Off-grid living means replacing some or all public utilities with private systems. The available figures describe the scale of that transition: water sources, septic treatment, private wells, remote electricity, and basic household facilities. The time periods matter. The state water figures below come from the 1990 Census, while several other measures are later estimates or research findings from federal agencies.
Contents
- Water sources in the 1990 Census
- Where public water was less common
- Septic systems and decentralized wastewater
- Private wells and drinking-water risk
- The cost logic of off-grid power
- Solar electricity in context
- Basic facilities and preparedness
Water sources in the 1990 Census
The Census 1990 source-of-water table offers a historical baseline for how U.S. housing units connected to water infrastructure. In that year, 84.2% of U.S. housing units were served by a public water system. An additional 14.8% used an individual water source. Within that individual-source category, 13.2% used an individual drilled well and 1.6% used an individual dug well. Another 1.0% used some other water source or a private well company.
These figures are useful for understanding the infrastructure an off-grid household may be replacing. A drilled well, dug well, or other private source is not the same as a fully independent water system: the source still needs access, equipment, maintenance, and a way to make water safe for its intended use. The 1990 figures also should not be read as a current national estimate. They are historical measurements from the Census 1990 source-of-water table.
The gap between public systems and individual sources was substantial nationally, but it varied widely by state. In the 1990 Census, public-water service ranged from 50.9% of housing units in Vermont to 99.9% in the District of Columbia. The following comparison shows selected low and high values from the supplied state figures.
| State or area | Housing units on public water, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Vermont | 50.9% |
| Maine | 53.2% |
| New Hampshire | 60.3% |
| Alaska | 65.6% |
| North Carolina | 65.4% |
| Idaho | 70.0% |
| West Virginia | 72.1% |
| Connecticut | 77.7% |
| California | 95.4% |
| Utah | 95.8% |
| Hawaii | 97.6% |
| District of Columbia | 99.9% |
Source: Census 1990 source of water table.
Where public water was less common
The state figures show why location is central to off-grid planning. In 1990, fewer than seven in ten housing units were on public water in Alaska, North Carolina, Montana, and Wisconsin: 65.6% in Alaska, 65.4% in North Carolina, 65.5% in Montana, and 66.5% in Wisconsin. Idaho was at 70.0%, Michigan at 70.5%, West Virginia at 72.1%, Minnesota at 73.0%, and Indiana at 74.1%.
Other states had higher public-water shares. Public systems served 76.1% of Virginia housing units, 76.2% in Delaware, 77.2% in South Carolina, 78.1% in Pennsylvania, and 79.0% in North Dakota. The share was 80.6% in Kentucky, 80.7% in Oregon, 81.1% in Iowa, 81.3% in Georgia, 81.5% in Arkansas, 82.4% in Ohio, 82.8% in Maryland, and 83.0% in Nebraska.
The 80%-to-90% range included Missouri at 83.6%, New Mexico at 83.1%, South Dakota at 81.4%, Tennessee and Washington at 85.7%, Florida at 86.9%, Oklahoma at 87.0%, Alabama at 87.1%, Mississippi at 87.3%, New York at 87.6%, Rhode Island at 88.8%, Louisiana at 89.0%, Illinois at 89.8%, Kansas at 89.5%, and New Jersey at 89.6%.
At the higher end, Colorado and Massachusetts each stood at 91.0% or 91.6%, Texas at 91.6%, Nevada at 92.5%, Arizona at 94.5%, California at 95.4%, Utah at 95.8%, Hawaii at 97.6%, and the District of Columbia at 99.9%. These are percentages of housing units on public water in 1990, not current off-grid population counts and not forecasts.
Septic systems and decentralized wastewater
Wastewater is a separate part of utility independence. The EPA says more than one in five U.S. households depend on individual onsite or small community cluster septic systems to treat wastewater. In another EPA description, nearly one in four U.S. households depends on an individual septic system or small community cluster system. A separate EPA research figure places the share at approximately 20% of U.S. households.
The wording and estimates differ across the EPA materials, so they should not be combined into one exact percentage. Together, they indicate that decentralized wastewater treatment serves a large minority of households. The EPA also says more than 60 million people in the United States are served by septic systems.
State figures show an even wider range. Septic systems account for about 55% of homes in Vermont, about 48% of homes in North Carolina, about 40% of homes in Kentucky, and about 40% of homes in South Carolina. California is much lower in the supplied EPA comparison, at about 10% of homes. These figures describe homes, while the national figures above use households or people, so the measures are not directly interchangeable.
