"Households across the United States are grappling with rising drinking water bills, stretching their ability to make ends meet.” according to a new report by Food & Water Watch, which compiled and analyzed water billing data for the 500 largest community water systems in 2025. 

Some of its findings are startling, for example:

• From 2015 to 2025, household drinking water bills increased faster than inflation, grocery prices, and median household income. The average community water system increased household drinking water bills by 62%.

• Water bills increased 1.6 times the overall inflation rate and more than 2 times the rate for groceries.

• Water bills increased 19% faster than the US median household income, forcing households to spend a higher portion of their stretched income on water.

Of real importance, according to the report, this is an area in which the public sector is able to deliver somewhat more cheaply than for-profit water corporations. In fact, “For-profit water corporations charged typical households an average of $823 for water in 2025, compared to $494 charged by publicly owned systems. This means water corporations charged $329 more for water (67% more) than public systems did.”

That said, there’s abundant pressure on states and localities to maintain necessary upkeep to their water systems. In fact, as the report points out, “Because federal support failed to keep up with the needs of water systems, state and local spending on water infrastructure quadrupled over the past 60 years and forced water systems to fund improvements through rate hikes.”

And things may well get worse.  Food and Water Watch explains that “While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 provided a five-year infusion of water funding, this support ended in fiscal year 2026. Moreover, in 2025, and again in 2026, the Trump administration proposed eliminating the primary source of federal support for local drinking water and wastewater projects altogether, which would cut $2.46 billion in funding, leaving a scant $305 million for states” which are trying to find other sources to keep their water supplies affordable.

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