Kentucky vs West Virginia: Whose Tap Water Is Cleaner?
Tap Water Quality in Kentucky (80.5/100) vs West Virginia (82.3/100) — a 2% gap between neighbors, explained with July 2026 data.
Kentucky and West Virginia share a border, but for tap water quality they don't share much else: Kentucky averages 80.5/100 (rank #38 of 51) and West Virginia averages 82.3/100 (rank #31) as of July 2026 — a 2% gap between neighbors.
| Kentucky | West Virginia | U.S. benchmark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality score | 80.5/100 | 82.3/100 | 84.5/100 |
| Violations per water system | 2.3 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
Kentucky in context
Kentucky lands mid-pack for tap water quality: a score of 80.5/100 ranks #38 of 51, and its water systems averaged 2.3 health-based violations each in 2024 — better than the U.S. average of 2.5.
West Virginia in context
West Virginia lands mid-pack for tap water quality: a score of 82.3/100 ranks #31 of 51, though its water systems averaged 3.0 health-based violations each in 2024, worse than the U.S. average of 2.5.
Full local breakdowns: Kentucky · West Virginia · all states ranked.
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