This Map Shows What States Have the Best (And Worst) Household Internet Access

Logging onto Facebook, swiping Tinder or digging up factoids on Wikipedia isn’t just routine nowadays -- it’s pretty mundane. But even here in the United States, 13% of the adult population doesn’t use internet, according to the Pew Research Center. This might seem like a negligible figure, but given the sheer scale of the population -- 319 million people -- the number of Americans disconnected from the web crests around 40 million, roughly the population of Poland, Algeria or Iraq.

Regular access to the internet plays a big part in this regard, which is why this interactive map from Overflow Data comes in handy. Using the Census Bureau's 2015 American Community Survey, the data crunchers were able to glean which states across America have the best and worst household internet access. The findings all use one-year estimates to reflect a percentage of households that have easy access to the web, state-by-state.

On average, according to census data, 72.2% of American households have internet access. Falling above that benchmark are the top five states: New Hampshire comes in first with 85% of its households connected, followed by Washington, Utah, Colorado and Massachusetts, which boasts an average of 83%.

On the lower end of the spectrum, Mississippi is the least connected state with just 62% of households synced up to the web, followed by Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama and Louisiana. However, the study doesn’t embellish on sample size -- a large caveat that’s worth exploring. For example, Mississippi is the least connected state with 1,104,371 households online. But the most connected state, New Hampshire, maintains markedly less at 517,615. This is because Mississippi has a much larger population -- hence, the lower percentage reflected in the chart.

Various factors apply to the concept of “access,” but the most important one here might be of a financial nature. According to Pew, 19% of Americans surveyed last year cited the expense of an internet service as a deterrent in their usage of the web. Still, the current numbers mark a watershed increase from the year 2000, when 48% of American adults didn’t use the internet.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist. He's also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs. Find his clips in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and Vice. He's on Twitter @Blumnessmonster.