Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NHCensus Five-Year Estimates Put 38,414 New Hampshire Households Without an Internet Subscription. The State’s Federal Broadband Build Reaches 5,135 Locations.
In the 2020–2024 estimates the share of households without a subscription was 13.4 percent in Coos County and 4.9 percent in Rockingham. The state’s $196.5 million federal broadband grant, as rebuilt under 2025 federal rules, put $18.6 million into deployment awards. The two numbers measure different problems.
Audio edition (11:22): a synthetic voice reads the article. The charts, tables and fact check are on this page.
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey puts New Hampshire at 555,822 households in its estimates for 2020 through 2024. Of those, 38,414 had no internet subscription of any kind: 6.9 percent, against 8.9 percent for the United States.
The state’s share is among the lowest in the country. In the five-year file, only Washington, Colorado, California and Utah came in lower. In the single-year 2024 survey, New Hampshire’s estimate of 4.6 percent was the lowest of any state, though its margin of error, plus or minus 0.4 points, overlaps those of several other states, among them Nevada, Washington, California and Colorado.
Inside the state, the picture splits by region. In Rockingham County, 4.9 percent of households had no subscription. In Coos County it was 13.4 percent, and in Sullivan County 12.1 percent.
What the survey counts
The survey asks households about the internet service they have. Its table on internet subscriptions sorts every household into three groups: “With an Internet subscription,” “Internet access without a subscription” and “No Internet access.” In New Hampshire, 26,871 households fell in the last group and 11,543 in the middle one. Together they make up the 38,414.
The survey does not ask whether a provider offers service at the address. A household can go without a subscription because nothing is offered there, because it costs too much, or because no one in the house wants it. The table cannot tell those apart.
Households With No Internet Subscription, by County
Share of households, American Community Survey five-year estimates, 2020–2024. Bars are drawn to scale; Coos County is the longest bar.
Granite State Report · Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates, table B28002. “No subscription” combines the table’s “Internet access without a subscription” and “No Internet access” lines; shares are Granite State Report arithmetic.
The county estimates carry margins of error, and the smaller the county, the wider the margin. Coos County’s 13.4 percent is plus or minus about 2 points; Rockingham’s 4.9 percent is plus or minus about half a point. Even at the edges of those ranges, the North Country rate is more than double the Seacoast county’s.
How New Hampshire Counties Connect
Households and subscription types, American Community Survey five-year estimates, 2020–2024
| County | Households | No subscription | Share (margin of error) | Any satellite service | Cellular data plan only |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belknap | 26,337 | 2,095 | 8.0% (±1.5) | 2.6% | 8.1% |
| Carroll | 21,847 | 1,809 | 8.3% (±1.6) | 3.5% | 6.4% |
| Cheshire | 30,620 | 2,413 | 7.9% (±1.3) | 5.8% | 8.1% |
| Coos | 14,002 | 1,870 | 13.4% (±2.0) | 10.0% | 8.0% |
| Grafton | 37,107 | 3,453 | 9.3% (±1.2) | 6.2% | 7.3% |
| Hillsborough | 168,740 | 10,932 | 6.5% (±0.5) | 2.8% | 7.5% |
| Merrimack | 60,901 | 4,260 | 7.0% (±0.8) | 3.7% | 8.0% |
| Rockingham | 127,570 | 6,253 | 4.9% (±0.5) | 2.1% | 7.8% |
| Strafford | 52,080 | 3,320 | 6.4% (±1.0) | 2.3% | 7.6% |
| Sullivan | 16,618 | 2,009 | 12.1% (±2.0) | 5.2% | 11.5% |
| New Hampshire | 555,822 | 38,414 | 6.9% (±0.3) | 3.4% | 7.8% |
Granite State Report · Source: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 five-year table B28002. Margins of error for the shares are Granite State Report approximations using the bureau’s published formulas for sums and proportions, at the bureau’s 90 percent confidence level. “Any satellite service” is the table’s satellite line, households whose subscription includes satellite alone or with another type; “cellular data plan only” is its “Cellular data plan with no other type of Internet subscription.” Both are shares of all households.
Coos County also leans on satellite more than any other county. One household in 10 there reported some satellite internet service, against about one in 30 statewide. Sullivan County had the highest share of households whose only internet came through a cellular data plan, 11.5 percent.
