# Very large water systems — rate and finance benchmark

> **Cite as:** Municorn.us, "Very large water systems — rate and finance benchmark", Municorn water loss index, https://municorn.us/benchmark/very-large-systems/ (source filings retrieved 2026-09-12).
> **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ — reuse and redistribution are permitted with attribution to Municorn.us and a link to this URL.
> **Caveat that must travel with these figures:** "Water loss" is at least three different quantities depending on the jurisdiction, and nothing here supports a comparison between states.

EPA calls a system very large by the population it serves. 485 systems in this study are in that category, and 485 are published in full.

| Metric | n | p10 | median | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual residential water bill at 72 HCF | 69 | $356 | $568 | $887 |
| Water utility revenue per connection | 291 | $432 | $738 | $1,573 |
| Water utility operating cost per connection | 287 | $247 | $482 | $1,207 |
| Water utility capital spending per connection | 215 | $66 | $234 | $690 |
| Operating cost as a share of revenue | 288 | 0.42 | 0.63 | 0.99 |
| Annual water bill as a share of median household income | 69 | 0.35% | 0.60% | 0.86% |
| Median household income in the service territory | 466 | $58,651 | $83,030 | $129,112 |

_Municorn.us · https://municorn.us/benchmark/very-large-systems/ · CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · source filings retrieved 2026-09-12_