Well water hardness in New York
Across 55 counties of New York, the median well sampled by the USGS has 9.3 gpg of hardness. Counties range from 1.8 gpg (Suffolk County) to 23.8 gpg (Genesee County).
Millions of American households drink water from their own well. No utility tests that water and no water quality report covers it. These pages summarise the hardness the U.S. Geological Survey measured in wells county by county, so you know what to expect before you test your own well.
Counties, hardest first
| gpg | mg/L | wells | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesee County | 23.8 | 408 | 10 | very hard |
| Monroe County | 23.2 | 398 | 26 | very hard |
| Yates County | 21.6 | 370 | 13 | very hard |
| Wayne County | 19.8 | 340 | 10 | very hard |
| Montgomery County | 17.5 | 299 | 49 | very hard |
| Kings County | 16.4 | 280 | 44 | very hard |
| Livingston County | 15.7 | 268 | 16 | very hard |
| Erie County | 15.4 | 263 | 88 | very hard |
| Ontario County | 15.1 | 259 | 15 | very hard |
| Cortland County | 14.3 | 246 | 48 | very hard |
| Steuben County | 14.1 | 242 | 33 | very hard |
| Schenectady County | 13.6 | 232 | 16 | very hard |
| Orange County | 13.3 | 228 | 61 | very hard |
| Wyoming County | 13.1 | 225 | 17 | very hard |
| Dutchess County | 12.5 | 215 | 10 | very hard |
| Washington County | 12.1 | 208 | 17 | very hard |
| Albany County | 12 | 206 | 26 | very hard |
| Jefferson County | 11.9 | 204 | 38 | very hard |
| Onondaga County | 11.7 | 200 | 40 | very hard |
| Madison County | 11.6 | 198 | 15 | very hard |
| Oneida County | 11.3 | 193 | 54 | very hard |
| St. Lawrence County | 11 | 188 | 41 | very hard |
| Cayuga County | 10.9 | 186 | 12 | very hard |
| Chemung County | 10.4 | 179 | 20 | hard |
| Tompkins County | 10.3 | 176 | 79 | hard |
| Chautauqua County | 9.6 | 165 | 32 | hard |
| Chenango County | 9.6 | 164 | 19 | hard |
| Schoharie County | 9.3 | 159 | 18 | hard |
| Clinton County | 9.2 | 158 | 21 | hard |
| Rensselaer County | 9.2 | 157 | 15 | hard |
| Allegany County | 8.7 | 149 | 27 | hard |
| Saratoga County | 8.6 | 148 | 78 | hard |
| Tioga County | 8.5 | 146 | 16 | hard |
| Putnam County | 8.5 | 145 | 11 | hard |
| Broome County | 8.4 | 144 | 43 | hard |
| Schuyler County | 8.3 | 142 | 10 | hard |
| Columbia County | 8.2 | 141 | 15 | hard |
| Queens County | 8.2 | 140 | 102 | hard |
| Cattaraugus County | 7.8 | 134 | 34 | hard |
| Ulster County | 7.4 | 127 | 62 | hard |
| Oswego County | 7.2 | 123 | 63 | hard |
| Otsego County | 6.1 | 105 | 16 | moderately hard |
| Westchester County | 5.4 | 92 | 63 | moderately hard |
| Lewis County | 5 | 86 | 22 | moderately hard |
| Essex County | 4.9 | 84 | 52 | moderately hard |
| Fulton County | 4.6 | 80 | 13 | moderately hard |
| Warren County | 4.5 | 77 | 24 | moderately hard |
| Hamilton County | 3.4 | 59 | 21 | soft |
| Franklin County | 3.4 | 58 | 17 | soft |
| Delaware County | 3.4 | 58 | 28 | soft |
| Sullivan County | 3.2 | 54 | 17 | soft |
| Nassau County | 2.7 | 47 | 1051 | soft |
| Greene County | 2.3 | 40 | 39 | soft |
| Herkimer County | 2.1 | 36 | 44 | soft |
| Suffolk County | 1.8 | 31 | 1054 | soft |
Counties with fewer than 10 sampled wells, or a median outside 5–500 mg/L, are not shown until the figure is reviewed.
New York: tap water hardness by city → · Well water hardness by state and county →