According to a new report analyzing public water system violations, Kentucky has the cleanest tap water in the contiguous United States.
- Kentucky has the cleanest tap water in the contiguous United States, reporting just 22.16 public water system violations per one million residents throughout 2022.
- California and South Carolina come second and third, respectively, with 27.65 and 30.29 violations per one million residents.
- Montana was found to have the least clean tap water, with the equivalent of 724.04 violations per one million residents in 2022.
Health information website Great Green Wall Health analyzed data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to find each of the 48 contiguous states’ total number of public water system (PWS) violations throughout 2022.
The number of PWS violations was then calculated as a proportion of one million residents to give a fairer overview of which contiguous states offer the cleanest tap water.
In first place is Kentucky, which saw just 100 total PWS violations during 2022, the equivalent of 22.16 violations per one million residents. A violation breaches the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements.
Kentucky officials recently, however, had to ease concerns over water contamination due to the spill of hazardous materials from the East Palestine train derailment in the neighboring state of Ohio on February 3, 2023.
Given its larger population, California is in second place, with 1,079 PWS violations in 2022, which translates to 27.65 violations per one million residents.
South Carolina is in third place, with 160 total PWS violations in 2022, equal to 30.29 per one million residents. Despite being one of the states with fewer violations, State Attorney General Alan Wilson filed a lawsuit as recently as August 2023 against several companies, including DuPont and 3M, related to PFAS, also known as the forever chemical, being in public water systems.
In fourth and fifth place are Minnesota and Nebraska, which had 36.56 and 39.64 PWS violations per one million residents, respectively.
In sixth place is Alabama, with 202 total PWS violations in 2022 (39.81 violations per one million residents), while Massachusetts ranked seventh with 288 PWS violations (41.25 violations per one million residents.)
Tennessee and Nevada are in eighth and ninth place, with 42.69 and 49.09 PWS violations per one million residents, respectively.
In tenth place is Maryland, with 319 total violations in 2022 and 51.75 PWS violations per one million residents.
Montana was found to have the least clean tap water of all the contiguous states, with 813 PWS violations in 2022, which, when extrapolated, is the equivalent of 724.04 violations per one million residents.
Contiguous states ranked from least to most public water system (PWS) violations (2022)
| Rank | State | Public water system violations (2022) | Population | Violations per one million residents |
| 1. | Kentucky | 100 | 4,512,310 | 22.16 |
| 2. | California | 1,079 | 39,029,342 | 27.65 |
| 3. | South Carolina | 160 | 5,282,634 | 30.29 |
| 4. | Minnesota | 209 | 5,717,184 | 36.56 |
| 5. | Nebraska | 78 | 1,967,923 | 39.64 |
| 6. | Alabama | 202 | 5,074,296 | 39.81 |
| 7. | Massachusetts | 288 | 6,981,974 | 41.25 |
| 8. | Tennessee | 301 | 7,051,339 | 42.69 |
| 9. | Nevada | 156 | 3,177,772 | 49.09 |
| 10. | Maryland | 319 | 6,164,660 | 51.75 |
| 11. | Virginia | 550 | 8,683,619 | 63.34 |
| 12. | Georgia | 699 | 10,912,876 | 64.05 |
| 13. | Florida | 1,587 | 22,244,823 | 71.34 |
| 14. | Delaware | 84 | 1,018,396 | 82.48 |
| 15. | Mississippi | 272 | 2,940,057 | 92.52 |
| 16. | Rhode Island | 105 | 1,093,734 | 96.00 |
| 17. | Arizona | 729 | 7,359,197 | 99.06 |
| 18. | Utah | 345 | 3,380,800 | 102.05 |
| 19. | Texas | 3,192 | 30,029,572 | 106.30 |
| 20. | Arkansas | 330 | 3,045,637 | 108.35 |
| 21. | New York | 2,141 | 19,677,151 | 108.81 |
| 22. | Illinois | 1,386 | 12,582,032 | 110.16 |
| 23. | North Carolina | 1,232 | 10,698,973 | 115.15 |
| 24. | New Jersey | 1,153 | 9,261,699 | 124.49 |
| 25. | South Dakota | 114 | 909,824 | 125.30 |
| 26. | Louisiana | 589 | 4,590,241 | 128.32 |
| 27. | Iowa | 419 | 3,200,517 | 130.92 |
| 28. | Ohio | 1,622 | 11,756,058 | 137.97 |
| 29. | Missouri | 864 | 6,177,957 | 139.85 |
| 30. | Colorado | 828 | 5,839,926 | 141.78 |
| 31. | Kansas | 447 | 2,937,150 | 152.19 |
| 32. | North Dakota | 124 | 779,261 | 159.13 |
| 33. | Washington | 1,255 | 7,785,786 | 161.19 |
| 34. | Oklahoma | 798 | 4,019,800 | 198.52 |
| 35. | Wisconsin | 1,257 | 5,892,539 | 213.32 |
| 36. | Indiana | 1,520 | 6,833,037 | 222.45 |
| 37. | New Mexico | 478 | 2,113,344 | 226.18 |
| 38. | Michigan | 2,272 | 10,034,113 | 226.43 |
| 39. | Oregon | 1,161 | 4,240,137 | 273.81 |
| 40. | Connecticut | 1,066 | 3,626,205 | 293.97 |
| 41. | New Hampshire | 417 | 1,395,231 | 298.88 |
| 42. | Pennsylvania | 3,957 | 12,972,008 | 305.04 |
| 43. | West Virginia | 677 | 1,775,156 | 381.37 |
| 44. | Wyoming | 267 | 581,381 | 459.25 |
| 45. | Idaho | 910 | 1,939,033 | 469.31 |
| 46. | Maine | 876 | 1,385,340 | 632.34 |
| 47. | Vermont | 424 | 647,064 | 655.27 |
| 48. | Montana | 813 | 1,122,867 | 724.04 |
Methodology:
Data was taken from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that looked at the total number of public water system (PWS) violations each state recorded in 2022. The number of violations per 1 million residents was then calculated (PWS violations / Population x 1,000,000) to give a fairer overview of which states the cleanest tap water. Population figures were taken from 2022 US Census population estimates.
