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Lead in Florida well water, by county

By the Tested Water teamLab data from the USGS and EPA Water Quality Portal, 2000 to 2026Updated November 8, 2026

Lead is worth checking in 8 of the 64 Florida counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. A county's share tells you how likely a problem is nearby. Only a test of your own well tells you what's in it.

Find a lead test See every county

These tests sample the groundwater, and lead rarely comes from the ground. In a home it mostly comes from plumbing: old solder, brass fittings and some older pumps. So a county's share can't tell you about your pipes. Test a first-draw sample, water that sat in the pipes overnight, from the tap you drink from.

How Florida compares with the rest of the country

Across Florida, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (48 of 3,023). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. Florida is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.

Why it matters: It harms children's growing brains. The CDC says no amount in a child's blood is known to be safe.

Lead in tested wells, county by county

Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L. Counties need 10 or more tested wells to be listed. Widespread means 15% or more, worth checking 5 to 15%, rare under 5%.

CountyWells testedWells over the limitLevel
Miami-Dade County 87
8% 7 of 87
 Worth checking
Hardee County 13
8% 1 of 13
 Worth checking
Sumter County 15
7% 1 of 15
 Worth checking
Okaloosa County 33
6% 2 of 33
 Worth checking
DeSoto County 17
6% 1 of 17
 Worth checking
Union County 18
6% 1 of 18
 Worth checking
Lee County 60
5% 3 of 60
 Worth checking
Santa Rosa County 40
5% 2 of 40
 Worth checking
Highlands County 24
4% 1 of 24
 Rare
Collier County 276
3% 9 of 276
 Rare
Flagler County 32
3% 1 of 32
 Rare
Nassau County 33
3% 1 of 33
 Rare
Martin County 36
3% 1 of 36
 Rare
Volusia County 128
2% 3 of 128
 Rare
Madison County 45
2% 1 of 45
 Rare
Taylor County 46
2% 1 of 46
 Rare
Palm Beach County 96
2% 2 of 96
 Rare
Hillsborough County 98
2% 2 of 98
 Rare
Broward County 50
2% 1 of 50
 Rare
St. Johns County 54
2% 1 of 54
 Rare
Seminole County 63
2% 1 of 63
 Rare
Levy County 68
1% 1 of 68
 Rare
Clay County 73
1% 1 of 73
 Rare
Suwannee County 76
1% 1 of 76
 Rare
Lake County 107
1% 1 of 107
 Rare
Marion County 108
1% 1 of 108
 Rare
Duval County 94
0% 0 of 94
 Rare
Alachua County 84
0% 0 of 84
 Rare
Polk County 77
0% 0 of 77
 Rare
Orange County 73
0% 0 of 73
 Rare
Brevard County 54
0% 0 of 54
 Rare
Columbia County 51
0% 0 of 51
 Rare
Putnam County 51
0% 0 of 51
 Rare
Gilchrist County 44
0% 0 of 44
 Rare
Jackson County 44
0% 0 of 44
 Rare
Pasco County 44
0% 0 of 44
 Rare
Walton County 43
0% 0 of 43
 Rare
Bay County 37
0% 0 of 37
 Rare
Hendry County 37
0% 0 of 37
 Rare
Okeechobee County 37
0% 0 of 37
 Rare
Indian River County 36
0% 0 of 36
 Rare
Lafayette County 36
0% 0 of 36
 Rare
Leon County 36
0% 0 of 36
 Rare
Osceola County 36
0% 0 of 36
 Rare
Escambia County 30
0% 0 of 30
 Rare
Hamilton County 30
0% 0 of 30
 Rare
Wakulla County 30
0% 0 of 30
 Rare
Dixie County 26
0% 0 of 26
 Rare
Sarasota County 25
0% 0 of 25
 Rare
St. Lucie County 25
0% 0 of 25
 Rare
Manatee County 24
0% 0 of 24
 Rare
Jefferson County 23
0% 0 of 23
 Rare
Baker County 22
0% 0 of 22
 Rare
Gulf County 21
0% 0 of 21
 Rare
Charlotte County 20
0% 0 of 20
 Rare
Citrus County 17
0% 0 of 17
 Rare
Gadsden County 17
0% 0 of 17
 Rare
Hernando County 15
0% 0 of 15
 Rare
Pinellas County 14
0% 0 of 14
 Rare
Washington County 14
0% 0 of 14
 Rare
Bradford County 13
0% 0 of 13
 Rare
Holmes County 11
0% 0 of 11
 Rare
Calhoun County 10
0% 0 of 10
 Rare
Glades County 10
0% 0 of 10
 Rare

3 more Florida counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.

Download this table (CSV) · Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0

Where to get your well tested for lead in Florida

1

Free testing, with limits

Some Florida county health departments may test for certain chemicals for free, so call yours first. Check which tests it includes before you count on it for lead.

Florida's private well page
3

A mail-in kit

Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include lead.

Compare kits

Keep reading about wells in Florida

Questions people ask about lead in Florida

Is there lead in Florida well water?

Lead is worth checking in 8 of the 64 Florida counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across Florida, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (48 of 3,023). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. Florida is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.

Where can I get my well tested for lead in Florida?

Some Florida county health departments may test for certain chemicals for free, so call yours first. If that doesn't cover you, use a lab certified by Florida for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes lead from a certified lab.

See Florida's list of certified labs, or compare mail-in kits.

Where these numbers come from

  • Lab tests: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA), well samples since 2000. A well counts as over if any of its tests was over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L. Wells tested for studies and monitoring, not a random sample of homes.
  • Likely overstated: our own check of who tested the wells, when and where. How we check.
  • State programs and links: Department of Health.