City ranking · updated 2026-11-09

Cities With the Best Tap Water Records in the US (2026): 50 Large Cities Ranked

50 cities ranked by Purity Score, from public EPA records (EPA UCMR 5 (2024) and Lead and Copper Rule records). It ranks the published record, not which water is safest.

View the ranking Read the methodology

Quick answer

Montgomery and Prince George's (WSSC area), MD ranks first in 2026

Montgomery and Prince George's (WSSC area), MD is first. Oakland, CA, San Diego, CA, Florissant, MO and Gwinnett County, GA follow. Vista, CA and Jurupa Community Sd, CA rank last.

Find your city

The ranking

All 50 ranked cities

Cities serving 100,000+ people without a computed Purity Score are excluded. Smaller systems are not ranked here because hundreds of them tie at 100. Excluded cities are not scored as favourable.

Methodology and limitations

How this snapshot is built

How this snapshot is built
Every US city report serving at least 100,000 people, ordered by the Purity Score of the city's main water system and then by population served. 72 of the 472 qualifying cities show a main-system score of 100/100, so larger systems come first among ties. The score is computed only from contaminants measured in the published EPA record.
Reading the order
A high score means few or no measured exceedances in the record, not a guarantee about any tap. Cities with sparse monitoring can score higher simply because less was tested, and household plumbing can add lead after the water leaves the system.
Exclusions
0 excluded. Cities serving 100,000+ people without a computed Purity Score are excluded. Smaller systems are not ranked here because hundreds of them tie at 100.

Read with care

Comparable does not mean complete.

This ranking compares cities on one measure. It never replaces a full system report, a city-resolution check, or a certified household test, and missing monitoring is excluded, never scored as favourable.

Find my water system