How Common Are Plumbing Leaks? 1 in 12 US Homes Had One Last Year
The short answer
About 1 in 12 occupied US homes, 11,215,000 or 8.4 percent, had water leak inside from an inside source during the previous 12 months, according to the 2023 American Housing Survey. Leaking pipes were the most common named cause, in 4,864,000 homes. Homes built before 1940 reported pipe leaks at 2.9 times the rate of homes built since 2010.
The short answer, expanded
Most published leak figures come from insurers or from companies that sell leak sensors, and both describe their own customers. The American Housing Survey is different. It asks a representative national sample of households whether water leaked into their home in the past year and, if so, why. The 2023 file, the most recent national release, covers 133.2 million occupied homes once weighted. How these rates have moved since 2015 is tracked in household plumbing problems, 2015 to 2023. Leakage on the utility side of the meter, from California’s audited water systems, is covered in our water loss report.
It separates leaks that start inside the home (pipes, fixtures, water heaters) from leaks that come in from outside (roofs, basements, walls). This report is about the first group, because those are the plumbing failures. The two are close in size: 8.4 percent of homes had an inside leak and 8.8 percent an outside leak, and 1.8 percent had both.
| Cause of inside leak | Homes (thousands) | Margin of error (90%) | Share of all occupied homes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any inside source | 11,215 | ±346 | 8.4% |
| Pipes leaked | 4,864 | ±239 | 3.7% |
| Fixtures backed up or overflowed | 2,659 | ±171 | 2.0% |
| Broken water heater | 1,049 | ±99 | 0.8% |
| Other or unknown (includes not reported) | 3,340 | ±191 | 2.5% |
Source: Census Bureau, AHS 2023 Table Creator estimates, Housing Quality table, all occupied units. Shares calculated by The Plumbing Brief against 133,231,000 occupied homes.
The evidence
- Occupied homes with water leaking from an inside source in the previous 12 months: 11,215,000 (±346,000), 8.4 percent. Source: AHS 2023.
- Of those, homes where pipes leaked: 4,864,000 (±239,000), 3.7 percent of all homes. Source: AHS 2023.
- Homes where fixtures backed up or overflowed: 2,659,000 (±171,000). Source: AHS 2023.
- Homes where a broken water heater leaked: 1,049,000 (±99,000), 0.8 percent of all homes. Source: AHS 2023.
- Homes with water leaking in from outside: 11,757,000 (±378,000), 8.8 percent. Roofs were the most common outside source, at 5,831,000 homes. Source: AHS 2023.
- Homes with both an inside and an outside leak: 2,436,000, 1.8 percent. Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- Inside leak rate, homes built before 1940: 10.3 percent (±0.8). Homes built 2010 or later: 4.7 percent (±0.6). Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- Pipe leak rate, homes built before 1940: 4.6 percent. Homes built 2010 or later: 1.6 percent. Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- Inside leak rate, renters: 10.5 percent (±0.5). Owners: 7.3 percent (±0.3). Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- Inside leak rate, apartments in buildings of 5 to 49 units: 11.8 percent. Single-family detached houses: 7.2 percent. Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- Water heater leak rate in mobile homes: 1.6 percent (±0.5), twice the 0.8 percent national rate. Source: calculated from the AHS 2023 PUF.
- EPA estimates the average household’s leaks “can account for more than 9,300 gallons of water wasted every year” and that “nine percent of homes have leaks that waste 50 gallons or more per day”. Source: EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week.
Leak rates by age of home
| Year built | Any inside leak | ± | Pipe leak | ± | Fixture backup | Water heater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 10.3% | 0.8 | 4.6% | 0.6 | 2.2% | 0.8% |
| 1940 to 1959 | 8.5% | 0.6 | 4.0% | 0.4 | 2.2% | 0.9% |
| 1960 to 1979 | 9.1% | 0.6 | 4.0% | 0.4 | 2.3% | 0.8% |
| 1980 to 1999 | 9.1% | 0.5 | 4.0% | 0.4 | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| 2000 to 2009 | 7.3% | 0.6 | 2.9% | 0.4 | 1.5% | 0.7% |
| 2010 or later | 4.7% | 0.6 | 1.6% | 0.3 | 1.2% | 0.4% |
Source: calculated by The Plumbing Brief from the AHS 2023 National PUF. Margins are 90 percent, in percentage points.
