Food & Water Watch report finds US household water bills up 62% from 2015 to 2025

Left · 2The nonprofit Food & Water Watch released a report on Tuesday 6 October 2026 saying the average community water system raised household drinking water prices by 62 percent between 2015 and 2025. 1 2 Left · 2The group analysed 2025 billing data for the 500 largest community water systems, which serve more than 155 million people (45 percent of the country), and compared it with household bills from 2015. 1 2 Left · 2Bills were calculated for 60,000 gallons a year, the estimated annual household use; the average was $531 in 2025, against about $336 in 2015 (about $457 in 2025 dollars). The study did not cover wastewater or stormwater bills. 1 2

Left · 1Inside Climate News reported that water prices rose faster than inflation, grocery prices and median household income, with particularly steep rises in Louisiana, Maryland and New Hampshire. In Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia, bills grew about twice as fast as state median household incomes, and in New Hampshire nearly five times as fast. 1 Left · 1Prices varied widely. San Jose, California, had the highest in the report at $1,416 a year in 2025, up 163% in a decade according to CBS News, which says it is served by the private San Jose Water. The lowest was Hempstead, New York, at $133. Idaho had the lowest state average ($286) and West Virginia the highest ($1,383 across its two largest systems, owned by American Water). 2 Left · 2California accounted for 52 percent of the 25 most expensive systems despite making up 18 percent of the 500 systems studied. According to CBS News, systems run by for-profit corporations charged an average of $823 in 2025, $329 more than public systems. 1 2

Left · 2Food & Water Watch attributes rising costs to utilities investing in ageing infrastructure and adapting to climate change, and expects droughts, severe weather, data centres and large-scale farming to push costs up further. Kristin Dobbin of UC Berkeley, who was not involved, also cited inflation, treatment-chemical supply chains stressed by COVID-19 and deteriorating infrastructure. 2 1 Left · 2Both outlets cite an EPA estimate that drinking water systems need $625 billion in upgrades; Inside Climate News says over the next twenty years and CBS News says over the next two years. Inside Climate News adds that the American Water Works Association puts the figure nearer $960 billion. CBS cites the American Society of Civil Engineers saying Congress has appropriated at least $1 billion below authorised levels for a federal state water-infrastructure fund since fiscal year 2022. 1 2 Left · 1Mary Grant, the group's water policy director, said water bills in places like West Virginia are becoming unaffordable for a typical household and called for federal action. The report recommends banning water privatisation, holding polluters accountable and restoring federal funding. 1

Left · 1Jenn Kocher of the National Association of Water Companies, which represents regulated private water companies, said affordability is a legitimate challenge but that rising bills reflect sector-wide cost pressures, not ownership models. She said rate comparisons should account for actual household usage, assistance programmes, reliability and water quality compliance. She had not reviewed the full report because of an embargo. 1 Left · 1David Lapp of the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel said most of Maryland’s customers are served by municipal systems, and that rates for some of the state's 22 small private water companies, mostly in rural areas, have risen substantially in recent years. 1