Yes, but America's population isn't evenly distributed across the entire dry surface area. The population is clustered tightly in cities like it is in many other countries, it's just that the cities are further apart from each other. [1]
The better metric, IMO, is the percentage of people who live in urban vs rural areas. [2] The US is 85.8% urban, which is right in line with other developed countries. Spain is 81.5%. France is 88%.
With this in mind, the expensive part would be the trunk line but America has that. [3] It's missing the last mile, especially in urban areas.
[edit] For the record I don't think it's stupidity, I think deregulation, a lack of competition and a laissez-faire policy attitude allowed a few large players to chronically under-invest in infrastructure. And of course the perennial regulatory capture, with some 16 states literally banning municipal ISPs or making it difficult to set up. Good, cheap fiber to the home is available in Chattanooga, for example, thanks to a city-run utility. They sell city-wide 25Gbit FTTH (!!). [4] That model is illegal in states like Missouri, which itself ranks 43rd in broadband coverage.
[1] https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2021/geo/popul...
[2] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/urban-vs-rural-majority
[3] https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/09/15/166239/first-det...
[4] https://epb.com