A recent study revealed that Charlotte County is among the nation’s top 25 counties with the fastest measured internet speeds.
Charlotte County ranked 21st nationally and second in Florida with an average download speed of 464.9 megabits per second, according to the study. Of 66 Florida counties ranked in the study, Charlotte is the only Southwest Florida county to appear in the state’s top 10.
Pasco County was listed as having the fastest measured internet in Florida with a 479.8 mbps average download speed. On the other hand, Holmes County was ranked the slowest in the state and 2,470 nationally with an average speed of 155.6 mpbs.
Florida’s metropolitan counties have an average speed of 410.8 mbps and rural counties average speeds of 294.0 – a gap of 116.8 mbps. The study states that measured speeds in the state have risen 60.2% since the first quarter of 2023.
The study, which was conducted by AI readiness experts Faro, analyzed over 4.5 million devices across 1.5 million map tiles of Speedtest by Ookla open data for the first quarter of 2026. Over 3,144 counties were evaluated as part of the study.
Why do internet speeds vary?
It isn’t exactly clear why internet speeds vary between different areas.
Chengyi Qu, an assistant professor in Florida Gulf Coast University’s Department of Computing & Software Engineering, says internet speeds must be evaluated on a case by case basis.
“For example, if you are very close to internet service providers’ (ISP) base stations or your [home uses] next-generation fiber technology, all of these features can influence that,” Qu said of internet speeds.
Qu believes ISPs like Comcast install high-speed networks in counties like Charlotte because they might expect a population increase, adding that most newly-built homes have access to fiber internet technology.
“The ISP [is providing] more services to this area because maybe they expect that there will be an [increase] of the population, so they’ll put the infrastructure better than other places,” Qu said.
According to a 2025 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau, over 212,000 people are estimated to live in Charlotte County – approximately a 30,000 or 16.3% increase from its 2020 census.
In January 2025, Comcast announced a $15 million investment to build and expand its high-speed network in Charlotte County.
A Comcast spokesperson wrote in an email to WGCU that “in Charlotte County alone, Comcast has built the fiber-powered network to thousands and thousands of new locations over the last two years.”
This investment is part of the company’s goal to build high-speed networks in counties around the state, such as Charlotte and Highlands counties.
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