Six of the twenty-five lowest-scoring ZIP codes in the United States sit inside the city limits of Albany, New York. Three more — 91416, 91426, and 91436 — cluster in a single suburb of Los Angeles: Encino, California. Another three are in Dayton, Ohio. And at the very bottom of the list, below 41,000 other ZIP codes, is Lebanon, Nebraska: population 76, ZIP 69036, composite Home Safety Score of 0.
Welcome to the 2026 Home Safety Rankings. We analyzed 41,344 ZIP codes using four federal data sources — EPA drinking water violations, EPA lead testing samples, EPA county-level radon maps, and FEMA National Flood Insurance Program claims — and combined them into a single composite score from 0 to 100. The result is a ranking that answers one question: which U.S. ZIP codes have the most, and fewest, measurable environmental risk factors to the home.
What the data reveals. The geography of America's lowest-scoring ZIP codes is not random. Rural census-designated places in the northern Plains and Mountain West — Lebanon NE, Palco KS, Maxbass ND, Juliaetta ID, Wisner NE, Lance Creek WY — dominate the worst quartile because they rely on small community water systems with narrow compliance margins; a single violation can cascade. At the same time, a parallel cluster of urban ZIPs shows up in the top 25: Havertown PA, Albany NY, Dayton OH, Encino CA. Those appear for a different reason: older housing stock with lead service lines, dense EPA reporting, and documented historical violations that the compliance record never fully forgets.
The top of the list is just as revealing. Twenty-four of the twenty-five safest ZIP codes in the country are split between two states: Washington (sixteen ZIPs) and Alaska (eight). Alaska benefits from low housing density, shallow well infrastructure that avoids lead solder, and a total absence of FEMA flood claims in the largest villages. Western Washington sweeps the urban side of the leaderboard — Seattle, Bremerton, Lakewood, Silverdale, DuPont — because of consistent water system compliance, minimal radon exposure outside the eastern counties, and recent infrastructure investment. Texas leads the country with 2,649 ranked ZIPs, followed by California (2,630), New York (2,186), and Pennsylvania (2,184), giving every major state enough sample depth to produce meaningful within-state comparisons.
How to read this ranking. A composite score is a lens, not a verdict. A ZIP with a score of 40 and one with a score of 85 are not separated by an "unsafe vs. safe" threshold — they are separated by the number of measurable risk factors recorded by federal agencies for that postal delivery area. The score tells you where to look first. If you are shopping for a home, the list below tells you which risk factors a professional home inspector should prioritize in a specific ZIP. If you are already living in one of these areas, it tells you which questions to ask your water utility, your county health department, and your home insurer.
What this ranking does not tell you. It does not measure housing affordability, crime, school quality, commute times, or community amenities. It does not account for the age, condition, or material of the plumbing inside any specific building. It does not replace a water test at your own tap or a radon test in your own basement. And because small-town water systems have less coverage in the federal datasets, rural ZIPs often sit in the extreme tails — both the best and the worst — simply because their data is thinner. A score derived from 3 data components carries different weight than one derived from 4. Both are published here; see the rankings methodology for the full treatment.
The tables below list the twenty-five ZIP codes at the bottom and the twenty-five at the top of the composite Home Safety Score for 2026, followed by a state-level breakdown showing how each state's ZIP count contributes to the national distribution.
