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 Osborne County, Kansas
EPA puts Osborne County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 23 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2022). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Highest bordering
71.9%
Jewell County
- Jewell
- 71.9%
- Ellis
- 41.6%
3 of 7 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2019
Nearest county
51.1%
Mitchell County, 30 miles
- Mitchell
- 51.1%
- Kansas
- 33.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 47 tests, 2019
Ground above low
100.0%
Level with Kansas
- Osborne
- 100.0%
- Kansas
- 100.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
24
Too few for a share
- Osborne
- 24
- Needed
- 30
2018
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
- Zone 1
- 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Osborne 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
Osborne County, At a glance
Osborne County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Osborne 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 Osborne County, 2022
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 43.8% |
| 2017 | 75.0% |
| 2018 | 83.3% |
| 2019 | 70.6% |
| 2020 | 53.8% |
| 2021 | 14.3% |
| 2022 | 82.6% |
2022: 82.6%. Across these years the share ran from 14.3% to 83.3%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
Only 23 tests were reported to CDC for Osborne County over 2022, 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: 2022. Measured data period: 2016 to 2022 (every CDC figure on file).
Osborne County, Compared
Osborne County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Osborne County rests on 24 tests in 2018, 20 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 4.2 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 18.0 pCi/L, with a middle value of 7.0 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure in 2019: Jewell County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 71.9%, and Ellis County the smallest, 41.6%, with Mitchell County at 51.1% between. Farther out, Phillips County (43 miles away) at 71.4%, Ellsworth County (54 miles away) at 41.0% and Barton County (60 miles away) at 24.6% have figures too. Pooled across 102 Kansas counties, 33.7% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 29.0%.
Statewide for the same period, Jewell County reported the highest share (71.9%) and Reno County the lowest (20.8%). EPA's 1993 map puts Osborne County in Zone 1, the map's highest label: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land high radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Osborne County, Geology
The ground under Osborne County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Osborne County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Smoky Hills, to which USGS gives a radon index of 12, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoky Hills | Cretaceous marine sandstone, shale, and siltstone covered by discontinuous loess deposits. | High | 12 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Osborne County beside the ground around it
Osborne County has more high-potential ground than Kansas as a whole: 100% of its land against 59.9%. Of the 7 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Jewell County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Osborne County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Osborne County
- Kansas Radon ProgramKansas Radon Program answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in Kansas.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
- Professionals in Kansas178 professionals are listed in Kansas.
What Kansas's program says
- Phone
- (800) 693-5343
What it means
Osborne County, Questions
Questions about radon in Osborne County
Are radon levels high in Osborne County?
In 2022, 82.6% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Osborne County, Kansas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 7.4 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure in 2019: Jewell County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 71.9%, and Ellis County the smallest, 41.6%, with Mitchell County at 51.1% between.
Which counties border Osborne County?
Osborne County borders 7 counties: Smith County, Russell County, Rooks County, Mitchell County, Lincoln County, Ellis County and Jewell County.
Products
Osborne County, Products
Testing a home in Osborne County
No CDC figure names Osborne County; the nearest county with one, Mitchell County (30 miles away), reported 51.1% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L in 2019, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Osborne 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
Monitor
lüft plug-in radon and indoor air quality monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Plug-in
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- App only
First reading: Within 90 minutes
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
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Osborne County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Osborne County
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Osborne County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Osborne County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Rooks CountyEPA zone 1
77.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.0 pCi/L · 9 tests
- Radon levels in Smith CountyEPA zone 1
75.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.8 pCi/L · 12 tests
- Radon levels in Jewell CountyEPA zone 1
71.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.4 pCi/L · 32 tests
- Radon levels in Russell CountyEPA zone 1
64.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.9 pCi/L · 14 tests
- Radon levels in Mitchell CountyEPA zone 1
51.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.0 pCi/L · 47 tests
- Radon levels in Ellis CountyEPA zone 1
41.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 209 tests
- Radon levels in Lincoln CountyEPA zone 1
20.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.0 pCi/L · 25 tests
Osborne County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Osborne County
Osborne County has been losing residents: from 3,487 in 2020 to 3,285 on July 1, 2025, a fall of 5.8% by the Census Bureau's estimates. Spread over its land, that is 3.7 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Osborne, has 1,249 residents, 38.0% of the total. Together its 5 incorporated places hold 75.0% of those residents; the other 25.0% live outside any of them. CDC's 24 reported tests for 2018 work out to 7.3 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to Kansas' 7.8.
From Osborne to Portis, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Osborne County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osborne | 1,249 | −5.5% | 38.0% |
| Downs | 759 | −5.6% | 23.1% |
| Natoma | 285 | −6.3% | 8.7% |
| Alton | 91 | −7.1% | 2.8% |
| Portis | 81 | −6.9% | 2.5% |
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).
Osborne County, Homes
Homes in Osborne County
Osborne County is a place of houses on their own lots: 89% of its 2,027 homes are detached single-family houses, against 72% across Kansas. The homes are older than Kansas' as a whole: half were built before 1951 (1975 for Kansas), and 64% date from before 1960. Owners live in 76% of the occupied homes (Kansas: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Osborne County | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 2,027 | 1,285,221 |
| Detached houses | 89% | 72% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 13% |
| Mobile homes | 4% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 64% | 33% |
| Built since 2000 | 3% | 20% |
| Middle year built | 1951 | 1975 |
| Owner-occupied | 76% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.