Long-term kit
RL116 long-term radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Dubuque County, Iowa
EPA puts Dubuque County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and high results are common there: 46.8% of the 3,775 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
Share at 4+ pCi/L
46.8%
11.7 pts below IA
- Dubuque
- 46.8%
- Iowa
- 58.5%
3,775 tests, 2008 to 2017
Median result
3.6pCi/L
Below action level
- Dubuque
- 3.6 pCi/L
- EPA
- 4.0 pCi/L
Midpoint of the tests, 2008 to 2017
Tests reported
3,775
4th of 99 by tests
- Dubuque
- 3,775
- Polk
- 10,945
Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
- Zone 1
- 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Rank in Iowa
82 of 99
Lowest quarter
- Dubuque
- 46.8%
- Sioux
- 84.2%
By share, of 99 with 30+ tests
Read a result for Dubuque County
Starts at Dubuque County's median, 3.6 pCi/L
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 3.6 pCi/L
Between 2 and 4 pCi/L
- Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
- 2 to 4consider a fix
- 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. Dubuque County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.
The data
Dubuque County, At a glance
Dubuque County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Dubuque County in
USGS geologic potential: High across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Dubuque County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
Under 2 pCi/L: 27%2 to 4 pCi/L: 26%4 pCi/L and above: 47%
Of 3,775 pre-mitigation tests reported to CDC, not homes in this area.
| Result band | Tests Measured | Share Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 pCi/L | 1,025 | 27.2% |
| 2 to 4 pCi/L | 984 | 26.1% |
| 4 pCi/L and above | 1,766 | 46.8% |
What these figures count
These are the 3,775 tests reported to CDC for Dubuque County over 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals), many from homes being sold or already suspected of a problem: they describe the county's reported tests, not this house.
Measured: CDC tracking data. Figure above: 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Measured data period: 2005 to 2017 (every CDC figure on file).
Dubuque County, Compared
Dubuque County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411In Dubuque County, about 5 in 10 reported tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals (1,766 of 3,775) were at or above EPA's action level. Against the national pool of 35.7%, the gap is 11.1 points higher. Across 99 Iowa counties pooled together, 58.5% of tests reached that level, so Dubuque County runs 11.7 points below its state.
Of 6 neighbours with a figure, all 6 reported a larger share at or above 4 pCi/L; the spread is 50.0% (Delaware County) to 64.0% (Grant County, WI). By share, Dubuque County is 82nd of 99 Iowa counties with 30 or more tests for the same period.
Half the tests came in under 3.6 pCi/L and half over it; the single highest reached 157.0 pCi/L. Below the action level, 1,025 tests (27.2%) came in under 2 pCi/L, against 21.8% statewide, and 984 tests (26.1%) fell between 2 and 4, against 19.7% statewide.
Zone 1 on EPA's map (predicted average above 4 pCi/L) and a 46.8% share point the same way here. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land high radon potential. CDC also counts 405 tests taken after mitigation in Dubuque County for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.
CDC's ten-year totals for Dubuque County went from 3,226 tests (2005 to 2014) to 3,775 (2008 to 2017), the share going from 47.1% to 46.8%.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Dubuque County, Geology
The ground under Dubuque County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Dubuque County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. The map puts 53.4% of Dubuque County in the area it calls Paleozoic Plateau and 38.7% in Loess-Covered Drift Plains, with one smaller area beside them. USGS gives both a radon index of 13, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paleozoic Plateau | Ordovician carbonate and Cambrian sandstone bedrock covered by varying amounts of Quaternary glacial deposits and loess. | High | 13 | 53.4% |
| Loess-Covered Drift Plains | Pre-Illinoian and Illinoian glacial deposits, and loess. | High | 13 | 38.7% |
| Iowan Surface | Pre-Illinoian glaical deposits and loess. | High | 12 | 7.8% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Dubuque County beside the ground around it
On high-potential ground Dubuque County is close to Iowa as a whole: 100% of its land against 98.8%. Of the 6 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Delaware County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Dubuque County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Dubuque County
Listed radon businesses with an address in Dubuque County:
- Iowa HHS Radon ProgramIowa HHS Radon Program, run by Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, licenses or certifies radon professionals, offers free or discounted test kits and states the rule for disclosing radon when a home is sold, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Iowa.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
You can reach the Hotline by calling 1-800-383-5992 to order low-cost radon test kits and find answers to your radon questions.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Iowa185 professionals are listed in Iowa.
