Broadband Prices in Context
Price Trends in Context
Between January 2016 and September 2025:
- The cost of household internet service increased in price by approximately 11%.
- The cost of household utilities such as electricity, piped gas, and water/sewer rose approximately 46%, 61%, and 45% respectively during these years, levels drastically higher than internet service.
- Overall consumer prices increased by about 37% percent.
While the affordability of a broadband connection continues to be a barrier to adoption for some households, in the broader context of consumer price trends, the cost of internet access services has remained static in recent years. In real terms (i.e., when considering overall consumer inflation), a home internet connection has become cheaper and makes up a smaller proportion of total household expenditures than it did in the past.
Methodology
This graphic was generated using the Consumer Price Index from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS collects and analyzes data on employment, pricing and productivity in the US market. More specifically, the Consumer Price Index-Urban (CPI-U) tracks the price of goods and services included in a “market basket” for urban consumers over time and is the most common measure of inflation. Data is collected via quarterly surveys and weekly diaries from consumer households, and the ‘urban’ CPI data covers roughly 93 percent of the US population.
The datasets included in the graph are:
- Internet: Internet services and electronic information providers in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SEEE03)
- Electricity: Electricity in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SEHF01)
- Piped Gas: Utility (piped) gas service in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SEHF02)
- Water & Sewer: Water and sewerage maintenance in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SEHG01)
- Overall CPI: All items in U.S. city average, all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted (CUUR0000SA0)
The quantities of energy/gas used to compute average consumer prices are based on consumption averages from by the Department of Energy.