Water Affordability Report: Multi – City Case Study New Jersey 2026
ABOUT THIS REPORT
Water affordability and infrastructure challenges are connected. We need to invest in water infrastructure to maintain it, and we also need to fund those investments in ways that ensure people can afford to pay their water bills as part of their overall household expenses. An estimated one-fifth of all New Jersey households struggle to afford their water and sewer bills. Unaffordable water bills threaten savings, wealth building, critical expenditures, and access to water as unpaid bills may incur compounding interest and penalties that make it harder to pay off the debt, ultimately leading to shut-offs and tax lien sales.
Multifaceted solutions are needed to address the water affordability problem, potentially including improved rate structures, state- and federal-level infrastructure financing, more efficient utility operations, reduced in home water use, leakage detection, and household assistance programs. Permanent solutions in this area can have far- reaching benefits. These include strengthening the ability to build savings and retain wealth at the household level, reducing the financial strain of tradeoffs between paying utility bills versus food or medicines, and ensuring access to basic needs such as clean drinking water and effective sewerage and stormwater services at the community level. Increasing the percentage of households that can routinely pay their bills also supports sustained progress of existing infrastructure projects such as lead service line removal, pipeline rehabilitation, improved treatment facilities, and combined sewer overflow controls, which are vital community infrastructure and have long-term health and economic benefits.
This report analyzes affordability challenges in water and sewer utilities across five New Jersey municipalities—Trenton, Paterson, Newark, Camden, and Atlantic City. It contextualizes the socio-economic profiles of these cities alongside the operational, financial, and regulatory issues facing their water and sewer systems. It also captures community resident stories of how water affordability affects them. The aim is to inform stakeholders about the complexities of utility service provision, regional disparities, and the financial impact on residents, particularly low- income households. Household affordability stresses identified in this report exist across all forms of utility ownership – municipal, utility authority, regional commission, and private sector – and are driven by a combination of combined utility rates (i.e., water and sewer services), cost of living, and household income.
