California / AIANNHCE 2635 / Federally-recognized area

Pala

The full tribal profile includes the report map, demographic tables, broadband tables, FCC provider sections, and interactive charts.

85.1%25/3 availability

80.5%100/20 availability

0.0%1000/100 availability

7Fixed providers

Figure 1. Location of Pala within California, with boundary detail (inset).

About the Tribal Area

Pala Reservation is a reservation in California associated with this federally recognized tribe, and it spans about 21 square miles. The latest FCC BDC filing shows 7 fixed providers and 4 mobile providers across roughly 579 service locations, with current availability of 85.1% at 25/3 Mbps, and 80.5% at 100/20.

Tribal Area Description

Pala is a federally recognized tribe in California with tribal lands. The land base is relevant for broadband planning due to rural service coverage and middle-mile access constraints.

Website Summary: www.palatribe.com

The Pala website provides information about tribal government, community services, and local resources. The site includes sections on Skip to left sidebar, Skip to right sidebar, and Skip to footer. The homepage currently emphasizes practical information and community updates more than a long historical overview.

Table 1. Demographics

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Population	1,117	1,129	1,000	988	924	914
Households	340	364	335	296	267	254
Median age	31.2	32.2	34.0	31.7	31.5	29.9
Male / Female	45.7% / 54.3%	43.4% / 56.6%	44.8% / 55.2%	43.2% / 56.8%	44.3% / 55.7%	44.7% / 55.3%
Avg. household size	3.29	3.10	2.99	3.34	3.46	3.60
Pop. density (per sq mi)	49.9	50.4	44.6	44.1	41.2	40.8
HH density (per sq mi)	15.2	16.3	14.9	13.2	11.9	11.3

Table 2. Economic & Education

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Median household income	$94,444	$93,571	$91,806	$91,875	$90,938	$106,250
Per capita income	$37,442	$38,913	$38,688	$37,680	$36,142	$37,403
Poverty rate	15.7%	12.3%	10.8%	13.2%	12.3%	12.7%
Unemployment rate	17.2%	9.5%	7.1%	7.5%	5.3%	8.3%
HS diploma or higher	46.9%	46.2%	44.9%	40.3%	42.0%	43.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.5%	4.1%	4.9%	5.1%	6.1%	7.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Queried by AIANNHCE code. Population and household density are calculated from Census population or households divided by land area in square miles.

Table 3. Download/Upload Speeds (Mbps)

Period	Download	Upload
2019Q1	18.8 Mbps	14.1 Mbps
2019Q2	18.1 Mbps	7.4 Mbps
2019Q3	22.6 Mbps	16.3 Mbps
2019Q4	10.0 Mbps	13.9 Mbps
2020Q1	11.8 Mbps	22.7 Mbps
2020Q2	11.0 Mbps	4.8 Mbps
2020Q3	9.8 Mbps	19.1 Mbps
2020Q4	8.3 Mbps	14.0 Mbps
2021Q1	43.0 Mbps	8.1 Mbps
2021Q2	54.3 Mbps	2.4 Mbps
2021Q3	252.5 Mbps	149.2 Mbps
2021Q4	337.4 Mbps	170.4 Mbps
2022Q1	288.5 Mbps	99.6 Mbps
2022Q2	136.8 Mbps	48.0 Mbps
2022Q3	146.0 Mbps	54.3 Mbps
2022Q4	169.6 Mbps	94.9 Mbps
2023Q1	189.3 Mbps	89.6 Mbps
2023Q2	156.9 Mbps	67.1 Mbps
2023Q3	180.8 Mbps	64.4 Mbps
2023Q4	255.9 Mbps	97.9 Mbps
2024Q1	323.5 Mbps	154.7 Mbps
2024Q2	105.8 Mbps	36.0 Mbps
2024Q3	199.5 Mbps	89.6 Mbps

Table 4. Coverage by Tier (%)

Year	25/3	100/20	1 Gbps
2015	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2016	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2017	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2019	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2020	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2021	97.5%	26.5%	0.0%
2022	51.1%	8.5%	0.0%
2023	69.3%	66.2%	0.0%
2024	85.1%	80.5%	0.0%

Table 5. Adoption (%)

Year	All households	Low-income households
2017	22.7%	66.0%
2018	34.7%	67.2%
2019	44.7%	64.7%
2020	56.3%	53.7%
2021	64.2%	53.8%
2022	72.6%	47.4%
2023	78.7%	50.0%
2024	85.8%	75.0%

Table 6. Current Status (2024, %)

Tier	Coverage
25/3 Mbps	85.1%
100/20 Mbps	80.5%
1 Gbps	0.0%

Table 7. Comparison with National Averages (%)

Metric	Tribal	National
25/3 Mbps	85.1%	92%
100/20 Mbps	80.5%	85%
Adoption	85.8%	78%

Sources: FCC Broadband Data Collection, Ookla Open Data Initiative, and U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates. National benchmarks are carried over from the report comparison section.

