Norman County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2024	#81 of 87	63.1%
2023	#83 of 87	54.22%
2022	#80 of 87	55.52%
2021	#75 of 87	55%
2020	#74 of 87	54.44%
2019	#85 of 87	20.62%
2018	#80 of 87	20.55%
2017	#71 of 87	20.52%

Red dots represent unserved locations.

Wired (wireline) and wireless (fixed, non-mobile) served location percentage at various speeds.

Norman County: Recent Progress but Needs More

Norman County ranks 81 (up two places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Norman had been hovering at 54.22 percent coverage to broadband for several years. Good news is that they saw a big increase in service in 2024. But they are still in the bottom ranking.

One possible issue is that Norman County has almost ubiquitous access to internet at speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up, which means county commissioners and maybe even incumbent providers are not hearing of greater need because people have what they need for email and web browsing but increased access and better use may open doors for the community but they will eventually.

They are code red.

• Over the years, Norman County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Norman County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
• Norman County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $10.9 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Norman ranked 72 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.