Leak rates by building, tenure and region
| Group | Any inside leak | ± | Homes (thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family detached | 7.2% | ±0.3 | 6,104,000 |
| Single-family attached | 8.6% | ±1.0 | 701,000 |
| 2 to 4 units | 10.8% | ±1.1 | 980,000 |
| 5 to 49 units | 11.8% | ±0.8 | 1,906,000 |
| 50 or more units | 10.3% | ±1.1 | 753,000 |
| Mobile home | 10.7% | ±1.5 | 767,000 |
| Owners | 7.3% | ±0.3 | 6,331,000 |
| Renters | 10.5% | ±0.5 | 4,884,000 |
What the numbers imply
Pipes cause about four in ten inside leaks
Formula. Homes reporting a pipe leak divided by homes reporting any inside leak.
Calculation. 4,864,000 / 11,215,000 = 43.4 percent.
Finding. Leaking pipes are the single largest named cause of inside water damage reported by US households, ahead of overflowing fixtures and failed water heaters combined if the ‘other or unknown’ group is set aside. The figure is a lower bound for pipes, because some of the 3,340,000 homes reporting an unknown cause will also have had pipe failures. Our guide to plumbing leak detection covers how hidden pipe leaks are found.
Limitations. Causes are not exclusive. A home reporting both a pipe leak and a fixture overflow counts in both, so the shares cannot be added to 100.
Old pipes leak at 2.9 times the rate of new ones
Formula. Pipe leak rate in homes built before 1940 divided by the rate in homes built 2010 or later.
Calculation. 4.6 / 1.6 = 2.9. The margins (0.6 and 0.3 points) do not come close to overlapping.
Finding. The age gradient is not smooth. Pipe leak rates sit at 4.0 percent for every band from 1940 to 1999 and only fall in homes built since 2000. That is consistent with leaks being driven by pipe age within a home’s first decade or two of occupation, after which the rate levels off, but this cross-section cannot prove that.
Limitations. Older homes are also more often rented and in multi-unit buildings, both of which have higher leak rates. The gradient here is not adjusted for those factors.
Renters report leaks 3.2 points more often than owners
Formula. Difference between renter and owner inside-leak rates.
Calculation. 10.5 − 7.3 = 3.2 percentage points. Margins of ±0.5 and ±0.3 do not overlap.
Finding. Renters are about 44 percent more likely to report an inside leak. Part of that is building type: apartment units sit below and beside other units’ plumbing, and a leak from a neighbour’s pipe enters the home from inside the building.
Limitations. The AHS does not ask whose plumbing the water came from, so leaks originating in another unit cannot be separated from leaks in the respondent’s own pipes.
Figures worth quoting
- 8.4 percent of US homes, 11,215,000, had a plumbing-side leak in the past year.
- Leaking pipes were the cause in 4,864,000 homes, 43 percent of inside leaks.
- Homes built before 1940 report pipe leaks at 2.9 times the rate of homes built since 2010.
- Renters report inside leaks at 10.5 percent, owners at 7.3 percent.
- A broken water heater leaked in 1,049,000 homes in one year.
Download the data
Every rate in this report with its 90 percent margin of error, the weighted estimate and the base, for five leak measures across five dimensions. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Attribution: The Plumbing Brief.
How this report was built
Methodology
Source. 2023 American Housing Survey National Public Use File, version 1.1, downloaded from the Census Bureau on 4 October 2026. The AHS is sponsored by HUD and conducted by the Census Bureau; the 2023 national sample covers about 133.2 million occupied homes once weighted. Our next piece checks homes lacking basic plumbing access, another angle drawn from the same survey.
Universe. All occupied housing units (INTSTATUS = 1). Leak questions refer to the 12 months before interview, or the period of occupancy if shorter.
Items used. LEAKI (water leaked in from inside the building), LEAKIPIPE (pipes leaked), LEAKIPLUM (fixtures backed up or overflowed), LEAKIWATH (broken water heater), LEAKO (water leaked in from outside), with YRBUILT, BLD, TENURE, DIVISION and OMB13CBSA as breakdowns.
Estimation. Every estimate is a weighted total using the PUF final weight (WEIGHT). Before any cross-tabulation was run, the national totals were reproduced against the Census Bureau’s own published Table Creator figures; every national figure quoted in this report matches the published estimate exactly.
