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Story · Water

Lead at the tap

673 of 1,233 Ohio ZIP codes have a figure; the median one has 0.8 ppb.

Open this topic on the map Lead by ZIP code

Lead does not come from the lake or the aquifer. It comes from the pipes, the solder and the fixtures between the water main and the kitchen sink, most of them installed before 1986. Every community water system samples the homes most likely to have lead and reports the 90th-percentile result to EPA: the level nine in ten of those taps came in under, measured against an action level of 15 ppb that drops to 10 ppb in 2027.

This ranks the 25 Ohio ZIP codes whose water system reported the highest 90th-percentile lead result at the tap, highest first, from EPA's SDWIS compliance records. It is not a count of lead service lines; the inventories utilities filed in October 2024 are on each ZIP code's own page. A filter certified for lead helps in the meantime, and replacing the line is the permanent fix.

Across the state

One dot per ZIP code, colored the way the map colors this topic; larger dots are more populous ZIP codes.

No lead detected (311) Under 5 ppb (338) 5 to 10 ppb (23) Over 10, up to 15 ppb (1) Over 15 ppb No data (560)

The 25 highest lead results at the tap

Highest first; every ZIP code links to its own page.

  1. 43338 · Mount GileadMorrow County12.6 ppb
  2. 44460 · SalemColumbiana County9.4 ppb
  3. 45899 · WrenVan Wert County8.4 ppb
  4. 44702 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  5. 44703 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  6. 44704 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  7. 44705 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  8. 44706 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  9. 44707 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  10. 44708 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  11. 44709 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  12. 44710 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  13. 44714 · CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  14. 44721 · Plain Township and CantonStark County8.0 ppb
  15. 45320 · EatonPreble County7.9 ppb
  16. 43557 · Springfield Township and StrykerWilliams County7.1 ppb
  17. 44644 · Brown Township and MalvernCarroll County6.8 ppb
  18. 43951 · Union Township and LaffertyBelmont County6.3 ppb
  19. 43977 · FlushingBelmont County6.3 ppb
  20. 44203 · BarbertonSummit County5.6 ppb
  21. 43078 · UrbanaChampaign County5.5 ppb
  22. 44883 · TiffinSeneca County5.4 ppb
  23. 43713 · BarnesvilleBelmont County5.0 ppb
  24. 44870 · SanduskyErie County5.0 ppb
  25. 43517 · EdgertonWilliams County4.9 ppb

How this was measured

Lead comes from pipes, not from the lake or the aquifer. Every system samples taps in the homes most likely to have lead service lines or lead solder and reports the 90th-percentile result to EPA; the map shows the latest one for the system serving most of each ZIP, against the 15 ppb action level (10 ppb from 2027). The card adds the record since 2016, copper, and the service line inventory every system had to file by October 2024: how many lines are lead, galvanized steel that must be replaced, or still unknown. A Children line says whether the Ohio Department of Health counts the ZIP as high-risk for childhood lead exposure, which makes blood tests at ages 1 and 2 mandatory. Systems that got H2Ohio help building their service line inventory are marked. A housing-age line gives the share of homes built before 1960 and before 1940, the years of lead pipes, solder and paint.

This list ranks by the latest 90th-percentile lead result at the tap for each ZIP code's water system, the same figure the map colors by, not by a count of lead service lines: the inventories are still being compiled and use different rules from one utility to the next. Each ZIP code's page carries its system's inventory where one has been submitted.

673 of 1,233 ZIP codes have a figure; ZIP codes without one are left off the list, not counted as zero. Ties are broken by ZIP code.

Every ZIP code's own page carries the full detail behind its figure, and the Lead topic page ranks the whole state.

Sources

SDWIS lead and copper 90th-percentile tap results (Envirofacts) and EPA's service line inventory dashboard (2026 Q2 submissions), for the system serving most of each ZIP; Ohio Department of Health high-risk ZIP code list for childhood blood lead testing (as reproduced in the Cuyahoga County Board of Health questionnaire, October 2024); H2Ohio RCAP lead service line inventory assistance sites (Ohio EPA); Census ACS 2020-2024 B25034 housing age.

ODH childhood lead testing · ODH high-risk ZIP list (CCBH PDF) · Ohio EPA lead and copper · H2Ohio

The figures behind this page are open data: the open JSON, CC BY 4.0 for the compilation. Report a correction.

Cite this page as:

Cracked Buckeye (Open Shower Co), "Lead at the tap", https://crackedbuckeye.com/stories/lead-lines-remaining/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].

One figure from it:

Cracked Buckeye (Open Shower Co), "Lead at the tap", https://crackedbuckeye.com/stories/lead-lines-remaining/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date]; Lead from ODH childhood lead testing.

How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-09-16