Gen Z's top water brands in 2026: What's quenching younger Americans' thirst?

Key findings:

• Aquafina leads Gen Z water brand consideration at 27%.
• Coca-Cola has three brands in Gen Z’s top 10: VitaminWater, Smartwater and Dasani.
• Pure Life and Sparkling Ice show the biggest Gen Z consideration gaps, each six points ahead of older generations.

Bottled water is a well-established beverage category in. the U.S. – with a range of brands and price points on offer. Newer market entrants such as Liquid Death have brought distinctive branding and more youthful positioning to the market – but which brands are cutting through with Gen Z consumers?

New YouGov BrandIndex data reveals the water brands winning over American Gen Z adults between January 1 and July 28, 2026 – and which brands are showing the greatest scores with Gen Z compared to older cohorts.

Aquafina tops consideration among Gen Z adults

PepsiCo-owned Aquafina is the most considered water brand among Gen Z adults, with 27% saying they would consider purchasing it.

The next two spots are occupied by Coca-Cola brands. VitaminWater ranks second at 22%, followed closely by Smartwater (21%).

Pure Life (20%) and Fiji (19%) complete the top five, while Sparkling Ice ranks sixth with 18% consideration among Gen Z adults.

Coca-Cola's Dasani ranks seventh at 14%, giving the company three brands in Gen Z's top 10. LaCroix, Vita Coco and Liquid Death round out the top 10, each with consideration of 11%.

While established brands continue to dominate Gen Z's consideration set, newer entrants such as Liquid Death have also secured a place alongside some of the category's longest-standing brands.

Pure Life and Sparkling Ice are Gen Z's top brands based on consideration difference compared to older generations

Looking beyond Gen Z’s most considered water brands overall, some names stand out for attracting considerably more consideration among younger adults than among older generations.

Pure Life is considered by 20% of Gen Z adults compared with 14% of older generations, while Sparkling Ice draws consideration from 17% versus 11%. Both record a six-percentage-point advantage among Gen Z, the largest differences in the analysis.

Vita Coco follows with an 11% consideration score among Gen Z compared with 6% among older generations, a five-point gap. Aquafina (27% vs. 23%), VitaminWater (22% vs. 18%), Liquid Death (11% vs. 7%) and Lifewater (10% vs. 6%) each register four-point advantages among Gen Z.

Goya Coconut Water, Essentia and ZICO also record higher consideration among Gen Z, with gaps of three percentage points each.

Methodology:

YouGov BrandIndex tracks daily perceptions of thousands of brands. Rankings are based on the Consideration question: “When you are in the market next to purchase beverages, from which of the following would you consider purchasing?”. Scores are reported as percentages, based on daily US surveys weighted using propensity scoring with ACS benchmarks (age, gender, race, education, region). Figures cover the period January 1, 2026 - July 28, 2026.

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