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Lead in Oregon well water, by county

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

Lead is worth checking in 2 of the 25 Oregon counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. 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 a lead test See every county

These tests sample the groundwater, and lead rarely comes from the ground. In a home it mostly comes from plumbing: old solder, brass fittings and some older pumps. So a county's share can't tell you about your pipes. Test a first-draw sample, water that sat in the pipes overnight, from the tap you drink from.

How Oregon compares with the rest of the country

Across Oregon, about 1 in 44 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (34 of 1,488). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. So lead turns up somewhat more often in Oregon than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.

Why it matters: It harms children's growing brains. The CDC says no amount in a child's blood is known to be safe.

Lead in tested wells, county by county

Share of each county's tested wells with at least one result over the EPA action level of 15 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
Columbia County 14
7%* 1 of 14
 Worth checking
Tillamook County 40
5% 2 of 40
 Worth checking
Marion County 86
5% 4 of 86
 Rare
Clatsop County 49
4% 2 of 49
 Rare
Linn County 50
4% 2 of 50
 Rare
Umatilla County 186
4% 7 of 186
 Rare
Washington County 27
4% 1 of 27
 Rare
Gilliam County 29
3% 1 of 29
 Rare
Coos County 30
3% 1 of 30
 Rare
Benton County 33
3% 1 of 33
 Rare
Douglas County 67
3% 2 of 67
 Rare
Clackamas County 36
3% 1 of 36
 Rare
Multnomah County 44
2% 1 of 44
 Rare
Deschutes County 117
2% 2 of 117
 Rare
Yamhill County 69
1% 1 of 69
 Rare
Klamath County 128
1% 1 of 128
 Rare
Harney County 91
0% 0 of 91
 Rare
Lane County 86
0% 0 of 86
 Rare
Jackson County 69
0% 0 of 69
 Rare
Morrow County 57
0% 0 of 57
 Rare
Malheur County 46
0% 0 of 46
 Rare
Josephine County 29
0% 0 of 29
 Rare
Lincoln County 23
0% 0 of 23
 Rare
Polk County 22
0% 0 of 22
 Rare
Wasco County 13
0% 0 of 13
 Rare

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

  • Columbia County: All of these tests come from Oregon's environment department in one small part of the county, so it may not match the rest of the county.

11 more Oregon counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for lead, too few to rate.

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

Where to get your well tested for lead in Oregon

1

Your county health department

Oregon 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.

Oregon'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 lead.

Compare kits

Keep reading about wells in Oregon

Questions people ask about lead in Oregon

Is there lead in Oregon well water?

Lead is worth checking in 2 of the 25 Oregon counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across Oregon, about 1 in 44 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (34 of 1,488). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. So lead turns up somewhat more often in Oregon than in the country as a whole. Check your county below.

Where can I get my well tested for lead in Oregon?

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

See Oregon'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 action level of 15 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: Oregon Health Authority.