2026 Broadband Pricing Index

USTelecom’s annual Broadband Pricing Index (BPI) finds that year over year, real prices for the most popular internet services (100–940 Mbps) fell 6.0%, while gigabit plans declined 4.9%.2 Over the longer term, prices for the internet services most households buy today have fallen 43.6% since 2014,3 even as other mainstay consumer goods and services have risen 36%. Average download speeds, meanwhile, have surged 21.9% year over year and 145% since 2014. For the first time, the report breaks out pricing across three speed bands within the 100–940 Mbps range. Prices fell in every tier, with entry-level plans (100–249 Mbps) posting the steepest one-year decline—down 17.2% in real terms—while midrange plans (250–499 Mbps) fell 8.3% and higher-speed plans (500940 Mbps) declined 12.6% when adjusted for inflation. The trend of consumers choosing faster plans at lower cost likely masks steeper price declines. The report’s findings are conservative given that many households are taking advantage of declining prices to upgrade to faster internet plans. According to the latest Federal Communications data, gigabit subscriptions have grown nearly fivefold since 2020. The BPI’s methodology does not account for consumers choosing to upgrade to faster service. As a result, the true pricing gains to consumers are likely greater than this index alone captures. Competition and private investment are powering these gains. Fierce competition among diverse internet service providers—backed by tens of billions of dollars in private capital flowing into broadband networks each year—sustains the favorable consumer trend of declining prices and accelerating speeds. Consumers confirm the value proposition. In a recent national poll, just 2% of likely voters selected home internet service among their top two household cost concerns. In fact, internet price concerns ranked the lowest of any category surveyed, behind groceries (39%), health insurance (31%), housing (30%), and gas prices (25%).6 Declining prices and rising performance are showing up not just in the data, but in how Americans experience their internet service. A healthy internet market in practice. Heated competition, strong private investment and declining prices boost household purchasing power, spur broader adoption of high-speed internet, and support a strong digital foundation for what comes next.