More Than a Quarter of US Land Has No Cell Signal

An onX analysis of federal coverage data puts 674 million acres outside every carrier's network, a gap that offline planning must now account for.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Telecommunications

More Than a Quarter of US Land Has No Cell Signal

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

Mapping company onX published an analysis finding that 27.7 percent of the United States, about 674 million acres, has no cellphone coverage from any carrier. The findings come from its Escape Index, which ranks all 50 states by offline land; this is an analysis of existing coverage data, not a shipped product or policy change.

Why it matters

The ranking pairs recreation data with Federal Communications Commission coverage data, turning a map of dead zones into a measure of how much wilderness sits beyond a signal. It shows how much remaining land is effectively unconnected as carriers chase denser urban and suburban networks.

The analysis counts 145,174 offline hiking and biking trails, 38,861 peaks, 79,835 bodies of water and 4,303 campgrounds with zero cellphone bars. The figures are drawn from onX's recreation database layered over FCC coverage maps, and the source does not say how precisely each feature was matched to a coverage boundary.

The players

onX

A mapping and navigation app company whose recreation database and offline maps serve hikers, hunters and off-road users.

Federal Communications Commission

The US federal agency that regulates interstate communications and publishes the coverage maps used as the analysis's coverage data.

The details

onX ranked all 50 states on four criteria: the percentage of land offline, how contiguous those offline zones are, distance from cities, and how many trails, peaks, water bodies and campgrounds fall inside them. Contiguity matters because a large but fragmented dead zone offers different experiences than one unbroken stretch of wilderness. The company combined its own recreation data with coverage data from the Federal Communications Commission, which maps where carriers report service.

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

The Tech Race

The analysis sits in a competitive field where carriers and satellite operators are racing to close coverage gaps, yet the offline acreage here shows how much land remains outside terrestrial networks. Its ranking uses federal coverage data as its base, so its findings track the same map that regulators and carriers use.

Hikers, hunters and campers planning trips in the 27.7 percent of the US without carrier service should download offline maps before leaving signal range. The Escape Index does not indicate when coverage in these areas will change, and the source gives no timeline for new towers or service.

The takeaway

Check the onX Escape Index before a backcountry trip, since offline land is concentrated in a handful of states. Watch whether FCC coverage data is updated to reflect remote gaps, because any change to the national map would alter the basis of this ranking.