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EPA rankings · EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) · updated August 2026

Superfund Sites by State

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's current Superfund National Priorities List, all states are ranked here by total count of sites ever listed on the NPL, including sites already fully remediated and formally deleted from the list. This is a count of listed NPL sites by state, not a composite environmental-quality score, and not a live count of sites currently requiring cleanup.

#1 · New Jersey
153
Leader
Top-12 cutoff
49
List threshold
State median
24
Cohort median
states ranked
51
Cohort coverage

The ranking, the verdict

New Jersey leads at 153 sites. The top-12 cutoff is 49 (#12), and the leader-to-tail spread is 151 across 51 states (median 24).

153
#1 New Jersey
49
top-12 list threshold
151
leader-to-tail spread
current NPL list
EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) vintage

Each position reflects one reported federal count, not overall environmental quality or water safety.

Verify at EPA Envirofacts →

What This Ranking Tells Us

Superfund sites on the EPA National Priorities List are locations designated for long-term federal cleanup under CERCLA. States with more listed sites often have denser legacy industrial, military, or mining footprints in the EPA record. New Jersey consistently leads the nation in NPL site count, reflecting its dense industrial history along the I-95 corridor. This ranking is a count of listed sites by state, not a composite environmental-quality or community-health score -- and roughly a quarter of all listed sites nationwide carry "Deleted NPL Site" status, meaning EPA has determined cleanup is complete; the table below shows each state's active-vs-deleted split so a high total is not read as an active-hazard count.

This page ranks all 50 U.S. states and territories on a single indicator - sites - drawn directly from the EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The ranking draws on 51 state records in the current dataset, ordered descending (highest count at the top) by the underlying federal count.

A state's position depends on underlying geography, industrial history, population, and the density of reporting entities, not on a simple "cleaner" or "dirtier" label. Use the links in the table to open each state's full environmental profile and view county-level breakdowns, individual facility records, and violation history. Data source: EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). All figures are as-filed and not weighted for toxicity or exposure.

Superfund Sites by State: top 15

Ranked by sites - full table below

  1. 1
    New Jersey 153 sites
  2. 2
    Pennsylvania 127 sites
  3. 3
    New York 122 sites
  4. 4
    California 116 sites
  5. 5
    Michigan 90 sites
  6. 6
    Florida 81 sites
  7. 7
    Texas 70 sites
  8. 8
    Washington 69 sites
  9. 9
    Illinois 56 sites
  10. 10
    Indiana 53 sites
  11. 11
    Ohio 50 sites
  12. 12
    Minnesota 49 sites
  13. 13
    Wisconsin 46 sites
  14. 14
    North Carolina 42 sites
  15. 15
    Massachusetts 41 sites

Source EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) · current NPL list

The bar to make the top 12

49 sites - where #12 sits among all 51 states

49 lbs 22nd percentile higher than 22% of 51 states

#12 cutoff 2 lbs 158 lbs every state's sites, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $1M-wide band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line and filled bar mark this facility. Hover, focus, or tap a bar for its full count, share, and position.

Source EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) · current NPL list