Figure 2. Speed Trends (2019–2024)

Figure 3. Availability (2015–2025)

Figure 4. Adoption (2017–2024)

Figure 5. Current Status (2024)

Figure 6. Comparison with National Averages

Figure 7. Fixed Coverage by Technology (25/3 Mbps)

Figure 8. Mobile Area Coverage

Notes: speed trends reflect quarterly mean throughput. Availability shows the share of population with access. Tooltips on the charts expose the underlying values for each series.

Table 8. Broadband Provider Summary

Metric	Value
Fixed broadband providers	7
Mobile broadband providers	4
Broadband serviceable locations	579

Table 9. Broadband Providers

Fixed	Mobile
AT&T Inc.	AT&T Inc.
T-Mobile USA, Inc.	T-Mobile USA, Inc.
EchoStar Corporation	Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon Communications Inc.	Dish Network Corporation
San Diego Broadband	—
Viasat, Inc.	—
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	—

Table 10. Fixed Coverage by Technology (% of locations)

Technology	25/3	100/20	250/25	1 Gbps
Any Technology	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%
Fiber	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Cable	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Fixed Wireless	71.2%	62.9%	62.9%	0.0%
Copper (DSL)	0.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Satellite	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%

Table 11. Mobile Coverage (% of area)

Technology	Coverage
4G LTE	97.4%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 1)	91.4%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 2)	80.7%
Total area (sq mi)	47.926

Table 8. Coverage by Tier and Technology (% of locations)

Dec. 2022

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25
All Fixed Wireless	97.1	93.4	92.1	76.3	75.1
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	49.5	34.0	30.5	10.8	0.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	76.3	75.1
Any Terrestrial	97.1	93.4	92.1	76.3	75.1
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Copper	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	49.5	34.0	30.3	10.8	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	89.9	89.9	89.6	75.1	75.1

June 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20
All Fixed Wireless	59.0	58.5	54.4	54.2
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
All Wired	0.7	0.4	0.4	0.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	59.0	58.5	54.8	54.2
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Any Terrestrial	59.0	58.5	54.8	54.2
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Copper	0.7	0.4	0.4	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	59.0	58.5	54.4	54.2
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	1.3	1.3	0.0	0.0

Dec. 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25
All Fixed Wireless	91.1	91.0	90.6	89.8	76.1
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
All Wired	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	67.7	66.0	65.9	62.5	0.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	76.1
Any Terrestrial	91.5	91.0	90.6	89.8	76.1
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Copper	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	67.4	66.0	65.9	62.5	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	76.6	76.6	76.1	76.1	76.1

June 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25
All Fixed Wireless	95.0	94.5	94.2	93.1	75.6
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
All Wired	2.8	2.5	2.5	2.0	2.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	86.5	84.1	84.0	81.3	2.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	77.3
Any Terrestrial	95.5	94.7	94.3	93.3	77.3
Cable	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cable/Fiber	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Copper	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	86.0	84.0	83.8	81.1	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	76.1	76.1	75.6	75.6	75.6

Dec. 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25
All Fixed Wireless	93.6	92.6	92.1	91.6	56.8
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
All Wired	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	85.7	82.7	82.7	81.0	0.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	56.8
Any Terrestrial	94.0	92.6	92.1	91.6	56.8
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Copper	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	85.4	82.7	82.7	81.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	57.5	57.5	56.8	56.8	56.8

June 2025

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25
All Fixed Wireless	78.1	71.3	71.2	62.9	62.9
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
All Wired	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	53.7	34.4	34.2	0.3	0.0
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Any Terrestrial	78.1	71.3	71.2	62.9	62.9
Cable	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Cable/Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Copper	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0
Fiber	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	53.7	34.4	34.2	0.3	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	62.9	62.9	62.9	62.9	62.9

FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 filing vintage. Coverage values show the share of residential broadband serviceable locations by technology and speed tier across D22, J23, D23, J24, D24, and J25 filings.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 Filing (J25). Fixed coverage shows the share of residential broadband serviceable locations, and mobile coverage shows the share of tribal land area.