Verizon Fios vs Spectrum
These two overlap in 505 metro areas and 7,659 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.
Verizon Fios vs Spectrum at a glance
| Measure | Verizon Fios | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 9,364,253 | 33,900,003 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Verizon Fios is available | Where Spectrum 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We do not publish speeds or prices here.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 Verizon Fios and Spectrum 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.
These percentages count each operator's whole reported network. 14.0% of what Verizon Fios files with the FCC is fiber. The FCC publishes that split nationally and never per metro, so a high number here means the operator reaches the metro, not that it reaches it on that technology.
| Metro area | Verizon Fios | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln, NE Metro Area | 79% | 85% |
| Findlay, OH Micro Area | 78% | 86% |
| Dayton-Kettering, OH Metro Area | 78% | 93% |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area | 77% | 96% |
| Syracuse, NY Metro Area | 77% | 95% |
| Springfield, OH Metro Area | 77% | 94% |
| Lima, OH Metro Area | 76% | 88% |
| Wapakoneta, OH Micro Area | 78% | 75% |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area | 74% | 82% |
| Fayetteville, NC Metro Area | 74% | 90% |
| Washington Court House, OH Micro Area | 73% | 79% |
| Del Rio, TX Micro Area | 73% | 85% |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL Metro Area | 73% | 92% |
| Wilson, NC Micro Area | 73% | 88% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area | 72% | 82% |
| Greenville, OH Micro Area | 72% | 72% |
| Owensboro, KY Metro Area | 72% | 74% |
| Auburn, NY Micro Area | 72% | 75% |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area | 72% | 93% |
| Sidney, OH Micro Area | 72% | 77% |
| Spartanburg, SC Metro Area | 72% | 92% |
| Madisonville, KY Micro Area | 72% | 72% |
| Fremont, OH Micro Area | 72% | 81% |
| Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area | 71% | 81% |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metro Area | 71% | 93% |
Showing 25 of 505 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Verizon Fios reports service in 49 states and Spectrum in 42, and they share 41 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.
404 metro areas have Verizon Fios and not Spectrum
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area 89% covered
- Trenton-Princeton, NJ Metro Area 88% covered
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area 86% covered
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area 85% covered
- Lebanon, PA Metro Area 84% covered
- Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area 84% covered
- Bloomington, IL Metro Area 81% covered
- Panama City, FL Metro Area 78% covered
8 metro areas have Spectrum and not Verizon Fios
- Kapaa, HI Micro Area 96% covered
- Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area 95% covered
- Union, SC Micro Area 92% covered
- Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI Metro Area 92% covered
- Hilo, HI Micro Area 81% covered
- Somerset, KY Micro Area 71% covered
- Uvalde, TX Micro Area 62% covered
- Jennings, LA Micro Area 43% covered
States where only Verizon Fios reports service: Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah. States where only Spectrum reports service: Hawaii.
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: Verizon Fios is mainly fiber and Spectrum 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.