1 New Jersey
153 sites
2 Pennsylvania
127 sites
3 New York
122 sites
# State Sites
1 New Jersey NJ 153
115 active , 37 deleted , 1 proposed
2 Pennsylvania PA 127
91 active , 35 deleted , 1 proposed
3 New York NY 122
83 active , 39 deleted
4 California CA 116
97 active , 17 deleted , 2 proposed
5 Michigan MI 90
66 active , 21 deleted , 2 proposed
6 Florida FL 81
52 active , 28 deleted , 1 proposed
7 Texas TX 70
55 active , 14 deleted , 1 proposed
8 Washington WA 69
47 active , 22 deleted
9 Illinois IL 56
46 active , 7 deleted , 3 proposed
10 Indiana IN 53
40 active , 13 deleted
11 Ohio OH 50
37 active , 9 deleted , 4 proposed
12 Minnesota MN 49
25 active , 24 deleted
13 Wisconsin WI 46
36 active , 9 deleted , 1 proposed
14 North Carolina NC 42
38 active , 4 deleted
15 Massachusetts MA 41
32 active , 8 deleted , 1 proposed
16 Missouri MO 39
33 active , 6 deleted
17 Virginia VA 35
29 active , 6 deleted
18 South Carolina SC 34
28 active , 6 deleted
19 Louisiana LA 29
15 active , 12 deleted , 2 proposed
20 Delaware DE 26
17 active , 8 deleted , 1 proposed
21 Maryland MD 26
21 active , 4 deleted , 1 proposed
22 Tennessee TN 26
19 active , 7 deleted
23 Puerto Rico PR 26
18 active , 8 deleted
24 Iowa IA 25
13 active , 11 deleted , 1 proposed
25 Colorado CO 24
20 active , 3 deleted , 1 proposed
26 Utah UT 24
12 active , 9 deleted , 3 proposed
27 Georgia GA 23
17 active , 5 deleted , 1 proposed
28 New Hampshire NH 22
20 active , 1 deleted , 1 proposed
29 New Mexico NM 21
16 active , 5 deleted
30 Oregon OR 21
15 active , 5 deleted , 1 proposed
31 Kansas KS 20
14 active , 5 deleted , 1 proposed
32 Kentucky KY 20
10 active , 10 deleted
33 Montana MT 19
18 active , 1 proposed
34 Nebraska NE 19
18 active , 1 deleted
35 Oklahoma OK 18
9 active , 8 deleted , 1 proposed
36 Arkansas AR 17
9 active , 8 deleted
37 Connecticut CT 17
13 active , 4 deleted
38 Alabama AL 16
12 active , 3 deleted , 1 proposed
39 Maine ME 16
10 active , 6 deleted
40 Mississippi MS 14
9 active , 5 deleted
41 Vermont VT 14
12 active , 2 deleted
42 West Virginia WV 14
11 active , 3 deleted
43 Arizona AZ 13
10 active , 3 deleted
44 Rhode Island RI 13
12 active , 1 deleted
45 Idaho ID 12
6 active , 3 deleted , 3 proposed
46 Alaska AK 9
6 active , 3 deleted
47 Hawaii HI 4
3 active , 1 deleted
48 South Dakota SD 4
2 active , 2 deleted
49 Wyoming WY 3
1 active , 2 deleted
50 Nevada NV 2
1 active , 1 proposed
51 North Dakota ND 2
0 active , 2 deleted

Source: EPA Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

Top-ranked state profiles

Explore the environmental records behind the top positions in this ranking.

#1 New Jersey 153

TRI facilities Water systems Compare

#2 Pennsylvania 127

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#3 New York 122

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#4 California 116

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#5 Michigan 90

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#6 Florida 81

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Superfund site?

A Superfund site is a contaminated location that the EPA has placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) due to the severity of contamination. The Superfund program was created by CERCLA in 1980 to clean up the most hazardous waste sites in the country. Sites are scored using the Hazard Ranking System based on contamination type, exposure pathways, and affected populations.

How long does Superfund cleanup take?

There is no single cleanup timeline. The sequence and duration depend on the contaminants, exposure pathways, remedy design, responsible-party work, construction, and long-term monitoring. NPL deletion is a formal EPA decision made after the applicable response criteria are met; it should not be read as a claim that every trace of contamination has been removed.

Who pays for Superfund cleanup?

The "polluter pays" principle governs Superfund. The EPA identifies Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) - companies or individuals who contributed to contamination, and compels them to fund cleanup. When no viable PRP exists, the EPA uses the Superfund Trust (funded by taxes on chemical and petroleum industries) for remediation.

Explore More Rankings

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EPA hazardous waste sites

What to do with this ranking

Use the leaders here as a starting point, then check your own state's full record.

  • New Jersey tops this list at 153 sites - see its full environmental profile, not just this one metric. View New Jersey
  • This single indicator doesn't capture the full picture. Compare against most tri facilities for a different angle. Most TRI Facilities
  • Look up any state directly to see its complete facility, water, and Superfund record in one place. Browse all states

Rankings reflect reported federal data for a single indicator; a high or low rank does not by itself measure overall environmental quality or health risk.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this ranking is drawn from PlainEnviro's database of more than 25,000 EPA-tracked facilities and thousands of Safe Drinking Water Information System and Superfund National Priorities List records compiled since federal reporting began under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act in October 1986; see our methodology for the full data-source citations and refresh cadence.

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
Data sourced from U.S. EPA environmental datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainEnviro

Every figure on PlainEnviro is rendered directly from EPA environmental compliance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from EPA data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.