Massachusetts Water Quality Rankings 2026: Best & Worst Cities

This page ranks the 48 Massachusetts cities whose water systems we have matched to EPA records. Every city starts at 100 points and loses points for health-based EPA violations in the last five years (SDWIS 2026Q2), its most recent Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result, PFAS detected in EPA's 2023–2026 UCMR5 monitoring, and 2012–2019 compliance samples that averaged near or above a limit. Letters follow fixed bands (A ≥90, B ≥80, C ≥70, D ≥60, F below 60). Cities run from the highest score (Springfield) down to the lowest (Medford); ties are ordered by population served. See the full scoring methodology for every deduction and the data vintages. 2 further Massachusetts cities are listed at the bottom without a grade because we have not yet matched them to an EPA water system.

What your city's grade means

An A or B grade points to water that consistently tests within federal safety limits, while a C suggests moderate issues worth watching and a D or F flags contaminants or compliance problems serious enough to act on. These grades describe system-level water leaving the treatment plant — they can't account for your home's own plumbing, so older houses with lead service lines or fixtures can add contaminants after the water arrives. For a contaminant-by-contaminant view, see the Massachusetts contaminant breakdown or drill into the county-level rankings.

What Massachusetts residents should do

• Find your city in the ranking below and open its full report for its violation history, lead results and PFAS table.
• See how Massachusetts compares against the best-rated and worst-rated cities nationwide.
• Test your home's water if you have concerns — the most common issues involve lead, PFAS, and arsenic.
• Check whether your utility still has lead service lines in Massachusetts — EPA's inventory counts lead pipes by water system, a risk that plant-level grades cannot capture. Read the lead guide for testing and filter options.
• If treatment makes sense for your situation, compare certified water filters matched to the contaminants found in your area.

This ranking covers 50 Massachusetts cities. 48 of them are matched to an active EPA-registered community water system (PWSID). Those 47 systems report serving 3,660,245 people in EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS).

Of 48 cities of the 50 Massachusetts cities we can grade from EPA records, 40 cities (83%) grade B or better, 6 sit in the C range and 2 grade D or F. The average score is 91/100. 2 cities are not graded because they have not been matched to an EPA system yet.

EPA records 4 health-based violations in the last five years across 2 cities, and 4 cities still have a health-based violation listed as unresolved. Monitoring and reporting violations (35 in the same window) are paperwork lapses and cost far fewer points.

47 cities have a Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result from 2020 or later: 13 cities at 5 ppb or more.

EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring (2023–2026) covers 45 cities: PFAS were detected in 20 cities, and PFOA or PFOS reached EPA's 4 ppt limit in 13 cities.

Arlington scores highest (100) and Medford lowest (57), a 43-point spread.

The clearest hard data for Massachusetts is EPA's service line inventory, updated 2026-08-18 (Q2 2026). 770 Massachusetts systems inventoried 1,863,955 service lines: 28,562 confirmed lead plus 13,175 galvanized lines requiring replacement, spread across 86 systems. Another 349,972 lines (19%) are still of unknown material, which EPA counts as possible lead until verified.

Of the 45 city-linked Massachusetts utilities with an inventory on file, 42 report at least one lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement line and 3 report no lead with most lines verified. BOSTON WATER AND SEWER COMMISSION (MWRA), which serves Boston and 675,647 people, is the biggest and reports 2,184 lead lines and 265 galvanized requiring replacement. The most lead lines among city-linked systems belong to CITY OF NEW BEDFORD DPI (New Bedford): 5,676.

Our Massachusetts water guide flags PFAS, lead, and disinfection byproducts as the contaminants of regional concern. PFAS (EPA 2024 MCLs of 4.0 ppt for PFOA and PFOS) are linked to immune, developmental, liver and some cancer effects; Lead (EPA action level 0.015 mg/L (15 ppb); health goal 0) harms brain development in children and raises blood pressure and kidney risk in adults; Disinfection byproducts (regulated as TTHM (80 ppb) and HAA5 (60 ppb)) are associated with increased cancer risk over long exposure.

Source water explains a lot of the pattern in Massachusetts. Disinfection byproducts are a surface-water signature: chlorine reacts with organic matter in rivers and reservoirs, so byproducts tend to run higher where systems chlorinate surface water. PFAS are tied to specific sites — industrial discharges, firefighting-foam use at airports and bases — rather than to geology, so contamination is local and can affect either source type. Lead is different again: it enters after treatment from service lines and household plumbing, which is why the inventory figures above matter more than plant-level results. Your utility's Consumer Confidence Report names your source.

The best water quality in Massachusetts is found in Springfield with a score of 100/100 and a grade of A. This puts Springfield among the top-performing cities in the country for drinking water safety.

The most concerning water quality is in Medford scoring 57/100 with a grade of F. Residents may want to consider home water testing and filtration options.

The statewide average score is 91/100, which is 3 points above the national average of 88/100. Over half (67%) of Massachusetts cities score above the national average, though some areas face challenges.