What the federal program pays for
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, known as BEAD, is part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is overseen by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA. The New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs runs the state’s share through its Office of Broadband Initiatives. The department’s BEAD page says the state is receiving $196.5 million.
BEAD does not pay for subscriptions. Its deployment money goes to locations where service is missing or slow. The state’s five-year BEAD plan defines unserved locations as “those without any broadband service at all or with broadband service offering speeds below 25/3 Mbps,” and underserved locations as “those without broadband service offering speeds of 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up.”
That list shrank. On June 6, 2025, NTIA issued what it called the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice, which rewrote the program’s rules and sent states back to pick builders again. The state’s Final Proposal says that when it updated the list under the new rules, removing locations that Federal Communications Commission data showed were served, “The number of eligible locations changed from 9,527 to 5,250.”
NTIA approved the Final Proposal on Nov. 18, 2025, according to the department’s BEAD page. The proposal’s location file assigns 5,135 locations to 28 projects built by four companies. The proposal’s no-BEAD file lists 4,392 locations the state wrote off from the original 9,527. The two files together account for all 9,527: the 5,135 that drew awards and the 4,392 that did not. That leaves the awarded count 115 short of the 5,250 the proposal describes as eligible, and the files do not say where those 115 went. The department’s page lists the awards:
New Hampshire’s BEAD Awards
Provisional subgrantees as listed by the Department of Business and Economic Affairs
| Provider | Technology | Locations | BEAD funding request | Per location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comcast | Hybrid fiber/coax | 573 | $6,609,860.86 | about $11,536 |
| Consolidated Communications | Fiber | 2,573 | $5,481,446.61 | about $2,130 |
| New Hampshire Electric Cooperative | Fiber | 884 | $5,578,122.38 | about $6,310 |
| SpaceX | Low Earth orbit satellite | 1,105 | $953,886.93 | about $863 |
| Total | 5,135 | $18,623,316.78 | about $3,627 |
Granite State Report · Source: New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, BEAD page, read October 2026. Per-location figures are Granite State Report arithmetic. The state’s project file lists another $25,168,184.03 in matching funds from the four companies.
The $18.6 million in deployment awards is about 9.5 percent of the $196.5 million. The Final Proposal says the state’s Initial Proposal Volume II, its subgrantee-selection document, “expressed doubt that there would be sufficient funding for non-deployment activities after deployment activities were funded.” It adds that the state committed to “revisit the non-deployment activities pending availability of funds,” and that “funding for non-deployment purposes is under further review, pending NTIA guidance.” The allocation also covers planning and adoption programs, which the department’s page lists alongside infrastructure deployment. As published in October 2026, the department’s page does not say what becomes of the balance.
A narrated summary of this article (1:50), read by a synthetic voice. Photograph of Colebrook: P199, CC BY-SA 3.0. Charts and cards: Granite State Report, from Census Bureau and state figures. Because it adapts a CC BY-SA 3.0 photograph, this video is offered under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Where the projects are
The state’s project file groups the awards by region. The region the file calls Great North has the most locations, 1,496. The Monadnock region has the most money, $6.2 million, most of it in one Comcast project that requests $5,130,835.86 for 211 locations, about $24,317 each.
BEAD Locations by Region
Locations in New Hampshire’s approved BEAD projects, by the region named in the state’s project file. Bars are drawn to scale.
Granite State Report · Source: New Hampshire BEAD Final Proposal deployment-projects file (Nov. 19, 2025) and locations file (Nov. 20, 2025). Location counts are Granite State Report tallies of the locations file by project; they sum to the state’s total of 5,135. Two project names are misspelled in the state’s file, Seascost and White Moutains; those rows are counted here with Seacoast and White Mountains. Dollar figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
The file sets the same schedule for every project: an estimated subaward date of Feb. 1, 2026, and an estimated end of performance on Feb. 1, 2030. The department’s page says each subgrantee must offer service no later than four years after the Governor and Council approve its subgrant, and that the subgrants “are expected to be presented to G&C in early 2026 for approval.” The department’s page does not say whether the council has acted.
