What's the Price of Your Household Water?

In this episode, Bluefield's Private Water Analyst Megan Bondar joins host Reese Tisdale to discuss the latest findings on U.S. water and sewer rates. What has changed in 2024? With Bluefield’s ninth annual analysis covering data from 50 of the largest U.S. cities, this episode explores key trends in pricing, affordability challenges, and the factors driving rising household water bills. What you’ll learn in this episode: How much have water rates increased? Household water and sewer bills have climbed 4.6% from 2023 to 2024, and surged 24% in the past five years. What’s behind rising costs? Inflation, aging infrastructure, and slow federal funding distribution are putting financial pressure on utilities and ratepayers. How do rates vary across the U.S.? The Northeast region leads with the highest monthly combined residential bill, while cities like Phoenix and Long Beach offer some of the lowest rates. What are the affordability challenges? In some cities, minimum wage workers must work over 20 hours per month just to cover their water bills, exceeding EPA affordability thresholds. What strategies are utilities using? Tiered rate structures, volumetric surcharges, and infrastructure surcharges are some of the ways utilities are addressing affordability while investing in upgrades. If you enjoy listening to The Future of Water Podcast, please tell a friend or colleague, and if you haven’t already, please click to follow this podcast wherever you listen. If you’d like to be informed of water market news, trends, perspectives and analysis from Bluefield Research, subscribe to Waterline, our weekly newsletter published each Wednesday. Related Research & Analysis: U.S. Municipal Utility Water Rates Index 2024: Drinking Water & Sewer