Broadview Networks

If you're looking for the fastest Internet service in the US, you should pack your bags for Virginia. With an average of 13.7 megabits per second, Virginia tops the country for the speediest Internet access, according to Broadview Networks.

What state has the slowest broadband speed? Alaska, with an average of 7 Mbps. How fast is the home of Silicon Valley -- California? It comes in No. 20 with an average of 10.9 Mbps.

Broadview Networks created a map (seen above) that shows which states have the fastest Internet service and which ones lag. The cloud services provider got the data from Akamai's "State of the Internet" report (PDF) released in June.

Looking at the map, one can see that the West Coast, Midwest, and Northeast (except for Maine) tend to have the fastest Internet, while some Southern states, like Arkansas and Kentucky, seem to have slower service.

According to Akamai, if a state has an average speed higher than 10 Mbps it counts as having "high broadband." In all, 26 states achieved this status. And, no state fell into the "low broadband" category, which is an average lower than 4 Mbps. Kansas was the state that showed the most improvement over last year, with a 91 percent increase in speed. This is likely due to Google's inauguration of its super-high-speed fiber Internet service in November 2012.

Akamai's report also looks at Internet speeds around the world. The country with the fastest service is South Korea with an average of 23.6 Mbps. In second place, and far behind South Korea, is Japan with an average of 14.6 Mbps. How does the US rank overall worldwide? It's No. 10 with an average of 10.5 Mbps.