Washington has 136 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 Washington 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. Riverview School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.34 Mbps
- Total students: 3,212
- Cost per Mbps: $0.81
- Total monthly cost: $811.79

#9. East Valley School District 90
- Bandwidth per student: 0.33 Mbps
- Total students: 3,389
- Cost per Mbps: $4.8
- Total monthly cost: $4,795.00

#8. Orcas Island School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.32 Mbps
- Total students: 478
- Cost per Mbps: $2.03
- Total monthly cost: $315.00

#7. Tahoma School District 409
- Bandwidth per student: 0.29 Mbps
- Total students: 8,973
- Cost per Mbps: $0.58
- Total monthly cost: $1,150.19

#6. Selah School District 119
- Bandwidth per student: 0.28 Mbps
- Total students: 4,023
- Cost per Mbps: $1.13
- Total monthly cost: $1,127.00

#5. Central Valley School District 356
- Bandwidth per student: 0.28 Mbps
- Total students: 15,528
- Cost per Mbps: $1.62
- Total monthly cost: $4,865.00

#4. Central Kitsap School District 401
- Bandwidth per student: 0.23 Mbps
- Total students: 11,944
- Cost per Mbps: $0.62
- Total monthly cost: $1,231.83

#3. Issaquah School District 411
- Bandwidth per student: 0.16 Mbps
- Total students: 19,194
- Cost per Mbps: $0.63
- Total monthly cost: $1,267.26

#2. Lake Washington School District 414
- Bandwidth per student: 0.11 Mbps
- Total students: 31,294
- Cost per Mbps: $0.7
- Total monthly cost: $1,405.86

#1. Northshore School District 417
- Bandwidth per student: 0.07 Mbps
- Total students: 20,719
- Cost per Mbps: $0.98
- Total monthly cost: $981.79