Most Americans consider their access to running water a given.
But according to American Community Survey (ACS) data from the Census Bureau, 522,752 US households lacked complete plumbing access in 2021. Of these households, 347,943 didn’t have a bath or a shower, 419,971 lacked hot or cold running water, and 246,884 had neither.
This lack of access is sometimes known as plumbing poverty. The term is specifically defined to refer to a household that does not have hot and cold running water and/or lacks an indoor bathtub or shower.
How has lack of plumbing changed over time?
Plumbing poverty levels have fluctuated over the past two decades. Between 2019 and 2021, an additional 50,661 American households lacked a bath or shower. Plus, 53,705 more households didn’t have hot or cold running water, and 48,351 additional households lacked both.
The last time plumbing poverty exceeded current levels was in 2011, when 499,903 households were without a bath or a shower, 536,397 households lacked hot or cold running water, and 398,435 households had neither.
usafacts.org
https://usafacts.org/articles/us-households-with-plumbing-poverty/
