St Joseph, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4 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.
St Joseph at a glance
St Joseph serves about 7,930 people through 3,754 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Berrien County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0006310. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
St Joseph's lead record
That is up 1.3 ppb from 2.7 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for St Joseph is 15 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (2 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2024 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 12 ppb over 10 |
| 2022 | 15 ppb over 10 |
| 2021 | 10 ppb |
| 2020 | 9 ppb |
| 2019 | 8.9 ppb |
| 2017 | 6.4 ppb |
| 2017 | 6.8 ppb |
Against other Michigan systems
Of the 1,227 Michigan systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 31 are over 15 ppb right now and 109 have gone over at some point. St Joseph's 4 ppb sits at the 85th percentile in Michigan and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
34 other systems share Berrien County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than St Joseph. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest Michigan Regional Sanitary Sew | 26,780 | 1.1 ppb |
| Niles | 14,215 | 2 ppb |
| Benton Harbor | 9,103 | 0.8 ppb |
| Benton Charter Township | 6,768 | 0 (not detected) |
| Buchanan | 4,871 | 3 ppb |
| Lake Charter Township | 4,177 | 1.5 ppb |
| Andrews University | 3,000 | 1 ppb |
| New Buffalo Township | 2,845 | 2 ppb |
| Chikaming Township | 2,825 | 1.51 ppb |
| Watervliet | 2,735 | 0.8 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; St. Joseph, MI 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 St Joseph 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.