Scrub brush lies in a sink.
Data from 2024 indicates that fewer Wisconsin residents are getting fluoridated water compared to 2022. This July, 1 2021, photo shows a sink in a kitchen in Milwaukee. (Isaac Wasserman / Wisconsin Watch)
Reading Time: 2 minutes

In 2022, the percent of Wisconsin residents who had fluoridated water dropped sharply. According to data from the state’s Department of Health Services, 86.9% of residents had fluoridated water in 2021. A year later, that had dropped to 84.9%. Combining data from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency shows that, in 2024, about 83.6% of the state’s residents have fluoridated water.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that multiple communities are removing fluoride from their water systems. Opponents of fluoridated water cited a report on fluoride being harmful to children. However, the CDC named fluoridated water systems as one of the greatest health achievements of the 1900s. The CDC recommends 0.7 milligrams of water per liter, or about three drops of fluoride per 55 gallons of water.

This isn’t just a Wisconsin problem. Across the country, fluoride in water is becoming a controversial topic. Coverage from the Associated Press indicated that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push for removing fluoride from water systems is one of the inciting factors to the controversy. Kennedy is now President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the federal Department of Health and Human Services. 

According to a 2018 publication by the American Dental Association, having fluoride in water systems prevents 25% of tooth decay in children and adults. It can also help reverse tooth decay and lower dental costs for the average consumer. Annually, fluoridated water can lower the cost of dental care by over $32 per person. 

The Fluoride Action Network, an organization dedicated to ending water fluoridation, argues that fluoride is an unnecessary, toxic and dangerous chemical that should not be added to water systems. It cites a 2024 report by the HHS’s National Toxicology Program that says having twice the CDC-recommended amount of fluoride in water systems correlates with lower IQs in children. The study was not conducted with any data from the United States and does not specify that fluoride causes a lower IQ.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Khushboo Rathore graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May with a dual degree in journalism and information science. Her main focus is data journalism, with a specialization in gathering inaccessible data and creating visualizations and websites to show information. She has worked on projects with the Associated Press, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Local News Network and The Frederick News-Post. Her journalism interests include education equity, public policy and public figure accountability.