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Lead in Pennsylvania well water, by county

By the Tested Water teamLab data from the USGS and EPA Water Quality Portal, 2000 to 2023Updated November 8, 2026

Lead is rare in tested Pennsylvania wells: in all 15 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. 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 Pennsylvania compares with the rest of the country

Across Pennsylvania, 2 of 884 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (2 of 884). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. That's less often than in the country as a whole. Counties still differ, so check yours 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
Bucks County 32
3% 1 of 32
 Rare
Chester County 89
1% 1 of 89
 Rare
Wayne County 128
0% 0 of 128
 Rare
Pike County 95
0% 0 of 95
 Rare
Bradford County 81
0% 0 of 81
 Rare
Lycoming County 78
0% 0 of 78
 Rare
Clinton County 55
0% 0 of 55
 Rare
Potter County 48
0% 0 of 48
 Rare
Montgomery County 28
0% 0 of 28
 Rare
Lancaster County 27
0% 0 of 27
 Rare
Berks County 24
0% 0 of 24
 Rare
Sullivan County 24
0% 0 of 24
 Rare
Northumberland County 23
0% 0 of 23
 Rare
Susquehanna County 20
0% 0 of 20
 Rare
Franklin County 17
0% 0 of 17
 Rare

39 more Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

1

Your county health department

Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania'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 Pennsylvania

Questions people ask about lead in Pennsylvania

Is there lead in Pennsylvania well water?

Lead is rare in tested Pennsylvania wells: in all 15 counties with enough tests, fewer than 5% of tested wells were over the limit. Across Pennsylvania, 2 of 884 tested wells had lead over the EPA action level of 15 µg/L (2 of 884). Across all tested wells in the US it's under 1 in 50. 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 lead in Pennsylvania?

Use a lab certified by Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania's list of certified labs (a PDF list), 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: Department of Environmental Protection.