15,356 US places have no MSP within 25 miles, 24% of the country's populated places.

Limitations

• NOT RE-MEASURED IN THIS EDITION: last measured 2026-08-26 against a base of 33,792 firms. The directory has since grown to 39,327, so this card's figures are quoted against the older, smaller base. It needs a geospatial pass that has not been run.
• The place list itself grew from 32,487 to 63,095 between editions as the Census gazetteer import completed, so the raw desert COUNT is not comparable to the previous edition. The share, 26% then, 24% now, is.
• Distance is measured to the firm locations on file. A provider that genuinely serves a town remotely but publishes no nearby address will not count toward that town's coverage.
• Populated places include very small communities; the count is of places, not of people.

What to do with this

• Check the single-provider towns within 25 miles of your existing footprint before spending on metro ad inventory.
• If you already serve a desert town remotely, publish that coverage, it is currently uncounted and uncontested.

More findings