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US households pay 62% more for water than they did a decade ago, study finds
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
420 points (99.3% liked)
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Shocking how the graph of everything else can go up, and yet the pay rates trail behind at a snails pace
The wealth is gonna trickle down any day. Why else would we be keeping the tax rates so low for mega corps and the Uber wealthy?
Household income increased from $56,025 in 2015 to $87,460 in 2025, a 56% increase
Not where I live, still making about what I did 4 years ago. And jobs getting scarce.
Where you live and the national median have almost nothing to do with each other
56% < 62%
If it went up by 56% instead, tracking incomes, it would instead cost $511 instead of $531, a $20 difference
Real household income or nominal?
Because reel household incomes have barely budged since 2020.
Real median household income in 2015 was $74,590, while in 2025 it was $87,460. So real median household income is up 17.25%.
The article doesn't give what the actual average water bill was in 2015, but it says that the average in 2025 for annual water bill was $531. Using the 62% increase we can figure that the average in 2015 would have been $327 per year, which inflation adjusted is $445 in 2025 dollars, a 19.33% increase compared to the 17.25% increase in household incomes.
I guarantee that water bill barely budged prior to the pandemic. I would love to see that graph.
Idk, mine has gone up every year since I have been an adult paying my own bills. And that was loooong before the pandemic.
2020 is the pandemic year, so it's a bit of an exception. Let's start from 2019
2019 nominal was $68,703 which is $86,516 in 2025 dollars which is lower than $87,460, the median income in 2025
And if you say that's a tiny difference, you'd be right. The same way 62% water price increase is not meaningfully more than the 56% increase in household income
Why are you starting before the economic shock? The problem is the economic shock has made real median incomes stagnate.
Because the median income went down during the pandemic, so it would make today's numbers look better by comparison