Year	Receiving Fluoridated Water			Served by Community Water Systems	Total U.S. Population	Percentage of U.S. population receiving fluoridated water*	Percentage of population served by community water systems receiving fluoridated water
	Natural	Adjusted	Total
2002			170,321,020¹⁴	253,104,805¹⁴	288,600,000¹⁵	59.0	67.3
2000			162,067,341¹³	246,120,616¹³	282,434,000¹⁵	57.4	65.8
1992	10,011,861¹¹	134,657,132¹¹	144,217,476¹¹	232,438,000¹¹	256,894,000¹⁵	56.1	62.0
1990					250,132,000¹⁵
1989			135,256,757⁹	220,179,000⁹	247,342,000¹⁵	54.7	61.4
1988			132,422,064⁸	218,924,000⁸	245,021,000¹⁵	54.0	60.5
1985			130,172,334⁷	211,730,873⁷	238,466,000¹⁵	54.6	61.5
1980			115,948,946⁶		227,726,000¹⁵	50.9
1975			105,338,343⁵		215,973,000¹⁵	48.8
1970					205,052,000¹⁵
1969	8,378,824⁴	80,096,860⁴	88,475,684⁴		202,677,000¹⁵	43.7
1967	10,009,000³	71,916,700³	81,925,700³		198,712,000¹⁵	41.2
1964	7,706,000²	48,363,100²	56,069,100²	150,277,000²	191,889,000¹⁵	29.2	37.3
1963		46,678,380¹			189,242,000¹⁵	24.7
1962		44,045,392¹			186,538,000¹⁵	23.6
1961		42,201,115¹			183,691,000¹⁵	23.0
1960		41,179,694¹			180,671,000¹⁵	22.8
1959		39,628,377¹			177,830,000¹⁵	22.3
1958		38,461,589¹			174,882,000¹⁵	22.0
1957		36,215,208¹			171,984,000¹⁵	21.1
1956		33,905,474¹			168,903,000¹⁵	20.1
1955		26,278,820¹			165,931,000¹⁵	15.8
1954		22,336,884¹			163,026,000¹⁵	13.7
1953		17,666,339¹			160,184,000¹⁵	11.0
1952		13,875,005¹			157,553,000¹⁵	8.8
1951		5,079,321¹			154,878,000¹⁵	3.3
1950		1,578,578¹			152,271,000¹⁵
1949		1,062,779¹			149,188,000¹⁵
1948		581,683¹			146,631,000¹⁵
1947		458,748¹			144,126,000¹⁵
1946		332,467¹			141,389,000¹⁵
1945		231,920¹			139,928,000¹⁵
1940					132,122,000¹⁵

Data Sources

1. Annual Fluoridation Census Report: National, State and Community Experience 1963. Division of Dental Public Health and Resources, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW).

2. Fluoridation Census, 1965. Division of Dental Public Health and Resources, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

3. Fluoridation Census, 1967. Division of Dental Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. U.S. Government Printing Office Publication #1968-0-310-023.

4. Fluoridation Census, 1969. Division of Dental Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Natural Fluoride Content of Community Water Supplies, Division of Dental Health, NOH, DHEW. U.S. Government Printing Office Publication #1970-0-380-791.

5. Fluoridation Census, 1975. Dental Disease Prevention Activity, Bureau of State Services, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. U.S. Government Printing Office Publication #1977-740-116/3782, Region No. 4.

6. Fluoridation Census, 1980. Dental Disease Prevention Activity, Center for Prevention Services, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Government Printing Office Publication #1984-751-641, Region No. 4.

7. Fluoridation Census, 1985. Dental Disease Prevention Activity, Center for Prevention Services, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Government Printing Office Publication #1988-535-439.

8. Fluoridation Census Summary, 1988. Dental Disease Prevention Activity, Center for Prevention Services, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. February 1990.

9. Fluoridation Census Summary, 1989. Dental Disease Prevention Activity, National Center for Prevention Services, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. July 1991.

10. Table 2. Population, Housing Units, Area Measurements, and Density: 1790 to 1990. U.S. Census Bureau. August 26, 1993. URL: http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/table-2.pdf (PDF–15K). Accessed March 6, 2002.

11. Fluoridation Census 1992. Division of Oral Health, National Center for Prevention Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. September 1993.

12. Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for the United States: 2000. U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. URL: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh00.pdf (PDF–157K). Accessed March 6, 2002.

13. Populations Receiving Optimally Fluoridated Public Drinking Water—United States, 2000. MMWR, Vol. 51, No. 7;144-147. URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5107a2.htm. Accessed March 6, 2002.

14. CDC Water Fluoridation Reporting System. December 31, 2002.

15. Table HS-1. Population 1900 to 2002. U.S. Census Bureau. URL: http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-01.pdf (PDF - 81K). Accessed July 14, 2005.

* Estimates for percentage of U.S. population receiving fluoridated water were calculated differently for years before 1964, and since 1964. For years prior to 1964, the percentage was calculated by dividing the population receiving fluoridated water from systems adding fluoride (adjusted) by the total U.S. population. Since 1964, the percentage was calculated by dividing the population receiving fluoridated water from both adjusted and naturally fluoridated water systems by the total U.S. population.

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Page last modified: July 23, 2008
Content Source: Division of Oral Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

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