Decentralized treatment also remains relevant to new construction. The EPA says about one-third of all new development is served by septic or other decentralized treatment systems. For someone evaluating rural property, that statistic makes wastewater capacity part of the initial site question rather than an afterthought. The relevant source labels are EPA septic systems overview and EPA small wastewater systems.
Private wells and drinking-water risk
Private wells are another major part of the off-grid utility picture. The EPA estimates that more than 23 million households rely on private wells for drinking water. It also reports that around 15% of the U.S. population, or over 43 million people, rely on private wells for drinking water. The USGS gives a related estimate of nearly 40 million people relying on a domestic private well for drinking-water supply.
The EPA and USGS figures use different estimates and should remain distinct. The EPA measure refers to households and a population estimate, while the USGS figure refers to people using domestic private wells. Neither figure is a count of people living fully off the electrical or public-water grid.
The USGS says self-supplied domestic water sources served approximately 13% of the nation’s population as of 2015. That measurement date is important: it is a 2015 estimate, not a 2026 forecast. The USGS domestic well database includes 5,982,715 wells, with records spanning 1680 to 2024. A database record count is not the same as the number of currently active wells or households.
Water quality is also a measurable preparedness issue. An EPA-cited USGS study of 2,100 private wells found that about one in five wells contained at least one contaminant above a human-health benchmark for drinking water. The finding concerns the sampled wells and the benchmark used in that study; it does not mean that exactly 20% of every private well in the country has the same result. Source labels: EPA private wells and USGS updated locations of domestic well use.
The cost logic of off-grid power
Electricity choices can change when a home is far from existing infrastructure. The Department of Energy says extending a power line to the grid can cost $15,000 to $50,000 per mile in remote locations. That range helps explain why stand-alone systems can be competitive in remote areas: the comparison is not only between a solar array and a utility bill, but also between a stand-alone system and the cost of reaching the grid.
The DOE describes stand-alone renewable energy systems as an option for locations where grid extension is difficult or expensive. The Energy Information Administration similarly says dispersed generation is off-grid and is often used for remote applications where grid-connected electricity is cost-prohibitive. These statements describe a use case, not a claim that off-grid generation is always cheaper.
Distance is therefore a key variable. A property close to existing distribution infrastructure may face a different economic decision from a remote property several miles away. The supplied DOE source is Off-grid or stand-alone renewable energy systems, and the EIA source is Modeling distributed generation in buildings.
Solar electricity in context
Photovoltaic power has served remote locations for decades. The EIA says that by the late 1970s, PV panels were already providing electricity in remote off-grid locations without electric power lines. That historical fact establishes that remote solar use predates the recent expansion of residential and utility-scale PV.
The EIA reports that utility-scale PV generation rose from 6 million kilowatt-hours in 2004 to about 162 billion kilowatt-hours in 2023. Small-scale grid-connected PV generation rose from 11 billion kilowatt-hours in 2014 to about 74 billion kilowatt-hours in 2023. These are generation totals, and the utility-scale and small-scale series begin in different years.
In 2023, utility-scale PV power plants accounted for about 69% of total solar electricity generation, while small-scale PV systems accounted for about 31%. Utility-scale solar thermal-electric power plants accounted for about 1% of total solar electricity generation. The categories are not a direct measure of off-grid homes: the small-scale figure specifically describes grid-connected PV, while off-grid systems are a separate use case. See EIA photovoltaics and electricity and EIA where solar is found.
Basic facilities and preparedness
Off-grid living is not identical to lacking basic household facilities. The Census Bureau’s latest ACS estimate says 0.4% of U.S. households lack complete plumbing facilities. The latest ACS estimate for households lacking complete kitchen facilities is 0.8%, and the estimate for households with no telephone service available is 0.9%.
Those three measures are small shares of U.S. households, but they describe different conditions from voluntary utility independence. A household can use a private well or septic system and still have complete plumbing and kitchen facilities. Conversely, a household lacking complete facilities may face infrastructure limitations that are not part of an intentional off-grid plan.
For everyday preparedness, the statistics point to several distinct questions: Is water supplied publicly or privately? Is wastewater handled by a septic or small community system? How many people depend on the well, and what evidence supports water quality? How far is the property from the grid, and what would a remote line extension cost? The figures do not answer those site-specific questions, but they show why water, wastewater, power, and basic facilities need separate planning.
Source: Census ACS plumbing page.