Study Finds 27.7% of US Lacks Cell Coverage

An onX analysis ranks all 50 states by offline land, with Maine the most off-grid state east of the Mississippi.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Telecommunications

Wide view of a forested mountain ridge under overcast skies, with a single dirt trail winding through conifers into distant haze. — Roughly 27.7 percent of the United States, about 674 million acres, has no cellphone coverage from any carrier, according to an onX analysis released in its Escape Index. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Would you plan a trip this year to a place with no cellphone signal?

onX found that 674 million acres, or 27.7 percent of the United States, has no cellphone coverage from any carrier. The company released its Escape Index ranking all 50 states by offline land.

Why it matters

The findings quantify how much of the country remains outside wireless service, a factor relevant to outdoor recreation and emergency access. The ranking gives travelers and residents a state-by-state view of where coverage is absent.

The analysis draws on Federal Communications Commission coverage data and onX recreation data, counting 145,174 offline hiking and biking trails, 38,861 peaks, 79,835 bodies of water and 4,303 campgrounds in areas with no carrier coverage. Rhode Island ranks second-to-last nationally with only 1,272 offline acres, while Maine is 44 percent offline.

The players

onX

onX is a maps and outdoor recreation company that publishes coverage and trail data for hikers, hunters and other outdoor users.

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is the U.S. federal agency that regulates interstate communications and publishes wireless coverage data.

The details

onX ranked all 50 states on four criteria: offline percentage, contiguity of offline zones, distance from cities, and count of trails, peaks, water bodies and campgrounds in offline zones. Maine ranks fourth overall nationally, Vermont 19th, New Hampshire 22nd and Massachusetts 47th, which has one offline campground.

November 5, 2026: Boston Globe published its report on the onX offline-area analysis.

Big Picture

The onX analysis builds on the FCC's wireless coverage maps by converting them into acreage and recreation-based rankings. It extends a long-running federal effort to measure where service exists into a consumer-facing view of where it does not.

Travelers planning backcountry trips in states with large offline areas, such as Maine and Alaska, should plan for no cellphone service. The ranking gives hikers and campers a way to check coverage before heading out.

The takeaway

Before a trip into rural terrain, download offline maps and tell someone your route, since large parts of the country have no carrier service. Checking a state's offline share can help set expectations.