Cottonwood County
| Year | Rank | 100/20 Mbps |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | #77 of 87 | 68.46% |
| 2023 | #76 of 87 | 67.15% |
| 2022 | #72 of 87 | 67.02% |
| 2021 | #66 of 87 | 67.2% |
| 2020 | #63 of 87 | 66.67% |
| 2019 | #59 of 87 | 66.67% |
| 2018 | #38 of 87 | 66.34% |
| 2017 | #73 of 87 | 19.24% |
Red dots represent unserved locations.
Wired (wireline) and wireless (fixed, non-mobile) served location percentage at various speeds.
Cottonwood County: Still Stuck With Less Than 70 Percent Coverage
Cottonwood County ranks 76 (down 1) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Cottonwood has been hovering at the same percentage since 2018.
Windom, the county seat of Cottonwood County, has had an enviable municipal broadband network since 2004. Households in Windom are well served. But outside of Windom, connections are mixed.
Next Century Cities profiled in 2024:
Cottonwood County
Population: 11,356
Households without a computer: 9.3%
Households without Internet: 17%
Persons in Poverty: 13.2%
- Over the years, Cottonwood County (or cities within) has not invested matching funds for any successful MN Broadband grants.
- Cottonwood County will benefit from a 2024 $395,138 MN Broadband grant (Round 10) award that will serve 425 locations between Cottonwood and Brown Counties.
- Cottonwood County will not benefit from line extension awards.
- Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $14.8 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, Cottonwood ranked 77 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
Household Density
7.4
Number of Providers
22
As of 2023 · Source: MN DEED
Households with Device Access
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
statewide
Has Worked with Blandin Foundation
Yes
See MIRC project matrix for more details on Windom’s broadband adoption efforts https://blandinfoundation.org/content/uploads/vy/DC_Project_Matrix_Nov_2012.pdf
Has Received MN Grant(s)
Yes
2010 – ARRA funding for City of Windom – SWMBG will build FTTP (Fiber to the Premise) infrastructure to eight rural communities in Southwestern Minnesota.
2015 – MVTV Wireless Middle Mile – Grant award: $808,080
2016 – WOODSTOCK TELEPHONE WESTBROOK – GRANT: $412,391
2024:
- County: Brown, Cottonwood
Hanson Communications
Hanson – Comfrey FTTP
Grant: $395,138
Local Match: $592,711
Total Budget: $987,849
Hanson Communications will build and operate a Fiber to the Premises network to cover the unserved and underserved areas in Comfrey, MN. Hanson has identified this project as an area in need of better broadband as nearly 85% of the town is unserved according to the Minnesota definition of broadband service. There are 245 total fiber passings in the project including 161 unserved households, 47 unserved businesses, and 5 unserved community anchor institutions, including the school, the fire station, the City office, the post office and the community center. There are an additional 27 underserved households, and 5 businesses. Many of the people who work and live in Comfrey are connected to agriculture in some way, shape or form. Farmers, specifically, can achieve heightened efficiency and tap into new markets and resources by integrating broadband into their farming and livestock operations. The city of Comfrey has contributed $10,000 toward the project.