The Washington DC based nonprofit analyzed 2025 billing data from the 500 largest community water systems in the US, which together serve about 155 million people, or 45% of the country's population. The analysis compared current rates with data from a similar Food & Water Watch survey conducted in 2015, and excluded wastewater and storm water charges, which are often billed separately.
In 2025, the average household using 60,000 gallons of water paid $531 for drinking water service. Annual bills ranged from $133 at the cheapest system to $1,416 at the most expensive.
Water prices rose 1.6 times faster than overall inflation between 2015 and 2025. Consumer prices increased 39% over that period, compared with a 62% jump in water bills. Water costs rose more than twice as fast as groceries, up 30%, and eggs, up 28%. Bills also increased 19% more than the national median household income between 2014 and 2024.
Mary Grant, Food & Water Watch's water program director and a co-author of the study, said: "Water bills are increasing much faster than many households can keep up with and these escalating water costs impact every corner of the country. Low-income households are being hit the hardest. Corporate water abuses, federal disinvestment and climate change are supercharging water rate hikes across the country."
The increases varied sharply by state. Water bills in New Hampshire jumped 177% over the decade, followed by Oregon at 114% and West Virginia at 95%. In Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia, water bills grew at roughly twice the rate of state median household incomes, while in New Hampshire they increased nearly five times faster.
The study found a major disparity between publicly owned and for-profit systems. Corporate-owned utilities charged the average household $823 a year, compared with $494 for public systems, a difference of 67%. Corporate systems made up just 11% of the 500 systems studied but represented 44% of the 25 most expensive, and 70% of the top 10 were for-profit. California accounted for 52% of the 25 most expensive systems. By contrast, all 25 of the least expensive systems were publicly owned, about 60% of them in the south, including many in Florida and Georgia.
Affordability remains a concern for low-income households. Water bills exceeded the study's affordability threshold, defined as more than 1.5% of income for the poorest fifth of households, in 93% of systems. Only Idaho and Utah stayed below the threshold. West Virginia and Puerto Rico faced the heaviest financial burdens, the study found.