2014

State Fluoridation Percentage Calculations and States Ranked by Fluoridation Percentage

Footnotes

*The 2014 water fluoridation statistics have been revised because populations that were served by consecutive water systems serving multiple counties were counted twice. This calculation error resulted in states having a higher population count for people receiving fluoridated water. A consecutive water system purchases wholesale water from an adjacent water system. Very few consecutive water systems serve people in different counties. For the few states where this is a factor, the changes to the column, "persons receiving fluoridated water," were small. However, there are more consecutive water systems in Connecticut and New York, so the changes in those two states were larger and are noted in their state fluoridation percentage calculations and in the state rankings.

a. Census Population Count 2014. Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2014, (NST-EST2012-01). Source: US Census Bureau, Population Division. Release Date: December 2014. Available at http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2014/index.html.

b. Reported in CDC Water Fluoridation Reporting System (WFRS). For purposes of this report, a water system is considered a community water system if so designated by the state drinking water administrator in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the US Environmental Protection Agency. In general, public water systems provide water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances to at least 15 service connections, or serve an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year. A community water system is a public water system that supplies water to the same population year-round. Available at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/pws/factoids.cfm.

c. Fluoridated population divided by total population.

d. Fluoridated population divided by population served by community water systems.

e. The increase from 2012 to 2014 in the population served by CWS with naturally occurring fluoride at or above optimal levels likely resulted from inclusion, for the first time, of the number of persons served by these systems in California as reported in WFRS.  The total number of persons receiving fluoridated water in California was based on state data and may not fully reflect this increase derived from WFRS data.

f . Population served by CWS exceeded the US Census state population estimate; number of people was reduced by the ratio of the population estimate to the CWS population estimate.

g. Complete data were not available from WFRS; state provided additional information.

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