Minnesota Water Quality Rankings 2026: Best & Worst Cities

This page ranks the 1 Minnesota 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 (Minneapolis) down to the lowest (Minneapolis); ties are ordered by population served. See the full scoring methodology for every deduction and the data vintages.

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 Minnesota contaminant breakdown or drill into the county-level rankings.

What Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota — 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 1 Minnesota cities. 1 of them are matched to an active EPA-registered community water system (PWSID). Those 1 systems report serving 425,300 people in EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS).

Only one Minnesota city in our dataset, Minneapolis, is matched to an EPA water system; it grades A (97/100) on EPA compliance, lead and PFAS records.

None of the graded system has a health-based EPA violation in the last five years; the 1 violation on file in that window is monitoring or reporting lapses.

1 city has a Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile result from 2020 or later: none at 5 ppb or more — every reported result is well below the action level.

EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring (2023–2026) covers 1 city: PFAS were detected in 1 city, all below the 4 ppt PFOA/PFOS limit.

The clearest hard data for Minnesota is EPA's service line inventory, updated 2026-08-18 (Q2 2026). 1,434 Minnesota systems inventoried 1,511,865 service lines: 67,823 confirmed lead plus 19,360 galvanized lines requiring replacement, spread across 235 systems. Another 209,216 lines (14%) are still of unknown material, which EPA counts as possible lead until verified.

Of the 1 city-linked Minnesota utilities with an inventory on file, 1 reports at least one lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement line. The largest, Minneapolis (Minneapolis, 425,300 served), reports 38,341 lead lines and 132 galvanized requiring replacement.

The best water quality in Minnesota is found in Minneapolis with a score of 97/100 and a grade of A. This puts Minneapolis among the top-performing cities in the country for drinking water safety.

The most concerning water quality is in Minneapolis scoring 97/100 with a grade of A. Residents may want to consider home water testing and filtration options.

The statewide average score is 97/100, which is 9 points above the national average of 88/100. A strong majority (100%) of Minnesota cities exceed the national average, indicating generally good water infrastructure across the state.