Four kinds of municipal zone

K-means on water-safety and context features finds four profiles.
Published

November 1, 2026

K-means on nine profile features (utility-supplied IRCA, coverage, poverty, rurality, altitude, rainfall, performance, water transfers) finds 4 kinds of municipal zone among 11,235 municipality-zone-year rows, 2016-2023:

  • Cities and large towns, no-risk water (median IRCA 1.6, 284 municipalities)
  • Highland towns, no-risk water (median IRCA 4.0, 558 municipalities)
  • Lowland towns, low-risk water (median IRCA 9.2, 479 municipalities)
  • Rural, low-coverage, high-risk water (median IRCA 35.2, 729 municipalities)

Outcomes (infant mortality, Saber 11, dropout) did not enter the clustering. They differ across clusters, but this is descriptive and does not establish a causal effect of water quality. Details: clusters and the report.