Here are many maps and data that illustrate and highlight problematic areas of McHenry County related to Access, Adoption, and Use around broadband, Internet, and computers. These maps were presented initially to the McHenry County “Fiber Coalition” on November 9, 2021 and were generated by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

Studies have shown that previous censuses have undercounted people with low incomes. The Broadband Maps are also inaccuarate by overstating actual coverage of service, but despite them being inaccurate, the maps are the best that anyone has. With the combined nature and inaccurate nature of the broadband maps and the undercounted census, the maps and data below understate the issues that McHenry County is experiencing, thus making the issue for better broadband infrastructure in McHenry County that much more urgent.

The Source of the Maps is here via the Illinois Office of Broadband – Link

Wireline Broadband Access with minimum speeds, 25 Mbps Download / 3 Mbps Upload
Wireline Broadband Access with minimum speeds, 100 Mbps Download / 20 Mbps Upload
Wireline Broadband Access with minimum speeds, 1 Gbps Download / 1 Gbps Upload
Distribution of Households
% of Households without an internet subscription
Median Household Income ($)
% of Households below poverty level
Educational Attainment: % 25 Years and over population less than high school graduates or equivalent
% Households without a computer
% Households with only a smartphone as a computing device
% Households relying only on cellular data plan for Internet