How a county gets published: the n ≥ 5 and n ≥ 20 rules

A county gets a published surcharge number on this site once it has at least 5 accepted reports from the last 6 whole calendar months, and published speed numbers once it has at least 20 tests in the same window, not counting tests with more than 1% obstruction. Until then the county is hatched and shows “not enough reports yet” with the count so far. There are no estimates, no borrowed numbers from neighbors, and no county pages for counties that haven’t qualified.

These thresholds are written into the site’s code (one file that the pages, the CSV export and the tests all read) and on the method page. This guide explains each rule, what a published cell contains, how the window rolls, and why we chose these numbers.

The two thresholds

Why 5 for surcharges

With 2 or 3 reports, one unusual quote moves the median a lot. In a made-up example, two quotes of $0 and $500 have a median of $250; add one $1,500 quote and it becomes $500. With 6 quotes ($0, $250, $250, $250, $500, $500) the same added quote leaves the median at $250. Five is the smallest count where a median starts to mean “typical here.” Full walk-through: why “not enough reports yet” is an answer.

Why 20 for speeds

Speed tests swing much more than surcharge quotes, even at one house. Starlink says speeds “may vary or be slower” during peak hours, “typically between 6pm and 11pm local time.” Twenty tests are enough for p25 and p75 to mean something; see reading p25, median and p75.

Why obstructed tests don’t count

A dish with trees in its view and a congested area look the same on a speed test. We want county cells to describe the area, so tests with more than 1% app-reported obstruction are kept in the raw data but excluded from medians.

The rolling 6-month window

The window is the last 6 whole calendar months, including the month of the export, using the month the reader saw the result (not the day we received it). For the October 2026 export that’s May through October 2026. Next month, November joins and May drops out.

Why a window at all? Surcharges change. SatelliteInternet.com reported on January 27, 2026 that Pacific Northwest surcharges of up to $1,000 had dropped to $500, while $1,500 was appearing in Alaska (press layer, unverified). Starlink itself says “pricing, availability, and surcharge amounts may change based on network capacity and regional demand.” A median that mixed two-year-old quotes with last month’s would describe nobody’s checkout.

The cost is lag: a 6-month window responds slowly when a fee changes quickly. We say so on the method page, and every cell shows its first and newest month so you can see how fresh it is.

Worked example: one county over time (hypothetical)

Made-up counts. The point of the last row: a published number isn’t permanent. If readers stop reporting, the county goes quiet, which is more honest than showing a stale median forever.

What happens to unusual reports

An amount more than 3 times or less than a third of the county’s current median, or any fee in a county where every accepted report is $0, is held until a second independent report agrees, or rejected after 60 days. Held reports don’t count toward n while they wait. A median also resists outliers on its own: one $1,500 quote among six $250-range quotes doesn’t move it. Details in how the dataset is built.

Why there are no county pages yet

The site’s anti-thin rule: a county page exists only when the county has its own data above the threshold. State pages are indexed only when at least 3 of their counties are published. As of October 5, 2026 the dataset had 0 accepted reports, so no county or state page has been generated yet. The county lookup on the surcharge page still shows each county’s count, so you can see how close yours is.

How the colors work once a county publishes

Published surcharge medians fall into one of five color steps: $0, $1–249, $250–499, $500–999, $1,000+. The scale is readable with common color-vision differences. “Not enough reports” is hatching, never a color, so it can’t be mistaken for a value. $0 has its own step because it’s a real result.

Changing the rules

The thresholds, the window and the obstruction cutoff live in one file. Changing any of them is a method change, logged with a date in the changelog on the method page and the data page. The first entry, method-1, was published October 5, 2026: surcharge cells at n ≥ 5, speed cells at n ≥ 20, a rolling 6-month window, tests over 1% obstruction excluded, and press reports kept out of crowd medians.

Reading a published cell, field by field

When a county publishes, the same fields appear on the lookup and in the open CSV files. The surcharge file’s columns, from the data page:

The trigger matters more than it looks. A county whose reports are mostly reactivations describes existing owners; a new buyer’s checkout could differ. Read the median together with the trigger.

What the threshold doesn’t protect against

• Self-selection. People who saw a surprising fee are more likely to report. Five reports from surprised people can lean high. We ask for $0 results to balance it.
• Mixed plans and kits. A county’s reports can mix Residential and Roam, rental and owned kits. Starlink says the plan affects the surcharge.
• Address-level differences. Two addresses in one county can see different results.
• Coordinated false reports. Review, outlier holds and rate limits make it harder, not impossible.

That’s why every cell says “self-reported, not verified by Starlink,” and why your own checkout is always the quote that counts.

Why counties, and not ZIP codes or cities

Counties are the smallest area we publish because they’re large enough that a summary doesn’t point to a household, they cover every address (including rural areas outside city limits), and they have fixed public codes. The optional first three ZIP digits are kept in the raw data to spot differences inside very large counties, but never published below county level. More on that choice in why we never ask for your street address.

What we don’t know

• Whether 5 is the right floor everywhere. It stops the worst swings. It isn’t a guarantee: a county with 6 reports is much less certain than one with 60, which is why every cell shows n.
• How quickly counties will qualify. That depends entirely on readers reporting.

Common misreadings

• “Published means verified.” It means enough reviewed reports exist. Cells are still “self-reported, not verified by Starlink.”
• “Hatched means no fee.” It means not enough reports yet.
• “The county median is my quote.” Starlink sets the fee by service address and plan. Your checkout is your quote (how to check it).

What to do next

1. See all the rules together on the method page.
2. Help your county cross the line: report what you saw, $0 included. It asks for your county, never your address.