North Chicago, IL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.6 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. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
About North Chicago
North Chicago serves about 16,813 people through 4,211 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 surface water, in Lake County, Illinois. EPA system ID: IL0971250; phone on file: 847-596-8871. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (2.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for North Chicago is 15 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (2 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.6 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2025 | 4.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 15 ppb over 10 |
| 2020 | 13 ppb over 10 |
| 2017 | 7.7 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 1,744 Illinois systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 22 are over 15 ppb right now and 152 have gone over at some point. North Chicago's 3.6 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in Illinois and the 86th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
103 other systems share Lake County; 28 of them have a higher latest lead result than North Chicago. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Waukegan | 87,149 | 10 ppb |
| Vernon Hills - Lake Co Pw | 33,207 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mundelein | 31,500 | 4.3 ppb |
| Gurnee | 30,193 | 0.3 ppb |
| Highland Park | 30,176 | 0 (not detected) |
| Round Lake Beach | 27,200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Zion | 24,442 | 11.2 ppb |
| Great Lakes Naval Training Station | 23,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Grayslake | 21,248 | 11 ppb |
| Libertyville | 20,500 | 5.61 ppb |
Next steps for North Chicago, IL
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; North Chicago, IL 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 North Chicago 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.