Margins of error. Calculated from the 160 replicate weights supplied on the PUF (REPWEIGHT1 to REPWEIGHT160) by successive difference replication, variance = 4/160 × Σ(replicate − full)², at the 90 percent confidence level (1.645 standard errors). The method reproduces the Census Bureau’s published margins exactly for the national rows checked (for example 11,215,000 homes with an inside leak, ±346,000). Percentages carry margins in percentage points.
Derived figures. All cross-tabulations by year built, building type, tenure, division and metro status, all rates and all ratios are calculated by The Plumbing Brief from the PUF. They are not published Census tables.
Retrieval date. 4 October 2026.
Data limitations
- Everything here is self-reported by the household. A leak the occupants did not notice, or forgot, is not counted, so true incidence is likely higher than measured.
- The AHS 2023 is a single cross-section. It shows how rates differ between kinds of homes, not how any home changes as it ages.
- Year built, building type and tenure overlap heavily: older homes are more often rented and more often in multi-unit buildings. The breakdowns here are one variable at a time and do not separate those effects.
- Census divisions are the finest national geography the PUF supports. State and metro rates cannot be produced reliably from this file.
- Small groups carry wide margins. Where two margins overlap, the difference between the groups should not be treated as established.
- The survey records whether a leak happened, not how much water or money it cost. Severity cannot be estimated from this file.
- EPA’s 9,300 gallons per household figure comes from a different method (metered end-use studies) and is shown for context, not combined with the AHS rates.
Source quality ranking
Tier 1. US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development, American Housing Survey 2023, National Public Use File v1.1, household file; AHS 2023 Table Specifications and PUF Estimates for User Verification; AHS 2023 Definitions (Appendix A); AHS 2023 Value Labels Package. US Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense Fix a Leak Week (context figures only).
Tier 2. None used. Tier 3. None used.
Excluded. Insurance-industry claim frequencies and leak-sensor vendor statistics. Both describe customers of a product, not a representative sample of US homes, and neither publishes a sampling method.
Briefing note
About 11.2 million US homes, 8.4 percent of the occupied stock, had water leak inside from an inside source during the past year, according to the 2023 American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau for HUD. Leaking pipes were the most common named cause, reported in 4.86 million homes, followed by overflowing or backed-up fixtures in 2.66 million and broken water heaters in 1.05 million. An analysis of the survey’s public use file by The Plumbing Brief found that homes built before 1940 reported pipe leaks at 4.6 percent against 1.6 percent for homes built since 2010, and that renters reported inside leaks at 10.5 percent against 7.3 percent for owners. All figures are self-reported and carry 90 percent margins of error computed from the survey’s replicate weights.
How reporters could frame this
- One in twelve American homes sprang a plumbing leak last year
- Leaking pipes, not roofs, top the list of inside water damage
- Pre-war homes leak from the pipes at nearly three times the rate of new builds
- Renters report more leaks than owners, and the building is part of the reason
- A million water heaters leaked into US homes in a single year
Related questions
How common are plumbing leaks in US homes? In 2023, 8.4 percent of occupied homes, about 11.2 million, reported water leaking from an inside source in the previous 12 months.
What is the most common cause of leaks inside a home? Leaking pipes, reported by 4,864,000 households. Overflowing or backed-up fixtures came second at 2,659,000 and broken water heaters third at 1,049,000.
Do older homes have more plumbing leaks? Yes. Homes built before 1940 reported inside leaks at 10.3 percent and pipe leaks at 4.6 percent, against 4.7 and 1.6 percent for homes built since 2010.
How often do water heaters leak? A broken water heater leaked in 0.8 percent of homes in one year, about 1.05 million. The rate in mobile homes was 1.6 percent.
Do apartments leak more than houses? Yes. Apartments in 5 to 49 unit buildings reported inside leaks at 11.8 percent, against 7.2 percent for detached houses.
Are leaks more common in some parts of the country? Only slightly. Division rates run from 7.6 percent in the Pacific division to 9.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic, and most margins overlap.
How much water does a household leak waste? The AHS does not measure volume. EPA estimates the average household’s leaks waste more than 9,300 gallons a year.
Where do these numbers come from? The 2023 American Housing Survey, a Census Bureau survey for HUD. National totals are the Bureau’s published estimates; breakdowns are calculated by The Plumbing Brief from the public use file with replicate-weight margins of error.
How to cite this report
The Plumbing Brief, “How Common Are Plumbing Leaks? 1 in 12 US Homes Had One Last Year”, https://theplumbingbrief.com/how-common-are-plumbing-leaks/, accessed [date].
Last reviewed: 2026-10-04.