Why satellite got the smallest share
SpaceX’s satellite service was awarded 1,105 locations, more than one in five, for about 5 percent of the award money. The state did not rank all of those as top-tier projects. Of the 1,105, the project file marks 559 as non-priority.
The Final Proposal explains why. It says satellite service needs a clear view of the sky, citing a provider’s own figure of “an unobstructed 110-degree view of the sky,” and notes that “New Hampshire is 82 percent forested land, the second most forested state in the country.” The state laid each eligible location over high-resolution tree-canopy data. It also tested crowding: it drew a circle a half-mile in radius around each location in a satellite application, and if eight or more eligible locations fell inside, the proposal says, the center location “was determined to be subject to LEO capacity concerns.”
Where wired builders applied as priority projects, the proposal gave them first claim. Where those applications did not cover every location in an area, it says, “LEO technology will be sought to serve such remaining BSLs,” meaning broadband serviceable locations.
Two gaps, two tools
Put the two counts side by side and they do not line up. The five-year estimates count 38,414 households without a subscription. The state’s list of locations still eligible for BEAD, after the 2025 update, held 5,250, and a location can be a business or another site as well as a home. Even if every eligible location were a household with no subscription, more than 33,000 of the 38,414 would remain.
The gap narrows with the newer, noisier number and does not close. The 2024 one-year survey puts New Hampshire at 570,689 households and 26,405 without a subscription, about 12,000 fewer than the five-year average of 2020 through 2024. Set the same 5,250 against that and about 21,000 households are still outside the program’s list.
Being off that list is not proof that service is for sale at the door. A location can drop off because Federal Communications Commission data shows it served, or because another federal program is already paying to build there: the state’s own no-BEAD file marks 320 locations as covered by the Capital Projects Fund. What the list does say is that the program found far fewer places needing construction than there are households going without.
The survey cannot say why those households go without. Whatever the reasons, BEAD’s deployment awards are aimed at missing service, not at sign-ups. The state’s project file sets Feb. 1, 2030, as the estimated end date for the builds.
— Granite State Report
Your Turn
Tell us: does your household go without home internet, or pay for satellite or a phone plan because nothing else reaches your road? Say what town you are in and what you were offered. Write to granitestatereport@gmail.com. No person or agency named in this article was asked to comment for it. Any of them may write to the same address; a response will be added here with its date.
Fact check
| # | Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Hampshire had 555,822 households and 38,414 without an internet subscription (6.9%) in the 2020–2024 estimates; the U.S. share was 8.9%. | VERIFIED | Census ACS 2020–2024 five-year table B28002 (lines 001, 012, 013); GSR arithmetic. |
| 2 | In the five-year file only Washington, Colorado, California and Utah had a lower no-subscription share than New Hampshire. | VERIFIED | ACS five-year B28002, all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico; GSR ranking. |
| 3 | In the 2024 one-year survey New Hampshire’s 4.6% (±0.4) was the lowest state estimate, with margins overlapping Nevada, Washington, California and Colorado. | VERIFIED | ACS 2024 one-year B28002; GSR margin approximation by Census formulas. |
| 4 | 26,871 households reported no internet access and 11,543 access without a subscription. | VERIFIED | ACS five-year B28002 lines 013 and 012 (11,543 = 38,414 − 26,871). |
| 5 | County shares, households, satellite and cellular-only figures as shown in the chart and table. | VERIFIED | ACS five-year B28002, New Hampshire counties; GSR arithmetic. |
| 6 | Coos 13.4% ±2.0 and Rockingham 4.9% ±0.5; even at the edges the Coos rate is more than double. | VERIFIED | ACS five-year B28002 margins; GSR approximation (11.4 vs 5.4). |
| 7 | The state is receiving $196.5 million in BEAD funds; BEAD is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is overseen by NTIA. | VERIFIED | BEA BEAD page ($196.5 million; NTIA issued the program notice and approved the state’s documents); BEA Office of Broadband Initiatives page (BEAD is part of the IIJA). |
