For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, study co-author says
US households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.
Food & Water Watch, a Washington DC-based non-profit, 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. The study does not include wastewater or storm water charges, which are often billed separately from drinking water service.
In 2025, the average household using 60,000 gallons of water paid $531 for drinking water service, according to the study. However, costs varied widely, with annual bills ranging from $133 at the cheapest system to $1,416 at the most expensive.
Household income increased from $56,025 in 2015 to $87,460 in 2025, a 56% increase
Real household income or nominal?
Because reel household incomes have barely budged since 2020.
2020 is the pandemic year, so it’s a bit of an exception. Let’s start from 2019
2019 nominal was $68,703 which is $86,516 in 2025 dollars which is lower than $87,460, the median income in 2025
And if you say that’s a tiny difference, you’d be right. The same way 62% water price increase is not meaningfully more than the 56% increase in household income
56% < 62%
If it went up by 56% instead, tracking incomes, it would instead cost $511 instead of $531, a $20 difference
Not where I live, still making about what I did 4 years ago. And jobs getting scarce.
Where you live and the national median have almost nothing to do with each other