Essex County, MA Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Essex County, MA?
Essex County's long-term well puts the trend at 0.1 ft per decade, holding roughly steady, based on 927 measurements since 1936.
One well stands in for Essex County's whole aquifer here, the honest simplification every page on this site carries.
What the well actually measured
The most recent reading put water 13.9 ft below land surface. Readings span 1936-02-08 to 2026-09-18, 927 measurements from USGS well USGS-423845070542501 (Ma-Tqw 1 Topsfield, Ma), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where Essex County ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, Essex County ranks 534th from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 823,938 people live in Essex County, Massachusetts. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Essex County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
A dropping table says nothing about water quality
Whether Essex County's water table is rising or falling is independent of what's actually in the water. Depletion can concentrate naturally-occurring minerals, so it's worth checking directly with a water test rather than assuming a depth trend says anything about quality.