The exact findings break down as follows:
- The 73% Urban Share: In her seminal study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), lead researcher Dr Katie Meehan and her team found that 73% of all U.S. households lacking complete plumbing are located within metropolitan areas. This dispelled the long-held myth that plumbing poverty is an exclusively rural or isolated issue. [1, 2, 3]
- The 47% Concentration: The exact same peer-reviewed study established that nearly half (47%) of all unplumbed households in the country are concentrated specifically within the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas. [1, 2]
Why These Metrics Surprised Researchers
When the data was first published, it shifted the entire conversation on water insecurity in America. For decades, federal infrastructure spending heavily prioritized laying pipes in tiny rural towns with populations under 1,000. [1, 2, 3]
However, this data proved that the modern crisis is heavily driven by urban housing affordability. The 47% concentration in major cities doesn't exist because those cities lack water main lines; it exists because low-income renters are being squeezed into substandard apartments, illegal sub-lets, or manufactured homes where landlords refuse to maintain the indoor plumbing, or where water utilities have been disconnected due to unpaid bills. [1, 2, 3]
According to the latest longitudinal data published in Nature Cities and PNAS by Dr Katie Meehan’s research team at King's College London, the problem is no longer confined just to a few historically under-plumbed areas. [1]
Since the 2008 global financial crash and intensifying through recent years, plumbing poverty has been expanding in scope and severity across a much broader and more diverse typology of American cities. [1]
The data tracks two distinct patterns: the specific cities where the problem is surging and expanding the fastest, and the cities that maintain the highest percentage baseline of households cut off from water infrastructure.
1. Cities Where Plumbing Poverty is Expanding the Fastest
The newest research reveals that the crisis has broken out of the traditional "coastal elite" tech hubs and is growing rapidly in cities experiencing modern, severe housing affordability crises and a "reproductive squeeze" (stagnant wages coupled with spiking living costs). [1]
The cities seeing the sharpest upward trajectories and surges in recent years include: [1]
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Houston, Texas
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Nashville, Tennessee [1, 2, 3]
In these fast-growing metros, the issue is heavily driven by working-poor renters and utility shut-offs. Landlords pricing out low-income tenants or refusing to invest in mandatory pipe maintenance has caused unplumbed numbers to rise. [1, 2, 3]
2. Cities with the Highest Overall Rates (Proportion)
When measuring the percentage of a city's total housed population that lacks basic hot and cold running water or indoor bathing facilities, a distinct group of wealthy, high-inequality cities leads the nation: [1, 2]
| National Rank | Metropolitan Area | Key Data Insight from the Research |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Francisco, CA | Holds the highest proportion in the U.S. (affecting 0.9% of all households). Renters make up 90% of these cases, and unplumbed Black households spiked by 50%. |
| #2 | Portland, OR | One of the fastest-worsening profiles; heavily tied to renters paying 40-50% of their income on rent for substandard dwellings. |
| #3 | Milwaukee, WI | Experiencing deep structural disparities. The average unplumbed family here spends roughly 49% of their monthly income on rent alone. |
| #4 | San Antonio, TX | High relative numbers driven by stark geographic divides and historical infrastructure gaps. |
| #5 | Austin, TX | A booming tech economy that has simultaneously created a massive wealth gap, accelerating plumbing poverty since 2000. |
3. The Sheer Population Centers
While the cities above have the worst rates or fastest growth, the absolute highest number of individual people trapped in plumbing poverty remains concentrated in America's largest, most expensive hubs: [1]
New York City: Continues to lead the nation with an estimated 65,000 individuals living in homes without complete indoor plumbing.
The Disproportionate Racial Impact
A core conclusion of Dr Meehan's research is that the urban expansion of plumbing poverty is profoundly racialised. In 12 of the 15 largest U.S. cities, people of colour represent the vast majority of those living without running water. For example, the share of unplumbed residents who are individuals of colour stands at 82% in Los Angeles, 79% in Miami, 74% in San Francisco, and 71% in Houston. [1, 2]
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