Short-term kit
RA100 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Polk County, Arkansas
EPA puts Polk County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 1 radon test from it is on file with CDC (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Nearest county
45.8%
Garland County, 62 miles
- Garland
- 45.8%
- Arkansas
- 22.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 48 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
25.4%
4.1 pts above Arkansas
- Polk
- 25.4%
- Arkansas
- 21.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
1
Too few for a share
- Polk
- 1
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 3
Lower potential
- 1
- 2
- Zone 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Polk County
Starts at EPA's action level
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 4.0 pCi/L
At or above 4 pCi/L
- Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
- 2 to 4consider a fix
- 4 and aboveEPA says fix it
This result is at or above 4 pCi/L. EPA recommends fixing a home when the radon level is 4 pCi/L or higher.
The data
Polk County, At a glance
Polk County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 75% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Polk County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 1 reported test for Polk County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, a result of 2.2 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Polk County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 1 test was reported to CDC for Polk County over 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals), and tests are often run on homes being sold or already suspected of a problem: so few describe neither the county nor this house.
Measured: CDC tracking data. Figure above: 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Measured data period: 2005 to 2017 (every CDC figure on file).
Polk County, Compared
Polk County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Polk County rests on 1 test over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 100.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 2.2 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.2 pCi/L.
The nearest counties with a figure are Garland County (62 miles away) at 45.8%, Saline County (89 miles away) at 31.9% and Washington County (103 miles away) at 14.3%. Pooled across 60 Arkansas counties, 22.7% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.8%.
Statewide for the same period, Garland County reported the highest share (45.8%) and Pulaski County the lowest (6.8%). EPA's 1993 map puts Polk County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 75% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Polk County, Geology
The ground under Polk County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map splits Polk County: 74.6% of its land is low radon potential and 25.4% moderate. The map puts 74.6% of Polk County in the area it calls Athens Plateau/Fourche Mountains and 25.4% in Central Ouachita Mountains. USGS gives the first a radon index of 8, in the low band (5 to 8), and the second 9, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens Plateau/Fourche Mountains | Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sandstones and shales. | Low | 8 | 74.6% |
| Central Ouachita Mountains | Intensely deformed Ordovician and Silurian shales and sandstones with minor chert and limestone. | Moderate | 9 | 25.4% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Polk County beside the ground around it
On moderate-potential ground Polk County is close to Arkansas as a whole: 25.4% of its land against 21.3%. Of the 7 counties that border it, 1 has more moderate-potential ground, Montgomery County the most at 72.4%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Polk County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Polk County
- Arkansas's radon programArkansas Department of HealthArkansas's radon program answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in Arkansas.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 Arkansas directoryNo professionals are listed in Arkansas yet. The state program can point you to registered testers and mitigators.
What Arkansas's program says
- Phone
- 501-661-2621
- ADH.EPI.Radon@arkansas.gov
What it means
Polk County, Questions
Questions about radon in Polk County
Are radon levels high in Polk County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Polk County, Arkansas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.2 pCi/L. Of the 5 nearest counties with a figure, within 128 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 6.8% to 45.8%.
Which counties border Polk County?
Polk County borders 7 counties: Howard County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Pike County, AR, McCurtain County, OK and Le Flore County, OK.
Products
Polk County, Products
Testing a home in Polk County
No CDC figure names Polk County; the nearest county with one, Garland County (62 miles away), reported 45.8% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. Zone 3 is the lowest label, yet homes at or above 4 pCi/L occur in every zone: a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Polk County.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
Long-term kit
RL116 long-term radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Monitor
Wave Plus battery radon and air quality monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- App only
Method: Alpha spectrometry
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Polk County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Polk County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Howard County, AREPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.6 pCi/L · 3 tests
- Radon levels in Sevier County, AREPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.1 pCi/L · 2 tests
- Radon levels in Montgomery County, AREPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.6 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Le Flore County, OKEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.8 pCi/L · 9 tests
- Radon levels in Scott County, AREPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Pike County, AREPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in McCurtain County, OKEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Polk County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Polk County
The Census Bureau estimates 19,486 residents in Polk County for July 1, 2025, 300 more than in 2020 (+1.6%). That works out to 23 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Mena, has 5,607 residents, 28.8% of the total. Together its 6 incorporated places hold 38.8% of those residents; the other 61.2% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 1 test over 2008 to 2017, or 0.1 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Arkansas as a whole comes to 0.2.
From Mena to Vandervoort, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Polk County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mena | 5,607 | +0.8% | 28.8% |
| Wickes | 655 | +2.5% | 3.4% |
| Grannis | 498 | +1.2% | 2.6% |
| Hatfield | 348 | +0.3% | 1.8% |
| Cove | 329 | +2.5% | 1.7% |
| Vandervoort | 117 | +3.5% | 0.6% |
6 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).
Polk County, Homes
Homes in Polk County
Polk County is a place of houses on their own lots: 76% of its 9,647 homes are detached single-family houses, against 70% across Arkansas. Half of its homes were built before 1985, close to Arkansas' 1987: 18% date from before 1960 and 24% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 82% of the occupied homes (Arkansas: 66%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Polk County | Arkansas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 9,647 | 1,382,664 |
| Detached houses | 76% | 70% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 10% |
| Mobile homes | 18% | 11% |
| Built before 1960 | 18% | 14% |
| Built since 2000 | 24% | 28% |
| Middle year built | 1985 | 1987 |
| Owner-occupied | 82% | 66% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.