for
Rural addresses that still get a usable T-Mobile signal, often near a highway or a town
Watch out
Availability is decided address by address, not by town. Speed varies with how busy the local tower is.

See T-Mobile Home Internet

5G home internet

Verizon Home Internet

The same idea on Verizon’s network, offered as 5G Home or LTE Home depending on what reaches your address.

Best for
Addresses with Verizon coverage where T-Mobile is weak
Watch out
LTE Home and 5G Home behave very differently. Confirm which one your address actually qualifies for.

See Verizon Home Internet

Fixed wireless

A local fixed-wireless provider

A regional operator beaming service from a tower or ridge to an antenna on your roof. In much of rural America this is the fastest thing available.

Best for
Counties where the FCC data shows large licensed fixed-wireless coverage, which this page tells you
Watch out
Needs line of sight. Quality varies enormously between operators; ask neighbours, not the sales page.

Sources

Page last updated 2026-09-01. The date moves when the underlying data moves, not when the site is rebuilt.