First of all, half a million is a tiny proportion of US. It’s not even one city worth. Second, who are these people and where do they live? Are they your regular drug junkies who forfeited life in a modern society for their drug of choice? Or maybe they’re scientists living in a remote location? In any case these are not part of the general public and they are a very tiny proportion.
This is an extremely different situation when compared to India, for example. Where 91 million people don’t have access to drinkable water. That’s 91 million. And not just running water at home - any fresh drinkable water at all! And 746 million people don’t have access to sanitation facilities at home. Read: they don’t have a toilet and a bathroom. That’s double the US population! And pretty much half of Indian.
These oh so poor half a mil Americans… The US economy must be doing so bad!