Thrifty Thinking - Most Expensive Cities for Watering the Lawn

 

Where in America is lawn irrigation the biggest drain on consumers’ wallets? To mark World Water Day on March 22, Lawn Love ranked 2024’s Most Expensive Cities for Watering the Lawn. We compared nearly 500 of the biggest U.S. cities based on 3 categories. We looked at the affordability of local water bills and average yard sizes. We also considered factors that would increase the cost of irrigation, such as drought susceptibility and watering requirements for common grass types, among 9 total metrics.  See the 10 most (and 10 least) expensive cities for watering the lawn below, followed by key takeaways. (Don’t see your city below? Check out the full ranking.)

Most Expensive Cities to Water the Lawn Rank City 1 Merced, CA 2 Bakersfield, CA 3 Salinas, CA 4 Edinburg, TX 5 Lawton, OK 6 Fresno, CA 7 Santa Fe, NM 8 Tracy, CA 9 Las Vegas, NV 10 North Las Vegas, NV Most Affordable Cities to Water the Lawn Rank City 1 Jersey City, NJ 2 Newark, NJ 3 Elizabeth, NJ 4 Boston, MA 5 New York, NY 6 Paterson, NJ 7 Flagstaff, AZ 8 Flint, MI 9 Clifton, NJ 10 Scranton, PA

Key Insights: Cities out west — such as in California, Arizona, and Nevada — face among the costliest conditions for lawn watering due to hot weather, low precipitation rates, and common grass types like perennial ryegrass requiring more irrigation.  The Golden State claims more than half of the 100 most expensive cities.  The grass is greener — without needing to spend more green — up north. Cities in 12 Northern states — like Michigan, Massachusetts, and Oregon — finish in the most affordable half of our ranking, due to moderate temperatures, more frequent precipitation, and low watering requirements for the regions’ most common grass types.   Read the full story here: https://lawnlove.com/blog/most-expensive-cities-lawn-irrigation/  Other helpful links: Methodology Hire a local Lawn Love crew to design and install a water-wise lawn and landscape for your property.   More from Lawn Love:  The Best Time to Water Your Grass (And More Watering Tips) Best Drought-Tolerant Grasses How Much Does Xeriscaping Cost in 2024? How Much Does Drip Irrigation Cost in 2024? How Much Does a Rain Barrel Cost in 2024? Best States for Animal Lawn Mowing