630,000 Occupied US Homes Lack Indoor Plumbing

An article in today’s Washington Post says that there are about 630,000 occupied homes in the US that lack plumbing facilities in the home.

This means that about 1.5 million homeowners do not have either a flush toilet, a bathtub or shower, or hot and cold running water.

According to the article, almost all the counties where homes lack plumbing are rural.  The problem is greatest in Alaska, where up to 40% of homes in some counties lack plumbing. Other states where plumbing is lacking include counties along the Rio Grande in Texas, some counties in Appalachia, particularly in eastern Kentucky and western Virginia, and the southwestern portion of Alabama. South Dakota and Arizona are other places where homes lack complete indoor plumbing.

The Washington Post has a nice interactive chart showing the density (or lack thereof) of installed plumbing in every county in the USA. Hover your mouse over each county to get the details. See the interactive chart here.

The article goes on to say that with almost 630,000 occupied homes without plumbing, it means that there are about 1.5 million people without adequate plumbing. But if you add in the number of homeless Americans – estimated at 13 million people – it means there are almost 15 million people in America living without plumbing. This figure represents almost 4% of the total US population.