| 8 | Definitions of unserved (no service or below 25/3 Mbps) and underserved (below 100/20 Mbps) locations, quoted. | VERIFIED | New Hampshire BEAD Five-Year Action Plan. |
| 9 | NTIA issued the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice on June 6, 2025, and the state ran a new application window. | VERIFIED | BEA BEAD Subgrantee Selection page; BEAD Final Proposal, Section 1.1 (“All project applications received during the earlier window were disregarded”). |
| 10 | Eligible locations changed from 9,527 to 5,250, quoted. | VERIFIED | BEAD Final Proposal, Section 1.1. |
| 11 | NTIA approved the Final Proposal on Nov. 18, 2025. | ATTRIBUTED | BEA BEAD page. |
| 12 | 5,135 locations, 28 projects, four companies; provider locations and funding requests as tabled; total $18,623,316.78. | VERIFIED | BEA BEAD page table; deployment projects file (28 rows); locations file (5,135 rows). |
| 13 | Matching funds of $25,168,184.03 in the project file. | VERIFIED | Deployment projects file, subgrantee_match column; GSR sum. |
| 14 | Deployment awards are about 9.5% of $196.5 million; per-location figures as shown. | VERIFIED | GSR arithmetic from the BEA BEAD page. |
| 15 | The three quotes on non-deployment funding: Volume II’s doubt, the commitment to revisit, and the review pending NTIA guidance. | VERIFIED | BEAD Final Proposal, Section 1.1. |
| 16 | Region location counts and funding, including Monadnock Comcast project of $5,130,835.86 for 211 locations. | VERIFIED | Deployment projects file and locations file; GSR tallies. |
| 17 | Estimated subaward Feb. 1, 2026, and performance end Feb. 1, 2030, for every project. | VERIFIED | Deployment projects file. |
| 18 | Four-year service deadline after Governor and Council approval; subgrants expected before G&C in early 2026, quoted. | ATTRIBUTED | BEA BEAD page, read October 2026. |
| 19 | SpaceX awarded 1,105 locations for $953,886.93 (about 5% of awards); 559 marked non-priority. | VERIFIED | BEA BEAD page; deployment projects file priority column and locations file; GSR tallies. |
| 20 | 110-degree view, 82% forested, tree-canopy analysis, half-mile circle with eight or more locations, and remaining-location language, quoted. | VERIFIED | BEAD Final Proposal, Section 12. |
| 21 | More than 33,000 of the 38,414 would remain even if all 5,250 eligible locations were households without a subscription; about 21,000 against the 2024 one-year count of 26,405. | VERIFIED | GSR arithmetic: 38,414 − 5,250 = 33,164; 26,405 − 5,250 = 21,155. |
| 22 | The Colebrook photograph is CC BY-SA 3.0 by P199, January 2012; the Utah photograph is a public-domain USDA work, Feb. 29, 2024. | VERIFIED | Wikimedia Commons file pages, read Oct. 6, 2026. |
| 23 | The 2024 one-year survey puts New Hampshire at 570,689 households and 26,405 without a subscription. | VERIFIED | Census ACS 2024 one-year B28002 (lines 001, 012, 013); GSR sum. |
| 24 | The no-BEAD file lists 4,392 locations written off from 9,527, leaving the 5,135 that drew awards, and marks 320 as covered by the Capital Projects Fund. The two files share no location. | VERIFIED | BEAD Final Proposal locations and no-BEAD locations files (Nov. 2025); GSR tallies: the two id sets are disjoint and union to 9,527; 9,527 − 4,392 = 5,135; 320 rows carry program CPF. |
| 25 | The awarded count is 115 short of the 5,250 eligible locations the Final Proposal describes, and the files do not account for the difference. | VERIFIED | GSR arithmetic: 5,250 − 5,135 = 115; the Final Proposal and its four data files state no figure for the remainder. |
Provider offers, build maps, grant agreements and the dates on them are what build the record. Confidentiality respected where possible. granitestatereport@gmail.com · (603) 931-9264.
Editor’s note. Household and subscription figures are drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey table B28002, 2020–2024 five-year and 2024 one-year estimates. BEAD figures are drawn from the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ BEAD page, its BEAD Final Proposal and the proposal’s project, location, no-BEAD and subgrantee files, and its BEAD Five-Year Action Plan. Shares, rankings, margins of error, regional tallies and per-location amounts the sources did not state are Granite State Report arithmetic from those figures.
Corrections: Granite State Report corrects verified errors promptly and appends a dated note identifying what changed and when. The corrections policy and the corrections register are public, and correction notes are never removed.
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