Short-term kitempowerDX
Standard Radon Test short-term mail-in radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Passive sampler
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Wilkes County, Georgia
EPA puts Wilkes County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 10 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
29.2%
Oglethorpe County
- Oglethorpe
- 29.2%
- Elbert
- 16.9%
2 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2007 to 2016
Nearest county
29.2%
Oglethorpe County, 21 miles
- Oglethorpe
- 29.2%
- Georgia
- 23.9%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 96 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
None
26.5 pts below Georgia
- Wilkes
- 0.0%
- Georgia
- 26.5%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
10
Too few for a share
- Wilkes
- 10
- 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 Wilkes 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
Wilkes County, At a glance
Wilkes County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Wilkes County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 10 reported tests for Wilkes County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 2.0 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Wilkes County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 10 tests were reported to CDC for Wilkes 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).
Wilkes County, Compared
Wilkes County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Wilkes County rests on 10 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 2 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 10.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 5.2 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.0 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Oglethorpe County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 29.2%, and Elbert County the smallest, 16.9%. Farther out, Greene County (28 miles away) at 16.7%, Columbia County (32 miles away) at 9.7% and Madison County (36 miles away) at 25.3% 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 Wilkes County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Wilkes County, Geology
The ground under Wilkes County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Wilkes County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Little River Thrust Stack, to which USGS gives a radon index of 7, in the low band (5 to 8).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little River Thrust Stack | Biotite and amphibolite gneiss, granite gneiss, mica schist. | Low | 7 | 99.8% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Wilkes County beside the ground around it
Across Georgia 26.5% of the land is rated moderate; none of Wilkes County's is. Of the 6 counties that border it, 2 have more moderate-potential ground, Oglethorpe County the most at 84.0%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Wilkes County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Wilkes 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
Wilkes County, Questions
Questions about radon in Wilkes County
Are radon levels high in Wilkes County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 20.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Wilkes County, Georgia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.0 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Oglethorpe County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 29.2%, and Elbert County the smallest, 16.9%.
Which counties border Wilkes County?
Wilkes County borders 6 counties: Taliaferro County, Oglethorpe County, Lincoln County, Elbert County, Warren County and McDuffie County.
Products
Wilkes County, Products
Testing a home in Wilkes County
No CDC figure names Wilkes County; the nearest county with one, Oglethorpe County (21 miles away), reported 29.2% 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 Wilkes County.
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-1011 rechargeable radon detector with a screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Semiconductor sensor
First reading: Within 6 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Wilkes County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Wilkes County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Oglethorpe CountyEPA zone 2
29.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.3 pCi/L · 96 tests
- Radon levels in McDuffie CountyEPA zone 3
21.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.0 pCi/L · 14 tests
- Radon levels in Elbert CountyEPA zone 2
16.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.5 pCi/L · 189 tests
- Radon levels in Taliaferro CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.5 pCi/L · 3 tests
- Radon levels in Lincoln CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 3 tests
- Radon levels in Warren CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.8 pCi/L · 1 test
Wilkes County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Wilkes County
Wilkes County's population has barely moved since 2020: 9,540 residents on July 1, 2025 against 9,554 then, by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 20 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Washington, has 3,638 residents, 38.1% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 45.0% of those residents; the other 55.0% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 10 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 1.0 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Georgia as a whole comes to 2.7.
From Washington to Rayle, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Wilkes County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 3,638 | −2.7% | 38.1% |
| Tignall | 495 | +1.6% | 5.2% |
| Rayle | 156 | +1.3% | 1.6% |
3 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).
Wilkes County, Homes
Homes in Wilkes County
Of Wilkes County's 5,210 homes, 65% are detached houses, against 66% across Georgia; 24% are mobile homes. The homes are older than Georgia's as a whole: half were built before 1976 (1991 for Georgia), and 22% date from before 1960. 67% 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 | Wilkes County | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 5,210 | 4,483,873 |
| Detached houses | 65% | 66% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 4% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 24% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 22% | 12% |
| Built since 2000 | 16% | 33% |
| Middle year built | 1976 | 1991 |
| Owner-occupied | 67% | 65% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.