A common assumption is that rural areas have worse drinking water than cities. But the data tells a more nuanced story. While small rural water systems face unique capacity challenges, many rural counties have excellent water quality from protected groundwater sources. Conversely, some urban counties struggle with aging infrastructure and industrial legacy contamination.
Using median home value as a rough proxy for urbanization (lower values tend to correlate with more rural counties), we compared water quality between lower-value and higher-value county groups.
Rural vs Urban Water Quality: The Numbers
We split all counties with data into two equal groups based on median home value. Here is how they compare:
| Metric | Lower Home Value Counties | Higher Home Value Counties |
|---|---|---|
| Counties | 1,531 | 1,531 |
| Avg Water Score | 48.1 | 52.1 |
| Avg Health Violations | 28.7 | 27.5 |
Top Water Quality Counties: Lower Home Value Group
These lower home value counties have the best water quality scores:
| Rank | County | State | Score | Grade | Violations | Median Home Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stewart County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $53,000 |
| 2 | Alexander County, Illinois | IL | 86 | B | 0 | $58,700 |
| 3 | Allendale County, South Carolina | SC | 86 | B | 0 | $61,600 |
| 4 | Stanton County, Kansas | KS | 86 | B | 0 | $64,200 |
| 5 | Dickens County, Texas | TX | 86 | B | 0 | $65,000 |
| 6 | Wolfe County, Kentucky | KY | 86 | B | 0 | $66,400 |
| 7 | Wilcox County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $71,200 |
| 8 | Leslie County, Kentucky | KY | 86 | B | 0 | $74,100 |
| 9 | Marlboro County, South Carolina | SC | 86 | B | 0 | $74,500 |
| 10 | Wheeler County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $74,600 |
Top Water Quality Counties: Higher Home Value Group
These higher home value counties have the best water quality scores:
| Rank | County | State | Score | Grade | Violations | Median Home Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum County, Montana | MT | 86 | B | 0 | $173,700 |
| 2 | McIntosh County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $173,900 |
| 3 | Walker County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $173,900 |
| 4 | Kalkaska County, Michigan | MI | 86 | B | 0 | $174,300 |
| 5 | Cleburne County, Arkansas | AR | 86 | B | 0 | $174,600 |
| 6 | Jones County, Georgia | GA | 86 | B | 0 | $174,600 |
| 7 | Ransom County, North Dakota | ND | 86 | B | 0 | $174,800 |
| 8 | Cheboygan County, Michigan | MI | 86 | B | 0 | $175,200 |
| 9 | Johnson County, Tennessee | TN | 86 | B | 0 | $175,500 |
| 10 | Allen County, Kentucky | KY | 86 | B | 0 | $176,300 |
Methodology
Counties are split into two equal groups based on median home value (a proxy for urbanization level, though imperfect). Water quality scores and violation counts are averaged within each group. Top performers within each group are ranked by water quality score. All data comes from EPA SDWIS and Census ACS.
Data source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) Federal Reporting Services, accessed via ECHO API. All figures are estimates based on publicly available compliance data and may differ from other published analyses due to methodology differences.
Data Editor
Evan BrooksData Editor
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- Evan Brooks, Editor