Short-term kitFirst Alert
RD1 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 2 to 4 days
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Polk County, Georgia
EPA puts Polk County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 21 radon tests from it are 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
Highest bordering
23.5%
Bartow County
- Bartow
- 23.5%
- Floyd
- 17.1%
4 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2007 to 2016
Nearest county
17.1%
Floyd County, 18 miles
- Floyd
- 17.1%
- Georgia
- 23.9%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 117 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
22.7%
3.9 pts below Georgia
- Polk
- 22.7%
- Georgia
- 26.5%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
26
Too few for a share
- Polk
- 26
- Needed
- 30
2007 to 2016, 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 77% 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 21 reported tests for Polk County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 4.9 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 21 tests were 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 26 tests over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals, 13 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 3.8 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 11.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 4.1 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Bartow County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 23.5%, and Floyd County the smallest, 17.1%, with Paulding County at 22.5% and Cleburne County, AL at 17.7% between. Farther out, Carroll County (30 miles away) at 37.6%, Douglas County (32 miles away) at 44.5% and Cobb County (35 miles away) at 15.5% have figures too. Pooled across 137 Georgia counties, 23.9% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.8%.
Statewide for the same period, Barrow County reported the highest share (51.0%) and Dougherty County the lowest (0.0%). EPA's 1993 map puts Polk County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 77% 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
PredictedMost of the ground under Polk County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 77.3% of its land is low radon potential, with 1.3% high and 21.4% moderate. The map puts 77.3% of Polk County in the area it calls Rome-Kingston Thrust Stack and 21.4% in Georgiabama Thrust Stack (North), with one smaller area beside them. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome-Kingston Thrust Stack | Limestone and shale. | Low | 8 | 77.3% |
| Georgiabama Thrust Stack (North) | Gneiss, phyllite, and schist. | Moderate | 9 | 21.4% |
| Northern Piedmont | Schist, metagraywake, phyllite, quartz diorite gneiss, amphibolite gneiss, quartz monzonite. | High | 12 | 1.3% |
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 high-potential ground Polk County is close to Georgia as a whole: 1.3% of its land against none. Of the 6 counties that border it, 2 have more high-potential ground, Cleburne County, AL the most at 88.1%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Polk County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Polk County
- Georgia's radon programGeorgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection DivisionGeorgia's radon program does not license radon professionals and offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Georgia.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
A kit costs $15.00 if mailed or $10.00 if picked up at a participating County Extension office.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Georgia3 professionals are listed in Georgia.
What Georgia's program says
- Licensing of radon professionals
There are no laws mandating a mitigator receive certification in Georgia, however, many mitigators choose to get certified by one of two national programs.
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, 57.1% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Polk County, Georgia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 4.9 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Bartow County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 23.5%, and Floyd County the smallest, 17.1%, with Paulding County at 22.5% and Cleburne County, AL at 17.7% between.
Which counties border Polk County?
Polk County borders 6 counties: Haralson County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Cleburne County, AL and Cherokee County, AL.
Products
Polk County, Products
Testing a home in Polk County
No CDC figure names Polk County; the nearest county with one, Floyd County (18 miles away), reported 17.1% 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
EcoQube Flex battery digital radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- Alarm
- Screen, app
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 15 minutes
- 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 Haralson County, GAEPA zone 2
31.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.7 pCi/L · 19 tests
- Radon levels in Bartow County, GAEPA zone 2
23.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 183 tests
- Radon levels in Paulding County, GAEPA zone 2
22.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.2 pCi/L · 276 tests
- Radon levels in Cleburne County, ALEPA zone 1
17.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.6 pCi/L · 96 tests
- Radon levels in Floyd County, GAEPA zone 2
17.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.7 pCi/L · 117 tests
- Radon levels in Cherokee County, ALEPA zone 2
10.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.5 pCi/L · 10 tests
Polk County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Polk County
Polk County is growing: the Census Bureau puts it at 45,514 residents on July 1, 2025, up 6.0% from 42,929 in 2020. That works out to 147 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Cedartown, has 10,514 residents, 23.1% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 26 tests over 2007 to 2016, or 0.6 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Georgia as a whole comes to 2.6.
From Cedartown to Taylorsville, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Polk County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedartown | 10,514 | +3.4% | 23.1% |
| Rockmart | 5,369 | +5.2% | 11.8% |
| Aragon | 1,523 | +5.0% | 3.3% |
| Braswellextends beyond Polk County | 366 | +0.5% | Counted whole |
| Taylorsvilleextends beyond Polk County | 271 | +8.4% | Counted whole |
5 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). A place that extends beyond Polk County is counted whole, so it has no share.
Polk County, Homes
Homes in Polk County
Polk County is a place of houses on their own lots: 77% of its 17,301 homes are detached single-family houses, against 66% across Georgia. The homes are older than Georgia's as a whole: half were built before 1983 (1991 for Georgia), and 23% date from before 1960. 64% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Georgia: 65%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Polk County | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 17,301 | 4,483,873 |
| Detached houses | 77% | 66% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 6% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 11% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 23% | 12% |
| Built since 2000 | 26% | 33% |
| Middle year built | 1983 | 1991 |
| Owner-occupied | 64% | 65% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.