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Arsenic in New Jersey 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 2 of the 17 New Jersey 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 an arsenic test See every county

How New Jersey compares with the rest of the country

Across New Jersey, about 1 in 40 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (18 of 727). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours below.

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
Hunterdon County 37
22% 8 of 37
 Widespread
Somerset County 10
20% 2 of 10
 Widespread
Bergen County 12
8% 1 of 12
 Worth checking
Sussex County 25
4% 1 of 25
 Rare
Middlesex County 46
2% 1 of 46
 Rare
Burlington County 48
2% 1 of 48
 Rare
Camden County 66
2% 1 of 66
 Rare
Cumberland County 68
1% 1 of 68
 Rare
Gloucester County 90
1% 1 of 90
 Rare
Salem County 49
0% 0 of 49
 Rare
Monmouth County 48
0% 0 of 48
 Rare
Cape May County 44
0% 0 of 44
 Rare
Ocean County 41
0% 0 of 41
 Rare
Atlantic County 37
0% 0 of 37
 Rare
Mercer County 32
0% 0 of 32
 Rare
Morris County 26
0% 0 of 26
 Rare
Warren County 22
0% 0 of 22
 Rare

4 more New Jersey 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 New Jersey

1

Your county health department

New Jersey 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.

New Jersey'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 New Jersey

Questions people ask about arsenic in New Jersey

Is there arsenic in New Jersey well water?

Arsenic is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 2 of the 17 New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across New Jersey, about 1 in 40 tested wells had arsenic over the EPA limit of 10 µg/L (18 of 727). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 9. 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 arsenic in New Jersey?

Use a lab certified by New Jersey 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 New Jersey'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 Environmental Protection.