41,344 ZIP codes analyzed · Data last refreshed 2026-04-12
41,344 ZIP codes analyzed
25 Worst ZIP Codes
| # | ZIP Code | City | State | Safety Score | Grade | Components |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 69036 | Lebanon | NE | 0/100 | F | 3 |
| 2 | 67657 | Palco | KS | 3/100 | F | 3 |
| 3 | 19083 | Havertown | PA | 10/100 | F | 4 |
| 4 | 58760 | Maxbass | ND | 11/100 | F | 3 |
| 5 | 03849 | Madison | NH | 12/100 | F | 3 |
| 6 | 83535 | Juliaetta | ID | 12/100 | F | 3 |
| 7 | 61484 | Vermont | IL | 13/100 | F | 3 |
| 8 | 68791 | Wisner | NE | 13/100 | F | 3 |
| 9 | 82222 | Lance Creek | WY | 13/100 | F | 3 |
| 10 | 03838 | Glen | NH | 15/100 | F | 4 |
| 11 | 16049 | Parker | PA | 15/100 | F | 4 |
| 12 | 18690 | Dallas | PA | 15/100 | F | 3 |
| 13 | 17756 | Muncy | PA | 16/100 | F | 4 |
| 14 | 18448 | Olyphant | PA | 16/100 | F | 3 |
| 15 | 79087 | Texline | TX | 17/100 | F | 3 |
| 16 | 91416 | Encino | CA | 17/100 | F | 3 |
| 17 | 91426 | Encino | CA | 17/100 | F | 3 |
| 18 | 92327 | Daggett | CA | 17/100 | F | 3 |
| 19 | 91436 | Encino | CA | 18/100 | F | 4 |
| 20 | 12201 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
| 21 | 12206 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
| 22 | 12214 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
| 23 | 12220 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
| 24 | 12222 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
| 25 | 12223 | Albany | NY | 19/100 | F | 3 |
25 Best ZIP Codes
| # | ZIP Code | City | State | Safety Score | Grade | Components |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99747 | Kaktovik | AK | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 2 | 99721 | Anaktuvuk Pass | AK | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 3 | 99590 | Grayling | AK | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 4 | 99505 | Jber | AK | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 5 | 98828 | Malaga | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 6 | 98641 | Oysterville | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 7 | 98566 | Neilton | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 8 | 98556 | Littlerock | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 9 | 98497 | Lakewood | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 10 | 98496 | Lakewood | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 11 | 98492 | Lakewood | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 12 | 98439 | Lakewood | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 13 | 98353 | Manchester | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 14 | 98352 | Sumner | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 15 | 98337 | Bremerton | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 16 | 98330 | Elbe | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 17 | 98327 | Dupont | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 18 | 98323 | Carbonado | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 19 | 98315 | Silverdale | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 20 | 98314 | Bremerton | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 21 | 98305 | Beaver | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 22 | 98303 | Anderson Island | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 23 | 98231 | Blaine | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 24 | 98195 | Seattle | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
| 25 | 98194 | Seattle | WA | 99/100 | A | 3 |
Rankings by State
| State | ZIP Codes |
|---|---|
| Texas | 2,649 |
| California | 2,630 |
| New York | 2,186 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,184 |
| Illinois | 1,583 |
| Florida | 1,484 |
| Ohio | 1,435 |
| Virginia | 1,228 |
| Michigan | 1,167 |
| Missouri | 1,161 |
| North Carolina | 1,085 |
| Iowa | 1,058 |
| Minnesota | 1,009 |
| Indiana | 980 |
| Georgia | 964 |
| Kentucky | 947 |
| Wisconsin | 898 |
| West Virginia | 855 |
| Alabama | 819 |
| Tennessee | 787 |
| Oklahoma | 771 |
| Kansas | 749 |
| New Jersey | 726 |
| Washington | 726 |
| Louisiana | 723 |
Methodology
Home Safety Scores combine water violation history (EPA SDWIS), lead testing levels, county-level radon zones, and FEMA flood insurance claims into a single 0-100 score. Higher scores indicate safer conditions. The score uses a weighted formula with resolved violations decayed to 25% weight. Data sources: EPA SDWIS, FEMA NFIP, EPA radon zone maps.
Last updated: 2026-06-09.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are these rankings calculated?
Rankings are based on federal agency data including EPA, FEMA, USGS, and PHMSA. Each ZIP code receives a score based on the specific risk factors for this category. See the methodology section above for details.
How often are rankings updated?
Rankings are regenerated quarterly using the latest available data. The date shown reflects the most recent update.
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