Cass County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2024	#76 of 87	69.15%
2023	#80 of 87	56.15%
2022	#79 of 87	56.37%
2021	#71 of 87	64.02%
2020	#67 of 87	63.21%
2019	#68 of 87	51.61%
2018	#70 of 87	35.92%
2017	#61 of 87	34.07%

Red dots represent unserved locations.

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

Cass County: A Long Way to Go

Cass County ranks 76, up 4, for broadband access out of 87 counties. But their coverage has gone from 56.15 percent to 69.15 percent. That’s a nice increase and they lifted themselves out of the bottom 10 ranking, but they still have a way to go. Unfortunately, Cass County will retain their red ranking.

• Over the years, Cass County (or cities within) has invested $125,000 (total) for matches for 1 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Cass County will not benefit from a recent MN Broadband grant award.
• Cass County will benefit from 8 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $95 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, Cass ranked 68 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• One concern over the years is that they have had decent access to 25/3 for many years, which may make some people feel complacent with the access they have and then broadband dips in community priority.