Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States
United States: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 100.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States, 2005–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States stood at 100.0%. That is the highest value across all 20 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States peaked at 100.0% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 95.7%, in 2005.
That places United States 1st out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 95.7% | 95.7% | 95.7% | 5 |
| 2010s | 97.5% | 96.0% | 99.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 99.8% | 99.4% | 100.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
- 1 Andorra 100.0% compare
- 1 Armenia 100.0% compare
- 1 Australia 100.0% compare
- 1 Austria 100.0% compare
- 1 Belgium 100.0% compare
- 1 Brazil 100.0% compare
- 1 Denmark 100.0% compare
- 1 Estonia 100.0% compare
- 1 Finland 100.0% compare
- 1 France 100.0% compare
- 1 Germany 100.0% compare
- 1 Greece 100.0% compare
- 1 Greenland 100.0% compare
- 1 Hungary 100.0% compare
- 1 Iceland 100.0% compare
- 1 Israel 100.0% compare
- 1 Netherlands 100.0% compare
- 1 New Zealand 100.0% compare
- 1 Norway 100.0% compare
- 1 Palestine 100.0% compare
- 1 Romania 100.0% compare
- 1 San Marino 100.0% compare
- 1 Slovakia 100.0% compare
- 1 Spain 100.0% compare
- 1 Switzerland 100.0% compare
- 1 Thailand 100.0% compare
- 1 Tokelau 100.0% compare
- 1 Turkmenistan 100.0% compare
- 1 United Arab Emirates 100.0% compare
- 1 United Kingdom 100.0% compare
More environment data for United States
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 5,913 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 17.39 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 257.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 9.47 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 418.87 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 1.54 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 843.36 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 3.59 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 149.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in United States was 100.0% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 95.7% in 2005.
- How does United States rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- United States ranks 1st out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people who use an improved drinking water source, which is either located on their premises, or at a collection point, which takes no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip.