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Radon in Valparaiso, Indiana

EPA puts Porter County, where Valparaiso is, in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and high results are common there: 46.5% of the 1,136 radon tests reported to CDC (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals) came back 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

How to test this homeFind a certified tester

  • Share at 4+ pCi/L

    46.5%

    7.6 pts above IN

    Porter
    46.5%
    Indiana
    38.9%

    Porter, 25th of 69 in IN, 2008 to 2017

  • Median result

    3.5pCi/L

    Below action level

    Porter
    3.5 pCi/L
    EPA
    4.0 pCi/L

    Midpoint of Porter's tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Nearest county

    58.2%

    LaPorte, 17 miles

    LaPorte
    58.2%
    Porter
    46.5%

    792 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 2

    Moderate potential

    1. 1
    2. Zone 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    Porter, where Valparaiso is

  • Tests reported

    1,136

    In Porter

    Porter
    1,136
    LaPorte
    792

    Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017

Read a result for Valparaiso

Starts at Porter County's median, 3.5 pCi/L

3.5pCi/L

EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.

EPA’s reading of 3.5 pCi/L

Between 2 and 4 pCi/L

  1. Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
  2. 2 to 4consider a fix
  3. 4 and aboveEPA says fix it

This result is between 2 and 4 pCi/L. EPA recommends considering a fix when the level is between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Porter County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Valparaiso, What is published

What is published for Valparaiso

Information:

Every figure for Valparaiso is a county's

Radon data is published by county, not by city, so for Valparaiso it is Porter County's: its EPA zone (Zone 2) and the 1,136 tests reported to CDC for 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Only a test tells you about one home.

Valparaiso covers 16.4 square miles of land, all of it in Porter County. About 35,177 people live there, 2,150 to the square mile.

Valparaiso, Counties

The county Valparaiso lies in

Measured

Porter County's EPA zone and the figures CDC publishes for it, 2008 to 2017, laboratory.

Porter CountyZone 2Moderate predicted potential

46.5%
Reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L
3.5 pCi/L
Median reported result
1,136 tests
Tests reported to CDC
None
Yearly figures on file

Porter County ranks 25th of 69 Indiana counties with 30 or more tests for that period, 7.6 points above the 38.9% pooled across Indiana's counties, 10.8 points above the national pool of 35.7%.

The counties nearest Valparaiso with a CDC figure for 2008 to 2017, laboratory, measured from the middle of the city: LaPorte County (17 miles, 58.2% of 792 tests), Lake County (18 miles, 23.5% of 1,198 tests) and Jasper County (32 miles, 14.1% of 71 tests). Across the 8 nearest, the share at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 14.1% to 58.2%; the farthest of them, Cass County, is 62 miles away at 34.1%.

No business in the directory gives Valparaiso as its address; the Indiana list covers it. Indiana's other cities with a page of their own: Indianapolis, Bloomington and Fort Wayne.

The counties around Valparaiso

By distance from the middle of Valparaiso; counties with 30 or more tests.

Nearest counties to Valparaiso with 30 or more tests
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
LaPorte County17 mi79258.2%5.0 pCi/L
Lake County18 mi1,19823.5%1.8 pCi/L
Jasper County32 mi7114.1%1.2 pCi/L
St. Joseph County41 mi7,34629.3%2.7 pCi/L
Marshall County42 mi38339.7%3.2 pCi/L
Fulton County51 mi9746.4%3.3 pCi/L
White County51 mi4235.7%2.7 pCi/L
Cass County62 mi9134.1%2.6 pCi/L

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones, by county. Measured: CDC tracking data, by county, 2008 to 2017, laboratory.

Valparaiso, Geology

The ground under Valparaiso

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Valparaiso's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. 95.7% of it lies in the area the map calls Calumet Lacustrine Plain/Valparaiso Morainal Area, to which USGS gives a radon index of 11, in the moderate band (9 to 11).

USGS's geologic areas under Valparaiso
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Calumet Lacustrine Plain/Valparaiso Morainal AreaSilty to clayey glacial lake deposits and sand dunes.Moderate1195.7%
Kankakee Outwash and Lacustrine PlainMoraine deposits, outwash and dune sands.Moderate104.3%

Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.

Valparaiso beside its county and Indiana

The ground under Valparaiso is close to Porter County's as a whole: 100% rated moderate against 99.8%. Across Indiana 56.6% of the land is rated high; none of Valparaiso's is.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Valparaiso, the county it lies in and Indiana
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
ValparaisoBy countyNone100%None
Porter CountyZone 2None99.8%None
Indiana92 counties, pooled by land areaVariesNone43.4%56.6%

The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.

Valparaiso, Homes

Homes in Valparaiso

Of Valparaiso's 15,238 homes, 55% are detached houses, against 75% across Porter County; 26% are in buildings of five or more homes. Half of its homes were built before 1979, close to Porter County's 1981: 25% date from before 1960 and 20% from 2000 or later. 59% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Porter County: 77%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, 2019 to 2023
HomesValparaisoPorter CountyIndiana
Housing units15,23872,1022,953,344
Detached houses55%75%73%
In buildings of 5 or more26%11%13%
Mobile homes1%5%4%
Built before 196025%19%32%
Built since 200020%23%21%
Middle year built197919811976
Owner-occupied59%77%70%

Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.

Local help

Valparaiso, Local resources

Local resources for Valparaiso

Who to ask in Indiana: its radon program, test kits and professionals.

The program's own words on licensing are on the Indiana page.

What it means

Valparaiso, Questions

Questions about radon in Valparaiso

What radon zone is Valparaiso in?

EPA's map puts Porter County, and with it Valparaiso, in Zone 2, the map's middle class: a predicted county average of 2 to 4 pCi/L.

What are radon levels in Valparaiso?

46.5% of the 1,136 tests reported from Porter County for 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals) were at or above 4 pCi/L, the level at which EPA says to fix a home: high results are ordinary around Valparaiso. The median reported result was 3.5 pCi/L.

Should I test my home in Valparaiso?

Yes. About 528 of the 1,136 tests reported from Porter County were at or above 4 pCi/L. That is above Indiana's pooled 38.9%, and ranks Porter County 25th of the 69 Indiana counties with 30 or more tests. No map says which homes those are. How to test a home.

What ground is Valparaiso built on, as far as radon goes?

USGS's geologic map puts all of Valparaiso on one named area, "Calumet Lacustrine Plain/Valparaiso Morainal Area", rated moderate for radon potential, radon index 11.

Is radon higher in the counties around Valparaiso?

Some are and some are not. Against Porter County's 46.5%, 1 of the 8 nearest counties with a figure report more and 7 less, from Jasper County (14.1%, 32 miles off) to LaPorte County (58.2%, 17 miles off).

The answers use the published figures of Porter County, the county Valparaiso lies in.

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