Manganese and lead are widespread in Jackson County wells.
2 widespread, 1 worth checking, 3 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 30 wells tested in Jackson County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
1 in 5 people 2,680 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Middle depth: some shelter from the surface, not complete.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Likely here. Test your home's air first.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Jackson County compares with Kansas and the counties around it.
Each result puts Jackson County next to the 6 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are widespread in Jackson County wells.
Manganese9 of 19 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
Lead2 of 12 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
This one is worth checking in Jackson County.
Arsenic2 of 30 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
These 3 are rare in Jackson County.
Nitrate1 of 30 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
Uranium0 of 11 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
Fluoride0 of 30 wells over
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 9 of 9 tested Jackson County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria9 of 9 wells had it
E. coli22 of 27 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Jackson County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 16 of 30 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains16 of 30 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Atchison, Brown, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee.
About 6 in 10 of the 30 wells tested in Jackson County have a test from 2020 or later.
With 17 wells tested since 2020, age matters less here than who did the testing and why.
Most Jackson County wells in these records were tested for research or because someone suspected a problem, which can push the shares above what a typical home well would show (how we read the numbers).
One mail-in lab test covers the 5 things to check in Jackson County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Lead
- Arsenic
What Kansas offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Kansas. Kansas's private well page
- Certified labsWe didn't find an online list.
- Well recordsKansas's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 80 feet.
That comes from 745 household wells in Kansas's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 45 to 102 feet deep. Wells as deep as Jackson County's are usually better protected from fertilizer and bacteria at the surface, but they can pick up more of what's in the rock, like arsenic and uranium. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 49 of the 104 other Kansas counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Kansas's well record search, or see how to find it.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Jackson County.
Jackson County is in the EPA's highest radon zone. Radon from well water adds to the radon in your indoor air, so test your air first, and your water too if the air is high. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 1 town water system in Jackson County test for PFAS. None found any. No well in Jackson County has public PFAS results, so the town systems are the best clue to what's in the groundwater nearby. PFAS guide
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones. PFAS: EPA tests of town water systems, 2023 to 2025
Questions people ask about well water in Jackson County
Is well water in Jackson County safe to drink?
9 of 19 wells tested in Jackson County had manganese over the limit, about 5 in 10. Across Kansas it's about 1 in 3. That's a bigger share than in 2 of the 3 other Kansas counties with 10 or more tested wells. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Jackson County?
Use a lab Kansas has certified for drinking water. Kansas's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese, lead and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Jackson County.
How deep are wells in Jackson County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 80 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 49 of the 104 other Kansas counties with enough drilling records.
How does Jackson County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: Nemaha, the one neighbor with data, came in lower than Jackson County, at 13% against 47%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Nemaha's 13% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Jackson County?
In Jackson County, 9 of 9 tested wells had coliform bacteria, so the CDC's advice matters here: test for bacteria and nitrate every year, and right away after a flood, a repair, or any change in taste or smell.
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Where the Jackson County numbers come from
- People on wells: 2,680 in Jackson County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 941 well water samples from 30 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2025.
- Well depths: 745 Kansas drilling records for Jackson County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 6 counties that share a border with Jackson County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 1 town water systems in Jackson County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Jackson County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Kansas Department of Health and Environment, checked November 1, 2026.