Your county health department
Minnesota doesn't run a statewide free testing program that we know of. Some county health departments test wells or sell kits, so call yours first.
Minnesota's private well pageLead in Minnesota well water, by county
Lead is worth checking in 1 of the 50 Minnesota 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.
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 Minnesota compares with the rest of the country
Across Minnesota, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (8 of 4,488). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
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%.
| County | Wells tested | Wells over the limit | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beltrami County | 18 | Worth checking | |
| Douglas County | 35 | Rare | |
| Todd County | 89 | Rare | |
| Carlton County | 102 | Rare | |
| Benton County | 82 | Rare | |
| Sherburne County | 128 | Rare | |
| St. Louis County | 195 | Rare | |
| Otter Tail County | 192 | Rare | |
| Hennepin County | 140 | Rare | |
| Washington County | 139 | Rare | |
| Anoka County | 128 | Rare | |
| Dakota County | 123 | Rare | |
| Redwood County | 107 | Rare | |
| Crow Wing County | 106 | Rare | |
| Morrison County | 104 | Rare | |
| Cass County | 100 | Rare | |
| Isanti County | 100 | Rare | |
| Olmsted County | 98 | Rare | |
| Wadena County | 96 | Rare | |
| Nicollet County | 95 | Rare | |
| Blue Earth County | 93 | Rare | |
| Wright County | 93 | Rare | |
| Brown County | 92 | Rare | |
| Hubbard County | 92 | Rare | |
| Kandiyohi County | 92 | Rare | |
| Sibley County | 92 | Rare | |
| Aitkin County | 91 | Rare | |
| Lake County | 91 | Rare | |
| Clay County | 90 | Rare | |
| Dodge County | 90 | Rare | |
| Lac qui Parle County | 90 | Rare | |
| Renville County | 90 | Rare | |
| Steele County | 90 | Rare | |
| Becker County | 89 | Rare | |
| Kanabec County | 88 | Rare | |
| Meeker County | 88 | Rare | |
| Winona County | 88 | Rare | |
| Houston County | 86 | Rare | |
| Chisago County | 81 | Rare | |
| McLeod County | 75 | Rare | |
| Pope County | 69 | Rare | |
| Nobles County | 68 | Rare | |
| Carver County | 65 | Rare | |
| Stearns County | 62 | Rare | |
| Pine County | 58 | Rare | |
| Rock County | 51 | Rare | |
| Stevens County | 27 | Rare | |
| Ramsey County | 13 | Rare | |
| Rice County | 11 | Rare | |
| Lincoln County | 10 | Rare |
25 more Minnesota counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for lead in Minnesota
A lab Minnesota certifies
Ask for lead by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by MinnesotaA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include lead.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in Minnesota
- Well water testing in Minnesota: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Lead in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in Minnesota wells, by county
- Arsenic in Minnesota wells, by county
- Manganese in Minnesota wells, by county
Questions people ask about lead in Minnesota
Is there lead in Minnesota well water?
Lead is worth checking in 1 of the 50 Minnesota counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across Minnesota, under 1 in 50 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (8 of 4,488). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.
Where can I get my well tested for lead in Minnesota?
Use a lab certified by Minnesota for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes lead from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.
See Minnesota'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: Minnesota Department of Health.