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 Rush County, Kansas
EPA puts Rush County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 3 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
66.7%
Pawnee County
- Pawnee
- 66.7%
- Barton
- 24.6%
3 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2019
Nearest county
66.7%
Pawnee County, 24 miles
- Pawnee
- 66.7%
- Kansas
- 33.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 33 tests, 2019
Ground above low
100.0%
Level with Kansas
- Rush
- 100.0%
- Kansas
- 100.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
18
Too few for a share
- Rush
- 18
- Needed
- 30
2021
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 Rush 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
Rush County, At a glance
Rush County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Rush 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 Rush County, 2022
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 100.0% |
| 2017 | 100.0% |
| 2018 | 33.3% |
| 2019 | 50.0% |
| 2020 | 100.0% |
| 2021 | 66.7% |
| 2022 | 33.3% |
2022: 33.3%. Across these years the share ran from 33.3% to 100.0%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
Only 3 tests were reported to CDC for Rush 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).
Rush County, Compared
Rush County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Rush County rests on 18 tests in 2021, 12 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.6 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 9.2 pCi/L, with a middle value of 6.6 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure in 2019: Pawnee County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 66.7%, and Barton County the smallest, 24.6%, with Ellis County at 41.6% between. Farther out, Ellsworth County (61 miles away) at 41.0%, Rice County (61 miles away) at 55.9% and Ford County (65 miles away) at 42.4% 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 Rush 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.
Rush County, Geology
The ground under Rush County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Rush 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.
Rush County beside the ground around it
Rush County has more high-potential ground than Kansas as a whole: 100% of its land against 59.9%. Of the 5 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Russell County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Rush County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Rush 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
Rush County, Questions
Questions about radon in Rush County
Are radon levels high in Rush County?
In 2022, 33.3% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Rush County, Kansas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.4 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure in 2019: Pawnee County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 66.7%, and Barton County the smallest, 24.6%, with Ellis County at 41.6% between.
Which counties border Rush County?
Rush County borders 5 counties: Pawnee County, Barton County, Ellis County, Ness County and Russell County.
Products
Rush County, Products
Testing a home in Rush County
No CDC figure names Rush County; the nearest county with one, Pawnee County (24 miles away), reported 66.7% 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 Rush 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
EcoBlu plug-in digital radon monitor with a display
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Plug-in
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
Short-term kit
RA400 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Rush County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Rush County
Explore
Rush County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Rush County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Ness CountyEPA zone 1
83.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 10.4 pCi/L · 12 tests
- Radon levels in Pawnee CountyEPA zone 1
66.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.9 pCi/L · 33 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 Ellis CountyEPA zone 1
41.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 209 tests
- Radon levels in Barton CountyEPA zone 1
24.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.0 pCi/L · 57 tests
Rush County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Rush County
About 2,845 people live in Rush County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 95 fewer than in 2020 (−3.2%). Spread over its land, that is 4.0 people to the square mile. Its largest town, La Crosse, has 1,225 residents, 43.1% of the total. Together its 8 incorporated places hold 75.0% of those residents; the other 25.0% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 18 tests over 2021, or 6.3 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Kansas as a whole comes to 23.5.
From La Crosse to Timken, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Rush County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Crosse | 1,225 | −3.0% | 43.1% |
| Otis | 286 | −3.4% | 10.1% |
| Bison | 168 | −4.5% | 5.9% |
| McCracken | 148 | −3.3% | 5.2% |
| Rush Center | 136 | −2.2% | 4.8% |
| Liebenthal | 92 | −2.1% | 3.2% |
| Alexander | 47 | −6.0% | 1.7% |
| Timken | 33 | −2.9% | 1.2% |
8 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).
Rush County, Homes
Homes in Rush County
Rush County is a place of houses on their own lots: 94% of its 1,701 homes are detached single-family houses, against 72% across Kansas. The homes are older than Kansas' as a whole: half were built before 1950 (1975 for Kansas), and 65% date from before 1960. Owners live in 80% of the occupied homes (Kansas: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Rush County | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,701 | 1,285,221 |
| Detached houses | 94% | 72% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | under 1% | 13% |
| Mobile homes | 5% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 65% | 33% |
| Built since 2000 | 6% | 20% |
| Middle year built | 1950 | 1975 |
| Owner-occupied | 80% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.