Drinking-water safety · Lead (90th-percentile)
Big Cities With the Lowest Lead Levels
Among large city water systems, those with the lowest most-recent 90th-percentile lead result — the cleanest big-city tap water for lead.
San Diego leads "Big Cities With the Lowest Lead Levels" at 0 ppb.
| # | City | Lead (90th-percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego 1,385,379 served | 0 ppb |
| 2 | Norfolk 234,220 served | 0 ppb |
| 3 | San Jose 1,039,920 served | 0 ppb |
| 4 | Austin 1,115,323 served | 0 ppb |
| 5 | Charlotte 1,163,701 served | 0 ppb |
| 6 | Oklahoma City 644,000 served | 0 ppb |
| 7 | Albuquerque 560,326 served | 0 ppb |
| 8 | Fresno 545,716 served | 0 ppb |
| 9 | Sacramento 527,979 served | 0 ppb |
| 10 | Virginia Beach 437,994 served | 0 ppb |
| 11 | Raleigh 640,000 served | 0 ppb |
| 12 | Oakland 1,442,800 served | 0 ppb |
| 13 | Cleveland 1,308,955 served | 0 ppb |
| 14 | Honolulu 631,389 served | 0 ppb |
| 15 | Anaheim 348,593 served | 0 ppb |
Method: Lower is better. Limited to systems serving 200,000+ people with a reported lead sample. EPA action level is 15 ppb.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) · 2026 Q1 refresh; violations since 2016