Verizon Fios vs Xfinity
These two overlap in 353 metro areas and 7,434 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 Xfinity at a glance
| Measure | Verizon Fios | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 9,364,253 | 37,853,193 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Verizon Fios is available | Where Xfinity 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We do not publish speeds or prices here.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 Xfinity 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 | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area | 89% | 97% |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area | 85% | 94% |
| Lebanon, PA Metro Area | 84% | 96% |
| Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area | 84% | 92% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area | 80% | 98% |
| Panama City, FL Metro Area | 78% | 85% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area | 86% | 78% |
| Richmond, VA Metro Area | 76% | 88% |
| Columbus, IN Metro Area | 76% | 92% |
| Bloomington, IL Metro Area | 81% | 75% |
| Dover, DE Metro Area | 75% | 94% |
| Naples-Marco Island, FL Metro Area | 75% | 94% |
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ Metro Area | 88% | 73% |
| Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area | 72% | 81% |
| Lancaster, PA Metro Area | 72% | 81% |
| Ocean City, NJ Metro Area | 71% | 99% |
| Las Cruces, NM Metro Area | 73% | 71% |
| Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ Metro Area | 71% | 98% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area | 71% | 94% |
| Decatur, IL Metro Area | 70% | 86% |
| Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ Metro Area | 68% | 97% |
| Champaign-Urbana, IL Metro Area | 75% | 68% |
| Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area | 68% | 96% |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area | 68% | 80% |
| Pueblo, CO Metro Area | 68% | 91% |
Showing 25 of 353 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Verizon Fios reports service in 49 states and Xfinity in 41, 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.
556 metro areas have Verizon Fios and not Xfinity
- Van Wert, OH Micro Area 81% covered
- Lincoln, NE Metro Area 79% covered
- Wapakoneta, OH Micro Area 78% covered
- Findlay, OH Micro Area 78% covered
- Dayton-Kettering, OH Metro Area 78% covered
- Amarillo, TX Metro Area 78% covered
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area 77% covered
- Muscatine, IA Micro Area 77% covered
1 metro areas have Xfinity and not Verizon Fios
- Vernal, UT Micro Area 0% covered
States where only Verizon Fios reports service: Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming.
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 Xfinity 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.