Soaked: Your Water Bill Has Jumped 62% in a Decade — Twice as Fast as Groceries
A new report tracking the 500 largest U.S. water systems finds bills have outpaced inflation, groceries and even paychecks over the last 10 years, with some cities paying over $1,400 a year.
Americans' water bills have climbed 62% over the past decade, according to a new report from advocacy group Food & Water Watch, rising roughly twice as fast as grocery prices and nearly 19% faster than median household income over the same stretch.
The analysis looked at rates charged by the 500 largest U.S. community water systems, which together serve about 45% of the country's population, and calculated typical annual bills based on 60,000 gallons of household water use, not counting separate wastewater or stormwater charges.
Who's paying the most
The average annual drinking-water bill hit $531 in 2025, but the range between cities is enormous. Hempstead, New York, had the lowest typical bill in the study at $133 a year, while San Jose Water Company in California topped the list at $1,416, according to WaterWorld. More than half of the 25 most expensive systems in the country are in California.
BILLS ARE RISING TWICE AS FAST AS GROCERIES
State by state, the increases varied wildly: New Hampshire's water bills rose 177% over the decade, Oregon's climbed 114% and West Virginia's jumped 95%, per Gizmodo's breakdown of the data.
Why bills keep climbing
The report points to aging pipe infrastructure, tightening water-quality rules, climate-driven supply strain and shrinking federal support for utility upgrades. The EPA has separately estimated the country's drinking-water systems need roughly $625 billion in repairs and upgrades over the next 20 years — costs utilities say inevitably land on customers' bills.
Food & Water Watch also found that for-profit water systems charged households about 67% more on average than publicly owned ones, and the group is using the report to push for tighter limits on water privatization. Those conclusions are the organization's own and reflect its advocacy position, separate from the underlying rate data.
The analysis found bills now exceed an affordability threshold for low-income households in 93% of the systems studied — a gap consumer advocates say will keep widening without new federal investment.