Listed radon professionals by town: Dubuque, Asbury, Sherrill
What Iowa's program says
- Phone
- (515) 281-4928
- Licensing of radon professionals
Iowa’s radon program approves applications for persons who wish to become certified to perform radon testing or credentialed to perform mitigation and laboratories that provide radon testing devices and analytical services.
- Disclosure when a home is sold or rented
However, per Iowa Code chapters 543B.9 and 543B.18 and Iowa Administrative Code 193E Chapter 14 administered by the Iowa Real Estate Commission, a seller must disclose any known tests for the presence of radon and if yes, provide the date of last report and the result(s).
What it means
Dubuque County, Questions
Questions about radon in Dubuque County
Are radon levels high in Dubuque County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 46.8% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Dubuque County, Iowa were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.6 pCi/L. Of 99 Iowa counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, 81 reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 58.5%.
Which counties border Dubuque County?
Dubuque County borders 6 counties: Jackson County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Jones County, IA, Grant County, WI, Clayton County, IA and Jo Daviess County, IL.
Products
Dubuque County, Products
Testing a home in Dubuque County
In Dubuque County, 46.8% of 3,775 tests reported to CDC over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals reached 4 pCi/L, against 58.5% pooled across Iowa. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Dubuque County is the one to know: a long-term test (more than 90 days) or a monitor, with a short-term kit for a first answer.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
MonitorX-Sense
XR0A-iR Wi-Fi battery radon detector with a screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Wi-Fi
- Screen, app
Method: Alpha spectrometry
First reading: Within 24 hours
Short-term kitKidde
442020 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 3 days
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Dubuque County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Dubuque County
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Dubuque County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Dubuque County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Grant County, WIEPA zone 1
64.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.5 pCi/L · 636 tests · 17.2 points above Dubuque County
- Radon levels in Clayton County, IAEPA zone 1
62.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.8 pCi/L · 310 tests · 15.8 points above Dubuque County
- Radon levels in Jones County, IAEPA zone 1
59.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.1 pCi/L · 555 tests · 12.5 points above Dubuque County
- Radon levels in Jo Daviess County, ILEPA zone 1
57.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.6 pCi/L · 985 tests · 10.4 points above Dubuque County
- Radon levels in Jackson County, IAEPA zone 1
52.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.1 pCi/L · 1,056 tests · 5.9 points above Dubuque County
- Radon levels in Delaware County, IAEPA zone 1
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.0 pCi/L · 520 tests · 3.2 points above Dubuque County
Dubuque County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Dubuque County
Dubuque County's population has barely moved since 2020: 99,381 residents on July 1, 2025 against 99,311 then, by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 163 people per square mile of land. Dubuque alone is home to 59,148 of them, 59.5% of the total. CDC's 3,775 reported tests for 2008 to 2017 work out to 38.0 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to Iowa's 29.4.
From Dubuque to Durango, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Dubuque County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubuque | 59,148 | −0.8% | 59.5% |
| Asbury | 6,035 | +1.3% | 6.1% |
| Dyersvilleextends beyond Dubuque County | 4,574 | +1.6% | Counted whole |
| Cascadeextends beyond Dubuque County | 2,399 | +0.3% | Counted whole |
| Peosta | 2,225 | +15.5% | 2.2% |
| Epworth | 2,037 | +0.1% | 2.0% |
| Farley | 1,718 | −2.8% | 1.7% |
| New Vienna | 381 | −1.0% | 0.4% |
| Worthington | 373 | −1.6% | 0.4% |
| Holy Cross | 345 | −4.2% | 0.3% |
| Luxemburg | 236 | −2.5% | 0.2% |
| Rickardsville | 203 | −2.4% | 0.2% |
- Sherrill
- Bernard
- Centralia
- Sageville
- Zwingle (part)
- Balltown
- Graf
- Bankston
- Durango
21 incorporated places, as listed in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 place reference files. “(part)” marks a place that extends into another county. Residents: U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2025 (Vintage 2025). A place that extends beyond Dubuque County is counted whole, so it has no share.
Dubuque County, Homes
Homes in Dubuque County
Of Dubuque County's 43,003 homes, 71% are detached houses, against 72% across Iowa; 14% are in buildings of five or more homes. Half of its homes were built before 1970, close to Iowa's 1971: 38% date from before 1960 and 21% from 2000 or later. 73% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Iowa: 72%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Dubuque County | Iowa |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 43,003 | 1,427,175 |
| Detached houses | 71% | 72% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 14% | 14% |
| Mobile homes | 3% | 3% |
| Built before 1960 | 38% | 39% |
| Built since 2000 | 21% | 21% |
| Middle year built | 1970 | 1971 |
| Owner-occupied | 73% | 72% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.