Hibbing, MN
Above the new 10 ppb level coming in 2027
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 14 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Under the current 15 ppb rule this is not an exceedance, but it is above the 10 ppb action level that takes over in Nov 2027. Test your own tap; filter if your result shows lead.
Hibbing at a glance
Hibbing serves about 16,028 people through 5,684 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in St. Louis County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1690022; phone on file: 2182087313. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
That is down 18 ppb from 32 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hibbing is 32 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, 2 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 14 ppb over 10 |
| 2025 | 32 ppb over 15 |
| 2023 | 4 ppb |
| 2022 | 9 ppb |
| 2021 | 4 ppb |
| 2020 | 13 ppb over 10 |
| 2019 | 7 ppb |
| 2018 | 6 ppb |
| 2017 | 6 ppb |
| 2017 | 8 ppb |
| 2016 | 16 ppb over 15 |
How Hibbing compares
Of the 966 Minnesota systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 48 have gone over at some point. Hibbing's 14 ppb sits at the 99th percentile in Minnesota and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in St. Louis County
29 other systems share St. Louis County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hibbing. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Duluth | 86,859 | 8 ppb |
| Virginia | 8,361 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hermantown | 7,215 | 0 (not detected) |
| Chisholm | 4,940 | 4 ppb |
| Eveleth | 3,770 | 3 ppb |
| Ely | 3,258 | 7 ppb |
| Proctor | 3,099 | 2 ppb |
| Mountain Iron | 2,880 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hoyt Lakes | 2,020 | 0 (not detected) |
| Gilbert | 1,829 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hibbing, MN may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Hibbing whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. This system is in the band the 2027 10 ppb rule changes.