Short-term kit
RA400 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska
EPA puts Fairbanks North Star Borough in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and 19.4% of its 72 reported radon tests (2022) were at or above 4 pCi/L. Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Share at 4+ pCi/L
19.4%
7.9 pts above AK
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- 19.4%
- Alaska
- 11.5%
72 tests, 2022
Median result
1.4pCi/L
Below action level
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- 1.4 pCi/L
- EPA
- 4.0 pCi/L
Midpoint of the tests, 2022
Tests reported
72
2nd of 3 by tests
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- 72
- Anchorage Municipality
- 130
Reported to CDC before any fix, 2022
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Rank in Alaska
1 of 3
Top quarter
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- 19.4%
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- 19.4%
By share, of 3 with 30+ tests
Read a result for Fairbanks North Star Borough
Starts at Fairbanks North Star Borough's median, 1.4 pCi/L
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 1.4 pCi/L
Below 2 pCi/L
- Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
- 2 to 4consider a fix
- 4 and aboveEPA says fix it
This result is below 2 pCi/L, the level at which EPA says a fix should be considered. Fairbanks North Star Borough's median reported result, 2022.
The data
Fairbanks North Star Borough, At a glance
Fairbanks North Star Borough at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Fairbanks North Star Borough is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Fairbanks North Star Borough, 2022
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 52.9% |
| 2015 | 45.0% |
| 2016 | 39.5% |
| 2017 | 45.5% |
| 2018 | 5.0% |
| 2019 | 19.2% |
| 2020 | 30.6% |
| 2021 | 22.7% |
| 2022 | 19.4% |
2022: 19.4%. Across these years the share ran from 5.0% to 52.9%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
These are the 72 tests reported to CDC for Fairbanks North Star Borough over 2022, many from homes being sold or already suspected of a problem: they describe the borough or census area's reported tests, not this house.
Measured: CDC tracking data. Figure above: 2022. Measured data period: 2005 to 2022 (every CDC figure on file).
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Compared
Fairbanks North Star Borough radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411Fairbanks North Star Borough's 72 reported tests in 2022 had a middle value of 1.4 pCi/L and a maximum of 45.9 pCi/L, and 19.4% reached 4 pCi/L. Alaska as a whole (19 Alaska counties, pooled) comes to 11.5%: 7.9 points lower than here.
Among its state's counties it ranks 1st of 3 Alaska counties with 30 or more tests for the same period. Statewide for the same period, Matanuska-Susitna Borough reported the highest share (14.3%) and Anchorage Municipality the lowest (3.1%).
Below the action level, 42 tests (58.3%) came in under 2 pCi/L, against 75.2% statewide, and 16 tests (22.2%) fell between 2 and 4, against 13.4% statewide. The busiest year on file was 2020, with 157 tests reported; the quietest, 2014, had 17.
EPA's 1993 zone map puts Fairbanks North Star Borough in Zone 2, a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Over 6 years of annual figures the share fell 20.1 points, from 39.5% in 2016 to 19.4% in 2022; its peak was 45.5% in 2017.
CDC also counts 13 tests taken after mitigation in Fairbanks North Star Borough for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.
Fairbanks North Star BoroughAlaska, pooled
19.4% % of tests11.5% % of tests
| Year | Tests | Fairbanks North Star Borough, at or above 4 pCi/L | Alaska, pooled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 38 | 39.5% | 32.6% |
| 2017 | 33 | 45.5% | 29.5% |
| 2019 | 52 | 19.2% | 14.5% |
| 2020 | 157 | 30.6% | 15.9% |
| 2021 | 132 | 22.7% | 18.8% |
| 2022 | 72 | 19.4% | 11.5% |
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Geology
The ground under Fairbanks North Star Borough
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Fairbanks North Star Borough's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. The map puts 79.4% of Fairbanks North Star Borough in the area it calls Northern Plateaus and 20.6% in Central Alaska. USGS gives both a radon index of 11, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Plateaus | Uraniferous granites, felsic intrusives; clastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks; metamorphic, and volcanic rocks. | Moderate | 11 | 79.4% |
| Central Alaska | Uraniferous granites, felsic intrusives; clastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks; metamorphic, and volcanic rocks. | Moderate | 11 | 20.6% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Fairbanks North Star Borough beside the ground around it
Fairbanks North Star Borough has more moderate-potential ground than Alaska as a whole: 100% of its land against 79.2%. Of the 3 boroughs and census areas that border it, none has as large a share of moderate-potential ground; Denali Borough comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Alaska's radon programAlaska Division of Geological & Geophysical SurveysAlaska's radon program answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in Alaska.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsAsk the program whether it has free or discounted kits, or compare kits you can buy.
- Compare kits
- See the Alaska directoryNo professionals are listed in Alaska yet. The state program can point you to registered testers and mitigators.
What Alaska's program says
- Phone
- 907-269-6401
- paul.goodfellow@alaska.gov
What it means
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Questions
Questions about radon in Fairbanks North Star Borough
Are radon levels high in Fairbanks North Star Borough?
In 2022, 19.4% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.4 pCi/L. Of 3 Alaska counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, none reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 11.5%.
Which counties border Fairbanks North Star Borough?
Fairbanks North Star Borough borders 3 boroughs and census areas: Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Denali Borough and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.
Products
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Products
Testing a home in Fairbanks North Star Borough
In Fairbanks North Star Borough, 19.4% of 72 tests reported to CDC in 2022 reached 4 pCi/L, against 11.5% pooled across Alaska. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Fairbanks North Star Borough; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
Long-term kit
RL416 long-term radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
MonitorAEGTEST
HOUND-3786 rechargeable radon monitor with a 3.5-inch color screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Best radon monitors for Fairbanks North Star Borough homes, compared
Explore
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Bordering boroughs and census areas
Boroughs and census areas bordering Fairbanks North Star Borough
Calculated by Radon41180.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.8 pCi/L · 10 tests · 60.6 points above Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Radon levels in Denali BoroughEPA zone 3
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.6 pCi/L · 2 tests · 30.6 points above Fairbanks North Star Borough
No CDC figure for 2022; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Fairbanks North Star Borough
About 93,972 people live in Fairbanks North Star Borough by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 1,361 fewer than in 2020 (−1.4%). That works out to 13 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Fairbanks, has 31,468 residents, 33.5% of the total. Together its 2 incorporated places hold 36.1% of those residents; the other 63.9% live outside any of them. Testing is reported here more often than across the state: CDC's 72 reported tests for 2022 come to 0.8 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), against 0.4 for Alaska.
From Fairbanks to North Pole, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Fairbanks North Star Borough's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks | 31,468 | −2.9% | 33.5% |
| North Pole | 2,477 | +10.4% | 2.6% |
2 incorporated places, as listed in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 place reference files. Residents: U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2025 (Vintage 2025).
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Homes
Homes in Fairbanks North Star Borough
Of Fairbanks North Star Borough's 42,695 homes, 60% are detached houses, against 63% across Alaska; 14% are in buildings of five or more homes. Half of its homes were built before 1985, close to Alaska's 1985: 8% date from before 1960 and 24% from 2000 or later. 62% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Alaska: 67%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Fairbanks North Star Borough | Alaska |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 42,695 | 327,610 |
| Detached houses | 60% | 63% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 14% | 12% |
| Mobile homes | 3% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 8% | 8% |
| Built since 2000 | 24% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1985 | 1985 |
| Owner-occupied | 62% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.