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 pageUranium in New Jersey well water, by county
Uranium is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 12 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.
How New Jersey compares with the rest of the country
Across New Jersey, about 1 in 39 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (7 of 276). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. 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 can harm your kidneys and raises the risk of cancer.
Uranium comes out of the rock and sediment the wells draw from.
Uranium in tested wells, county by county
Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA limit of 30 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%.
| County | Wells tested | Wells over the limit | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sussex County | 23 | Widespread | |
| Hunterdon County | 21 | Rare | |
| Gloucester County | 58 | Rare | |
| Camden County | 39 | Rare | |
| Burlington County | 21 | Rare | |
| Ocean County | 21 | Rare | |
| Cumberland County | 15 | Rare | |
| Mercer County | 12 | Rare | |
| Monmouth County | 12 | Rare | |
| Atlantic County | 11 | Rare | |
| Middlesex County | 10 | Rare | |
| Morris County | 10 | Rare |
7 more New Jersey counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for uranium, too few to rate.
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Where to get your well tested for uranium in New Jersey
A lab New Jersey certifies
Ask for uranium by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.
Labs certified by New JerseyA mail-in kit
Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include uranium.
Compare kitsKeep reading about wells in New Jersey
- Well water testing in New Jersey: how to get tested and what turns up statewide
- Uranium in well water: where it comes from, what it does and how to remove it
- Nitrate in New Jersey wells, by county
- Arsenic in New Jersey wells, by county
- Manganese in New Jersey wells, by county
- Lead in New Jersey wells, by county
- Radon in New Jersey wells, by county
Questions people ask about uranium in New Jersey
Is there uranium in New Jersey well water?
Uranium is widespread, over the limit in 15% or more of tested wells, in 1 of the 12 New Jersey counties with 10 or more tested wells. Across New Jersey, about 1 in 39 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (7 of 276). Across all tested wells in the US it's about 1 in 22. 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 uranium in New Jersey?
Use a lab certified by New Jersey for drinking water, or a mail-in kit that includes uranium 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 30 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.