Google Fiber vs Cox
These two overlap in 4 metro areas and 16 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.
Google Fiber vs Cox at a glance
| Measure | Google Fiber | Cox |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 1,886,259 | 6,447,111 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Google Fiber is available | Where Cox is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.
Where you can get both
Metro areas where both Google Fiber and Cox report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.
| Metro area | Google Fiber | Cox |
|---|---|---|
| Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area | 8% | 80% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area | 3% | 84% |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area | 2% | 63% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area | 1% | 8% |
Where only one of them reaches
Google Fiber reports service in 18 states and Cox in 18, and they share 9 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
22 metro areas have Google Fiber and not Cox
- Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area 56% covered
- Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area 44% covered
- Pocatello, ID Metro Area 34% covered
- Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area 33% covered
- Huntsville, AL Metro Area 32% covered
- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area 30% covered
- Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area 22% covered
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area 22% covered
53 metro areas have Cox and not Google Fiber
- Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metro Area 91% covered
- Wichita, KS Metro Area 83% covered
- Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area 79% covered
- Hailey, ID Micro Area 79% covered
- Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area 77% covered
- Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area 76% covered
- Warner Robins, GA Metro Area 76% covered
- Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area 75% covered
States where only Google Fiber reports service: Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington. States where only Cox reports service: Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
Which should you pick?
Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.
That is the case here: Google Fiber is mainly fiber and Cox is mainly cable. The practical difference is upload speed and consistency rather than headline download speed, we explain what that means here.
See which one reaches your address →
What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.