Iowa has 167 districts with slow internet - here are the 10 slowest

Access to high-speed internet in schools has come a long way in the last decade. In 2013, 70% of U.S. schools lacked an internet connection of 100 Kbps per student, the minimum speed the Federal Communication Commission set to meet basic classroom needs. By 2018, fewer than 2% of schools failed to meet that threshold.

As more schools integrate technology into the classroom, the need for fast, reliable internet is even greater. In 2020, the FCC upped the bandwidth minimum to 1 Mbps per student—10 times faster than the previous minimum. Nearly 6 in 10 school districts met or exceeded that benchmark in 2021—a 25% increase year over year, according to an analysis from Connect K-12.

Nearly 28 million U.S. students attend schools where internet speeds do not meet the FCC guidelines.

Stacker compiled a list of school districts in Iowa with the slowest internet speeds using data from Connect K-12. School districts are ranked by internet speed in Mbps. Ties are broken by the number of students in the school district.

#10. Carlisle Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.18 Mbps
- Total students: 2,306
- Cost per Mbps: $5.01
- Total monthly cost: $2,005.28

#9. East Buchanan Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.17 Mbps
- Total students: 606
- Cost per Mbps: $40.56
- Total monthly cost: $4,055.88

#8. Southeast Polk Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.17 Mbps
- Total students: 7,369
- Cost per Mbps: $3.13
- Total monthly cost: $3,127.00

#7. Johnston Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.17 Mbps
- Total students: 7,467
- Cost per Mbps: $1.79
- Total monthly cost: $1,787.00

#6. South O'Brien Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.16 Mbps
- Total students: 609
- Cost per Mbps: $10.06
- Total monthly cost: $1,005.60

#5. Lake Mills Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.14 Mbps
- Total students: 700
- Cost per Mbps: $14.89
- Total monthly cost: $1,489.43

#4. College Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.13 Mbps
- Total students: 5,702
- Cost per Mbps: $4.5
- Total monthly cost: $2,800.00

#3. Dubuque Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.13 Mbps
- Total students: 10,512
- Cost per Mbps: $6.55
- Total monthly cost: $6,550.00

#2. Sioux City Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.1 Mbps
- Total students: 14,558
- Cost per Mbps: $7.85
- Total monthly cost: $7,850.00

#1. Union Community School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.09 Mbps
- Total students: 1,088
- Cost per Mbps: $37.25
- Total monthly cost: $3,725.00