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Arsenic in Nebraska well water, by county

By the Tested Water teamLab data from the USGS and EPA Water Quality Portal, 2000 to 2023Updated November 8, 2026

Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 3 of the 13 Nebraska counties with 10 or more tested wells. 1 more look high, but those results likely overstate it. 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 an arsenic test See every county

How Nebraska compares with the rest of the country

Across Nebraska, about 1 in 10 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (51 of 510). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. Nebraska is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.

Why it matters: Drinking it for years raises the risk of skin, bladder and lung cancer.

Arsenic dissolves out of certain rocks and old sediments, so it can be high even where nobody has polluted anything.

Arsenic in tested wells, county by county

Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 10 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
Cheyenne County 31
42%* 13 of 31
 Widespread
Phelps County 10
30% 3 of 10
 Widespread
Scotts Bluff County 14
29% 4 of 14
 Widespread
Dakota County 20
15% 3 of 20
 Widespread
Burt County 21
10% 2 of 21
 Worth checking
Washington County 43
9% 4 of 43
 Worth checking
Douglas County 35
6% 2 of 35
 Worth checking
Sarpy County 69
4% 3 of 69
 Rare
York County 34
0% 0 of 34
 Rare
Lincoln County 20
0% 0 of 20
 Rare
Custer County 13
0% 0 of 13
 Rare
Dodge County 11
0% 0 of 11
 Rare
Gosper County 11
0% 0 of 11
 Rare

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

  • Cheyenne County: All of these tests come from the US Geological Survey between 2002 and 2005 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.

56 more Nebraska counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for arsenic, too few to rate.

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

Where to get your well tested for arsenic in Nebraska

1

Your county health department

Nebraska 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.

Nebraska'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 arsenic.

Compare kits

Keep reading about wells in Nebraska

Questions people ask about arsenic in Nebraska

Is there arsenic in Nebraska well water?

Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 3 of the 13 Nebraska counties with 10 or more tested wells. 1 more look high, but those results likely overstate it. Across Nebraska, about 1 in 10 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (51 of 510). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. Nebraska is about average, so the county you live in tells you more than the state does.

Where can I get my well tested for arsenic in Nebraska?

Use a lab certified by Nebraska for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes arsenic from a certified lab. Some county health departments test wells too, so call yours first.

See Nebraska'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 limit of 10 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 Water, Energy, and Environment.