If you’re in search of a new cell phone plan, you may have come across Mint Mobile and its affordable pricing.
A budget-friendly carrier like Mint Mobile can save you over $500 per year on your cell phone bill.
However, you may wonder if Mint Mobile’s coverage will meet your expectations.
In this article, we will explore the coverage provided by Mint Mobile and compare it to other major carriers to help you make an informed decision.
Mint Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that operates on T-Mobile.
By leveraging T-Mobile’s infrastructure, Mint Mobile is able to offer affordable plans without compromising on the quality of service.
Below, you can check Mint Mobile coverage in your area. The first map is an estimated coverage map created with data from the FCC.
The second map is our community-contributed map of Mint Mobile’s coverage.
Over 1.6 million speed tests have been uploaded to the map by community members and Mint Mobile subscribers to help paint a more accurate picture of what coverage is like in your area. Everyone is invited to contribute to the map to help make it more accurate. Here's how to contribute, if you're interested.
Check Mint Mobile coverage in your area by using the search bar in the coverage maps below:
The above data comes from the FCC’s National Broadband Map.
The FCC displays coverage data in terms of the percentage of area in the United States that each carrier covers.
Currently, the highest percentage of the area in the United States covered by a single network is 55%. This may seem like a smaller percentage than you would expect, but it’s because large areas of rural land where no one lives, like the vast wilderness of Alaska (17.5% of the total land area of the United States) remain uncovered.
We calculate the total square miles covered by the network by multiplying the percentage of area covered by the total area of the United States, which is 3,805,927 square miles as reported by the United States Census Bureau in 2010.
Mint Mobile uses the T-Mobile network to provide coverage.
Since Mint Mobile relies on T-Mobile, its coverage is essentially the same as that of T-Mobile.
This means that Mint Mobile offers extensive 4G LTE and 5G coverage across the country.
Mint Mobile offers nationwide 5G coverage on T-Mobile’s 5G network.
T-Mobile currently covers about 323 million people with their 5G network, or about 98% of the U.S. population.
You can see 5G coverage on Mint Mobile's self-published coverage map, here.
Nationwide 4G LTE coverage is available on Mint Mobile thanks to T-Mobile’s extensive 4G LTE network, which covers 99% of Americans.
Since Mint Mobile runs on the T-Mobile network, coverage is about the same between the two carriers.
The only difference is that Mint Mobile doesn’t include domestic roaming.
Domestic roaming is where your phone switches to a partner network for coverage in areas where your primary network doesn’t have service.
For example, T-Mobile’s native network doesn’t have coverage in large parts of Nebraska. Instead, T-Mobile customers will roam on the Viaero Wireless network for coverage.
Viaero Wireless is a regional provider in Nebraska, and they made agreements with the three big carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T) so customers using the big three could roam on the Viaero Wireless network for service.
Unfortunately, Mint Mobile doesn’t have access to this roaming agreement, or others.
Mint Mobile coverage will be limited to what the native T-Mobile network offers.
You can see Mint Mobile’s exact coverage footprint on their website.
Mint Mobile coverage is a little bit worse than AT&T coverage.
AT&T covers more of the United States than Mint Mobile, with 51% total coverage compared to 34% total coverage.
However, both provide similar coverage footprints for 5G. Mint Mobile 5G covers 24% of the area in the US, while AT&T’s 5G network covers 28%.
Mint Mobile also has faster median download and upload speeds than AT&T, as reported by Ookla.
In major cities, both Mint Mobile and AT&T will likely perform well, but in more rural areas AT&T may be a better option.
Check AT&T coverage here.
Mint Mobile’s coverage is a little bit worse than Verizon’s coverage.
Verizon covers a whopping 55% of the area in the US, compared to 34% covered by Mint Mobile.
That said, Mint Mobile has substantially more 5G coverage than Verizon does. Mint Mobile has 24% 5G coverage compared to Verizon’s 8.6% 5G coverage.
Mint Mobile also boasts faster speeds than Verizon, getting median speeds of 151 Mbps down and 12.5 Mbps up.
Verizon got median speeds of just 69 Mbps down and 9.3 Mbps up.
Both carriers will likely provide adequate coverage in major cities.
Outside of cities, Verizon’s greater overall coverage area will likely come in handy.
You can check Verizon coverage in your area here.
The below coverage data comes from the FCC:
Here is how Mint Mobile performs in each state. You can see average download speeds, upload speeds, and ping times. The below data comes from our community-contributed coverage map:
Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile towers to provide service.
Mint Mobile covers over 99% of Americans and it has one of the fastest overall networks in the country, so odds are you'll have good Mint Mobile coverage in your area.
Yes. All Mint Mobile plans include 5G at no extra cost. Mint Mobile's 5G network covers over 98% of Americans.
Mint Mobile offers pay per-use-rates for talk, text, and data roaming in Canada. The rates are $0.06 per minute, $0.02 per text, and $0.06 per MB ($60 per GB).
Mint Mobile offers pay-per-use rates for talk, text, and data roaming in Mexico. Mint Mobile's rates are $0.06 per minute, $0.02 per text, and $0.06 per MB ($60 per GB).
Yes, Mint Mobile offers international coverage at pay-per-use rates in a wide selection of countries. The rates for minutes, texts, and data vary by country. You can check what the specific rates are for the country you are visiting using this tool on Mint Mobile's website.