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Counties → North Carolina

McDowell County, North Carolina

SDWIS compliance plate

Sheet NC111 · McDowell County 96 sys · 10,183 viol · #1444/3254

VIOL-SEVERE · HEALTH-LOW · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PFAS-HIGH · SRC-GW · SYS-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • VIOL-SEVERE 93.8% flagged
  • HEALTH-LOW 3.6% health
  • RANK-MID #1444/3254
  • PHOTO-FINISH ±0.1 pp
  • PFAS-HIGH 50.0% detect
  • SRC-GW GW lead 98%
  • SYS-MID 96 systems
  • BOOK-FULL 7/7 fields

Nearest flagged-rate peer: Watauga County (+ 0.1 pp flagged-rate)

According to EPA SDWIS county population served used on /counties, McDowell County ranks #1,444 of 3,254 counties by people served, and #67 of 100 counties in North Carolina. See methodology · corpus placement.

McDowell County standing, mid-flagged corpus third

Flagged-system rate 93.8% is in the corpus middle third (≤ 100.0% flagged) across 2,973 counties with ≥3 SDWIS systems . Health-based share 3.6% is health-based share at or below the lower third (≤ 10.3%) . UCMR5 detect rate 50.0% is UCMR5 detect rate above the tested-pool upper third (> 33.3%) . Population served ranks #1,444 of 3,254 · #67 of 100 in North Carolina.

Flagged-rate neighbourhood around McDowell County

Lowest/highest poles plus in-state counties nearest McDowell County on % of SDWIS systems with ≥1 violation. Full ladder: /counties.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Gates · lowest McDowell · this county Surry · near Tyrrell · highest 50% 93.4% 93.8% 93.8% 93.9% 94.1% 100%

Source: EPA SDWIS (county aggregates) As of 2026-05-15

Water Systems

System Name Population Violations PFAS
Marion, City Of 9,362 46 Clean
Baxter Health Care Corp 2,450 11 -
Old Fort, Town Of 1,700 49 Detected
McDowell Co--Nebo 902 31 -
Riverside Convenience Store 500 32 -
New North Cove Elem School 450 27 -
West Marion Elem School 449 214 -
Riverside MHP 399 335 -
Black Bear Development 343 2 -
Marion Moose Lodge 320 692 -
Woodlawn Heights Water System 315 111 -
Little Switzerland Comm Assoc 300 75 -
Mecklenburg Scout Camp 300 29 -
Columbia Carolina Division 300 195 -
Coats American 290 20 -
Deer Park Health & Rehab. 290 304 -
K G`s Quick Stop 250 19 -
Marion Lake Club 250 14 -
Zion Hill Baptist Church 225 149 -
Stuckey`s 200 23 -
Camp Grier 200 153 -
Linville Falls Lodge 200 140 -
Cherry Springs Baptist Church 200 23 -
Providence UMC 200 119 -
Lake James State Park - Catawba 200 17 -
Spacious Skies Hidden Creek Office 200 29 -
Spacious Skies Hidden Creek Deluxe Tents 200 45 -
Dollar General #15706 200 5 -
Dollar General #14888 200 0 -
Woodlawn Roadside Park 200 0 -
Spacious Skies Hidden Creek Pavillion 200 0 -
Spacious Skies Hidden Creek Overlook 200 0 -
Dollar General #18037 200 15 -
Marion Moose Lodge-Mountain 160 198 -
Bethel Baptist Church 150 31 -
Bethel Fwb Church 150 48 -
Rocky Pass Fwb Church 150 57 -
Nealsville Church of God 150 49 -
Victory Temple Full Gospel Ch 150 10 -
Bakers Market & Tire Service 150 27 -
Dysartsville Chevron/Restaurant 150 22 -
Living Waters Tabernacle 150 12 -
Bear Den Acres 140 11 -
Lucky Strike Miners Diner 137 129 -
Mt Paradise Campground 135 55 -
Linville Falls Club 127 306 -
Salem Fwb Church 125 12 -
Buck Creek RV Park 125 5 -
New Horizon Fellowship Church 125 14 -
Orchard at Altapass, The 125 14 -

Compare beyond North Carolina

Mid-flagged peers for McDowell County

Cross-state counties nearest McDowell County on flagged-system share (93.8%) and cumulative violation count (10,183). In-state neighbours stay on the compliance plate above.

Similar flagged-system rate

Nearest cross-state counties by % of SDWIS systems with at least one violation on record.

4 peers

Similar violation load

Nearest cross-state counties by cumulative SDWIS violation count (all systems in the county).

4 peers

Read our methodology · Check your water system - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater

Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.