Manganese in Minnesota well water, by county

Name: Manganese in private wells by county, Minnesota
Creator: Tested Water
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

By the Tested Water teamLab data from the USGS and EPA Water Quality Portal, 2000 to 2025Updated November 8, 2026

Manganese is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 29 of the 46 Minnesota counties with 10 or more tested wells. 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 manganese test See every county

How Minnesota compares with the rest of the country

Across Minnesota, about 2 in 10 tested wells had manganese over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/L (791 of 3,706). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 7. So manganese turns up somewhat more often in Minnesota than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.

Why it matters: High levels over many years may affect the nervous system, and babies are more sensitive to it. It also leaves black stains.

Manganese dissolves out of rock and soil, especially in water with little oxygen.

Manganese in tested wells, county by county

Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/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
Nobles County	68	72% 49 of 68	Widespread
Hennepin County	159	61% 97 of 159	Widespread
Rice County	11	45% 5 of 11	Widespread
Anoka County	47	43% 20 of 47	Widespread
Ramsey County	19	42% 8 of 19	Widespread
Isanti County	97	41% 40 of 97	Widespread
Stevens County	27	41% 11 of 27	Widespread
Lac qui Parle County	90	40% 36 of 90	Widespread
Blue Earth County	13	38% 5 of 13	Widespread
Douglas County	35	37% 13 of 35	Widespread
Stearns County	63	35% 22 of 63	Widespread
Kanabec County	88	32% 28 of 88	Widespread
Carlton County	19	32% 6 of 19	Widespread
Itasca County	13	31% 4 of 13	Widespread
Sherburne County	33	30% 10 of 33	Widespread
Redwood County	107	28% 30 of 107	Widespread
Brown County	89	27% 24 of 89	Widespread
Crow Wing County	112	27% 30 of 112	Widespread
Rock County	51	25% 13 of 51	Widespread
St. Louis County	189	25% 48 of 189	Widespread
Lincoln County	12	25% 3 of 12	Widespread
Todd County	89	21% 19 of 89	Widespread
Cass County	101	21% 21 of 101	Widespread
Morrison County	104	20% 21 of 104	Widespread
Otter Tail County	192	19% 37 of 192	Widespread
Pine County	75	19% 14 of 75	Widespread
Pope County	69	17% 12 of 69	Widespread
Wadena County	96	17% 16 of 96	Widespread
Washington County	144	15% 22 of 144	Widespread
Meeker County	94	14% 13 of 94	Worth checking
Kandiyohi County	92	13% 12 of 92	Worth checking
Dakota County	128	10% 13 of 128	Worth checking
Wabasha County	79	10% 8 of 79	Worth checking
Becker County	89	10% 9 of 89	Worth checking
Aitkin County	91	10% 9 of 91	Worth checking
Lake County	91	10% 9 of 91	Worth checking
Polk County	43	9%^* 4 of 43	Worth checking
Hubbard County	97	9% 9 of 97	Worth checking
Beltrami County	18	6% 1 of 18	Worth checking
Steele County	90	3% 3 of 90	Rare
Goodhue County	81	2% 2 of 81	Rare
Olmsted County	101	2% 2 of 101	Rare
McLeod County	73	1% 1 of 73	Rare
Winona County	88	1% 1 of 88	Rare
Dodge County	90	0% 0 of 90	Rare
Houston County	42	0% 0 of 42	Rare

* Likely overstated. These shares come from a narrow set of wells, so they probably run high for the county as a whole:

Polk County: Almost all of these tests come from the US Geological Survey, mostly before 2013 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.

29 more Minnesota counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for manganese, too few to rate.

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Where to get your well tested for manganese in Minnesota

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 page

A lab Minnesota certifies

Ask for manganese by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.

Labs certified by Minnesota

A mail-in kit

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

Compare kits

Keep reading about wells in Minnesota

Well water testing in Minnesota: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
Manganese 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
Lead in Minnesota wells, by county

Questions people ask about manganese in Minnesota

Is there manganese in Minnesota well water?

Manganese is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 29 of the 46 Minnesota counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across Minnesota, about 2 in 10 tested wells had manganese over the EPA health advisory of 0.3 mg/L (791 of 3,706). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 7. So manganese turns up somewhat more often in Minnesota than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.

Where can I get my well tested for manganese in Minnesota?

Use a lab certified by Minnesota for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes manganese 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 health advisory of 0.3 mg/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.