United States
Safe to drink. With a score of 90/100, tap water is well treated and safe to drink as it comes. WHO/UNICEF monitoring puts safely-managed drinking water at 97.6% of the population.
Can you…
Source → Tap
Modern network · well-maintainedTap water safety by US state
Scores below are EPA drinking-water compliance for each state’s community water systems, weighted by population served. Pick a state for the detail.
Can you drink the tap water in United States?
Last reviewed September 2026
United States scores 90/100 on our water-safety index — safe to drink. With a score of 90/100, tap water is well treated and safe to drink as it comes. WHO/UNICEF monitoring puts safely-managed drinking water at 97.6% of the population. Scores above 70 mean tap water is generally safe to drink. 40–69 means treat it with caution — filtering or bottled water is wise. Below 40 means it’s best avoided straight from the tap.
Ice, brushing your teeth & cooking: what’s safe in United States?
- Drinkable?
- Yes — tap water is safe to drink straight from the faucet.
- Brush teeth?
- Yes — brushing your teeth with tap water is perfectly fine.
- Ice?
- Yes — ice made from tap water is safe.
- Cooking?
- Yes — cooking and rinsing produce with tap water is safe.
Should you boil the tap water in United States?
In United States there's no routine reason to boil tap water before drinking it. Keep boiling in reserve for an official advisory or water drawn from a well rather than the public supply. More on what boiling does and doesn’t remove.
Do you need bottled water or a filter in United States?
There's no safety reason to buy bottled water in United States; the tap is fine and a refillable bottle saves money and plastic. People who buy it do so for taste or convenience.
In United States, filtering is optional and about taste, not safety: a cheap carbon jug softens any chlorine note, but the tap water is fine without it.
Waterborne illness risk in United States
The public supply in United States is not a meaningful source of waterborne illness; normal hygiene matters more than the tap does. See CDC food & water precautions.
Worried about a specific tap? How to tell if your tap water is contaminated.
Water treatment & pipe infrastructure in United States
United States relies on advanced multi-stage treatment, delivered through a modern network — well-maintained. That puts the practical contamination risk between source and tap at low. Even where water leaves the plant clean, aging mains and rooftop storage are where quality most often slips.
Common questions about tap water in United States
Can you drink tap water in United States?+
United States scores 90/100 on our water-safety index — safe to drink. Yes — tap water is safe to drink straight from the faucet.
Is it safe to brush your teeth with tap water in United States?+
Yes — brushing your teeth with tap water is perfectly fine.
Is ice safe to use in drinks in United States?+
Yes — ice made from tap water is safe.
Is tap water in United States safe for cooking?+
Yes — cooking and rinsing produce with tap water is safe.
Data & sources
Official monitoring (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2024) puts safely-managed drinking water access in United States at 97.6%. Access to a safe source isn’t the same as tap-drinkability for visitors — our 90/100 score weights traveler drinkability, informed by this data.
- WHO/UNICEF JMP — 97.6% safely managed (2024)
- World Bank · safely managed drinking water (SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS)
- CDC · food & water safety for travelers
Read the full methodology — how the 0–100 score is built and what it does (and doesn’t) mean.
More countries in North America & Caribbean
See the full North America ranking — all 10 countries, safest to least safe.