Arsenic is widespread in Wright County wells.
1 widespread, 3 rare out of 4 health checks.
From 98 wells tested in Wright County since 2004; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Not charted, because fewer than 10 wells were tested: uranium (1), manganese (3).
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 3 people 44,741 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 Wright County compares with Minnesota and the counties around it.
Each result puts Wright County next to the 6 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is widespread in Wright County wells.
Arsenic27 of 93 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
These 3 are rare in Wright County.
Nitrate0 of 93 wells over
Lead0 of 93 wells over
Too few Wright County wells were tested for these 2.
Uranium1 well tested
Manganese3 wells tested
None of the 1 Wright County wells tested for bacteria had it, but every well needs a yearly test.
Coliform bacteria0 of 1 wells had it
E. coli0 of 1 wells had it
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Wright County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 76 of 94 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains76 of 94 wells had it
Wright County has 98 tested wells, and the busiest decade for testing was the 2010s.
None of the 98 wells has a test from 2020 or later, so a fresh test of your own well tells you more than any of these.
Most Wright 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 3 things to check in Wright County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Arsenic
What Minnesota offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Minnesota. Minnesota's private well page
- Certified labsMinnesota's list of certified labs
- Well recordsMinnesota's well record search
- New wellsThe well contractor must collect an initial water sample after construction to test for coliform bacteria, nitrate, and arsenic before the well is used.
Half the household wells here are shallower than 111 feet.
That comes from 14,698 household wells in Minnesota's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 83 to 148 feet deep. Wells as deep as Wright 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 are shallower than in 54 of the 86 other Minnesota counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Minnesota'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 Wright County.
Wright 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 7 town water systems in Wright County test for PFAS. 1 found some PFAS, all below the new limits. No well in Wright 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 Wright County
Is well water in Wright County safe to drink?
27 of 93 wells tested in Wright County had arsenic over the limit, about 3 in 10. Across Minnesota it's about 1 in 7. That's a bigger share than in 38 of the 44 other Minnesota counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 5 counties whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for arsenic before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Wright County?
Use a lab Minnesota has certified for drinking water. Minnesota's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Wright County.
How deep are wells in Wright County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 111 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 54 of the 86 other Minnesota counties with enough drilling records.
How does Wright County compare with the counties around it?
For arsenic, the share of tested wells over the limit: 2 of the 6 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Wright County, at 29%. McLeod had the most, at 53%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so McLeod's 53% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Wright County?
None of the 1 wells tested for bacteria in Wright County had it, but the CDC still says to 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 Wright County numbers come from
- People on wells: 44,741 in Wright County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 488 well water samples from 98 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2004 to 2018.
- Well depths: 14,698 Minnesota drilling records for Wright County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 6 counties that share a border with Wright County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 7 town water systems in Wright County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Wright County is zone 1 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Minnesota Department of Health, checked November 1, 2026.