Nicollet County

Table of goal data by year

Year	Rank	100/20 Mbps
2024	#59 of 87	80.72%
2023	#62 of 87	76.25%
2022	#53 of 87	77.29%
2021	#45 of 87	78.49%
2020	#42 of 87	78.29%
2019	#38 of 87	78.42%
2018	#73 of 87	33.29%
2017	#38 of 87	54.54%

Red dots represent unserved locations.

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

Nicollet County: Stagnant Since 2019

Nicollet County ranks 59 (up 3 points) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Nicollet County saw a nice leap in access in 2019, they were stagnant at 78 percent or less coverage they saw a small bump in 2024.

Hopefully the recent increase will continue but they don’t have any grants or line extensions in the hopper. Nicollet’s ranking continues at red.

• Over the years, Nicollet County (or cities within) has not invested in matches for any successful MN Broadband grants.
• Nicollet County will not benefit from a 2024 MN Broadband grant.
• Nicollet County will not benefit from any line extension awards.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $25 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, Nicollet ranked 17 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.