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Uranium in Oregon well water, by county

By the Tested Water teamLab data from the USGS and EPA Water Quality Portal, 2002 to 2026Updated November 8, 2026

Uranium is worth checking in 4 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 an uranium test See every county

How Oregon compares with the rest of the country

Across Oregon, under 1 in 50 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (20 of 1,281). 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%.

CountyWells testedWells over the limitLevel
Josephine County 21
10% 2 of 21
 Worth checking
Malheur County 43
9%* 4 of 43
 Worth checking
Morrow County 34
9% 3 of 34
 Worth checking
Multnomah County 38
5% 2 of 38
 Worth checking
Gilliam County 26
4% 1 of 26
 Rare
Washington County 26
4% 1 of 26
 Rare
Umatilla County 182
3% 5 of 182
 Rare
Douglas County 42
2% 1 of 42
 Rare
Jackson County 131
0% 0 of 131
 Rare
Deschutes County 115
0% 0 of 115
 Rare
Klamath County 94
0% 0 of 94
 Rare
Harney County 91
0% 0 of 91
 Rare
Yamhill County 69
0% 0 of 69
 Rare
Marion County 68
0% 0 of 68
 Rare
Clatsop County 49
0% 0 of 49
 Rare
Tillamook County 40
0% 0 of 40
 Rare
Clackamas County 34
0% 0 of 34
 Rare
Coos County 21
0% 0 of 21
 Rare
Polk County 21
0% 0 of 21
 Rare
Lincoln County 20
0% 0 of 20
 Rare
Linn County 19
0% 0 of 19
 Rare
Lane County 17
0% 0 of 17
 Rare
Columbia County 14
0% 0 of 14
 Rare
Benton County 13
0% 0 of 13
 Rare
Wasco County 10
0% 0 of 10
 Rare

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

  • Malheur County: All of these tests come from Oregon's environment department, mostly before 2013 in one small part of the county, so this likely overstates it.

10 more Oregon counties have 1 to 9 tested wells for uranium, too few to rate.

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

Where to get your well tested for uranium 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
2

A lab Oregon certifies

Ask for uranium by name. Results from a certified lab count for a home sale or a loan.

Labs certified by Oregon
3

A mail-in kit

Fill the bottles at your kitchen tap and mail them back. We mark the kits that include uranium.

Compare kits

Keep reading about wells in Oregon

Questions people ask about uranium in Oregon

Is there uranium in Oregon well water?

Uranium is worth checking in 4 of the 25 Oregon counties with 10 or more tested wells, and rare in the rest. Across Oregon, under 1 in 50 tested wells had uranium over the EPA limit of 30 µg/L (20 of 1,281). 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 Oregon?

Use a lab certified by Oregon 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 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 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: Oregon Health Authority.