Here’s How Much Internet Costs (Then and Now) in the Most Populous States in America

Most households in the U.S. today would consider internet service to be a necessity—and like many household expenses, it's gotten more expensive lately, at least in some areas. At U.S. News & World Report, we’ve been surveying Americans about their Internet Service Provider (ISP) experiences throughout the year. This time, we aimed to get feedback specifically related to costs for consumers living in the most populous states. Here's what we found, starting with some overall takeaways based on responses from across all five states:

• The average internet bill at sign-up among the most populous states was $81. That’s a bit higher than what we found in our April 2024 survey report, which showed the average initial internet bill nationwide was $77.
• The average internet bill today among the most populous states is $98, which again is a slight increase over the average current internet bill nationwide of $89 identified in our April 2024 survey report.
• When asked what download speed people are currently paying their ISP for, about one-third (32%) of respondents from the most populous states didn't know. That’s a bit better than our most recent ISP cost and speed survey report, where we found that 38% of Americans nationwide didn’t know what internet speed they pay for.