Connected Nation releases map of BEAD indicators

Bowling Green, Ky. (October 21, 2025) - Connected Nation recently added a map to its BEAD Tracker, a custom dashboard that monitors states’ progress in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Charts and graphs provide the ability to visualize and compare metrics quickly but are not good at conveying the spatial dimension of data. The Tracker map provides the ability to visualize and compare various BEAD metrics. This update makes regional differences more visible, allowing viewers to identify patterns and trends across states.

A dropdown menu (labeled Mapped Variable) in the top left corner of the dashboard enables users to switch between variables of interest to see which states rank highest and lowest. These rankings are configured as quintiles – groupings that divide the distribution of the data and assign observations to one of five categories. The darker the shade of red, the higher the distribution range of values. Hover your cursor over the states to see their actual values for the selected variable.

The figure below shows the Average Cost per Location mapped, with the cursor positioned over North Dakota, indicating an Average Cost per Location of $22,492 and falling into Quintile 5, the darkest shade of red. 

Additional functionality will become available as states continue to release their Final Proposals. As of today, 49 states and territories are included in the dashboard. To view the BEAD Tracker, click here. If you have any questions about the tracker or its functionalities, you can find the FAQ page here.