Uranium is worth checking in Lincoln County wells.
1 worth checking, 6 rare out of 7 health checks.
From 39 wells tested in Lincoln County since 2002; 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 3 people 10,594 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Deep wells: fewer surface germs, more minerals from the rock.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Lincoln County compares with Nebraska and the counties around it.
Each result puts Lincoln County next to the 8 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
This one is worth checking in Lincoln County.
Uranium1 of 20 wells over
Too few tested to show: Dawson, Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson, Perkins.
These 6 are rare in Lincoln County.
Manganese0 of 39 wells over
Too few tested to show: Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson.
Nitrate0 of 20 wells over
Too few tested to show: Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson.
Arsenic0 of 20 wells over
Too few tested to show: Dawson, Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson, Perkins.
Lead0 of 20 wells over
Too few tested to show: Dawson, Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson, Perkins.
Radon in water0 of 13 wells over
Fluoride0 of 39 wells over
Too few tested to show: Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson.
Every well needs a bacteria test every year.
No bacteria tests from Lincoln County wells are in the public data. Test every year anyway.
Iron reached staining levels in 0 of 39 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains0 of 39 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Frontier, Hayes, Keith, Logan, McPherson.
Most of the 39 wells tested in Lincoln County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 39 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Lincoln 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 4 things to check in Lincoln County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Uranium
- Arsenic
What Nebraska offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Nebraska. Nebraska's private well page
- Certified labsNebraska's list of certified labs
- Well recordsNebraska's well record search
Half the household wells here are shallower than 197 feet.
That comes from 1,855 household wells in Nebraska's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 135 to 311 feet deep. Wells as deep as Lincoln 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 67 of the 92 other Nebraska counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Nebraska'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 Lincoln County.
Lincoln County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 1 town water system in Lincoln County test for PFAS. 1 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 17 ng/L of PFOS. No well in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County
Is well water in Lincoln County safe to drink?
1 of 20 wells tested in Lincoln County had uranium over the limit, about 1 in 20. Across Nebraska it's about 1 in 13. That's a bigger share than in 7 of the 10 other Nebraska counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 1 county whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for uranium before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Lincoln County?
Use a lab Nebraska has certified for drinking water. Nebraska's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, uranium and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Lincoln County.
How deep are wells in Lincoln County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 197 feet. Typical household wells here go deeper than in 67 of the 92 other Nebraska counties with enough drilling records.
How does Lincoln County compare with the counties around it?
For uranium, the share of tested wells over the limit: Custer, the one neighbor with data, came in lower than Lincoln County, at 0% against 5%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Custer's 0% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Lincoln County?
Lincoln County has no public bacteria results for wells, so follow the CDC's advice: 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 Lincoln County numbers come from
- People on wells: 10,594 in Lincoln County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 259 well water samples from 39 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2002 to 2023.
- Well depths: 1,855 Nebraska drilling records for Lincoln County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 8 counties that share a border with Lincoln County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 1 town water systems in Lincoln County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Lincoln County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, checked November 1, 2026.