Short-term kit
PicoCan short-term charcoal canister radon test
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Bell County, Kentucky
EPA puts Bell County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 8 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
44.0%
Claiborne County
- Claiborne
- 44.0%
1 of 7 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
22.0%
Laurel County, 36 miles
- Laurel
- 22.0%
- Kentucky
- 43.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 100 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
99.8%
5.5 pts above Kentucky
- Bell
- 99.8%
- Kentucky
- 94.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
8
Too few for a share
- Bell
- 8
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Bell 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
Bell County, At a glance
Bell County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Bell County is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 95% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Bell County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 8 reported tests for Bell County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 1.3 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Bell County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 8 tests were reported to CDC for Bell 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).
Bell County, Compared
Bell County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Bell County rests on 8 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 1 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 12.5 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 4.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.3 pCi/L.
Claiborne County, TN, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 44.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Laurel County (36 miles away) at 22.0%, Pulaski County (56 miles away) at 59.5% and Breathitt County (58 miles away) at 19.1% have figures too. Pooled across 120 Kentucky counties, 43.7% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.7%.
Statewide for the same period, Meade County reported the highest share (68.4%) and Hopkins County the lowest (9.5%). EPA's 1993 map puts Bell County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 95% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Bell County, Geology
The ground under Bell County
PredictedMost of the ground under Bell County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 95.3% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 4.5% high and 0.2% low. 95.3% of it lies in the area the map calls Cumberland Plateau, to which USGS gives a radon index of 9, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Plateau | Pennsylvanian sandstones, siltstones, and shales. | Moderate | 9 | 95.3% |
| Valley and Ridge | Cambrian dolomite, limestone, shale, and sandstone, Silurian-Ordovician limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone, Mississippian-Devonian sandstone, shale, limestone, gypsum, and coal. | High | 15 | 4.4% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Bell County beside the ground around it
Kentucky as a whole has more high-potential ground than Bell County: 18.2% of its land, against 4.5% here. Of the 7 counties that border it, 3 have more high-potential ground, Lee County, VA the most at 91.2%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Bell County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Bell County
- Kentucky's radon programKentucky Board of Radon SafetyKentucky's radon program answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in Kentucky.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 Kentucky8 professionals are listed in Kentucky.
What Kentucky's program says
- Phone
- 502-782-2782
- Radon@ky.gov
What it means
Bell County, Questions
Questions about radon in Bell County
Are radon levels high in Bell County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 12.5% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Bell County, Kentucky were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.3 pCi/L. Claiborne County, TN, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 44.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Bell County?
Bell County borders 7 counties: Knox County, KY, Claiborne County, TN, Harlan County, KY, Clay County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Leslie County, KY and Lee County, VA.
Products
Bell County, Products
Testing a home in Bell County
No CDC figure names Bell County; the nearest county with one, Laurel County (36 miles away), reported 22.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Bell County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
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
Monitor
RadonScan-Plus USB-powered radon monitor with Wi-Fi
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Plug-in
- Wi-Fi
- Alarm
- Screen, app
First reading: Within 5 minutes
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Bell County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Bell County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Lee County, VAEPA zone 1
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.9 pCi/L · 14 tests
- Radon levels in Claiborne County, TNEPA zone 1
44.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 125 tests
- Radon levels in Harlan County, KYEPA zone 2
25.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 4 tests
- Radon levels in Clay County, KYEPA zone 2
20.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 10 tests
- Radon levels in Knox County, KYEPA zone 2
10.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 29 tests
- Radon levels in Leslie County, KYEPA zone 2
10.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 10 tests
- Radon levels in Whitley County, KYEPA zone 2
4.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.6 pCi/L · 23 tests
Bell County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Bell County
About 22,829 people live in Bell County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 1,152 fewer than in 2020 (−4.8%). That works out to 64 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Middlesborough, has 8,776 residents, 38.4% of the total. Together its 2 incorporated places hold 45.2% of those residents; the other 54.8% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 8 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.4 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Kentucky as a whole comes to 6.3.
From Middlesborough to Pineville, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Bell County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesborough | 8,776 | −6.0% | 38.4% |
| Pineville | 1,552 | −6.4% | 6.8% |
2 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).
Bell County, Homes
Homes in Bell County
Of Bell County's 11,608 homes, 63% are detached houses, against 68% across Kentucky; 23% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1979, close to Kentucky's 1982: 22% date from before 1960 and 18% from 2000 or later. 61% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Kentucky: 68%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Bell County | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 11,608 | 2,010,655 |
| Detached houses | 63% | 68% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 8% | 12% |
| Mobile homes | 23% | 11% |
| Built before 1960 | 22% | 22% |
| Built since 2000 | 18% | 24% |
| Middle year built | 1979 | 1982 |
| Owner-occupied | 61% | 68% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.