Data Dump: Upper Midwest AM, FM, TV License Statistics

Exactly how many radio and TV stations are there in the Upper Midwest? Which states have the most licenses per million people? Let’s find out!

	Iowa	Minnesota	Nebraska	North Dakota	South Dakota	Wisconsin
AM	81	107	50	34	35	109
FM full-power	209	267	139	83	108	250
FM translators/ boosters	137	213	101	53	93	205
LPFM	27	27	31	15	7	49
Radio total	454	614	321	185	243	613
TV full-power	32	33	26	27	24	42
LPTV/translator	27	170	45	17	34	34
TV total	59	203	71	44	58	76
Total licenses	513	817	392	229	301	689
Population	3,190,369	5,706,494	1,961,504	779,094	886,667	5,893,718
Licenses per million people	161	143	200	294	339	117

As you can see, North Dakota has the fewest total licenses, but when population is considered, it actually has the second-most licenses per million people after South Dakota. With their higher populations, Minnesota and Wisconsin have the fewest licenses per million people in the region, even though they have more licenses than the other states. (Minnesota’s number is skewed a bit by a high number of TV translators that reach limited areas.)

Terms:

Information based on searches of the FCC’s LMS database on June 22, 2022.

Stations are listed by state of license, not target market.

Figures represent licensed stations, including those which are licensed but silent. Construction permits for new stations not yet licensed are not included.

Population is from the 2020 Census.