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Radon Levels in Lee County, Kentucky

EPA puts Lee County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 18 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

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  • Highest bordering

    44.1%

    Estill County

    Estill
    44.1%
    Breathitt
    19.1%

    2 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Nearest county

    44.1%

    Estill County, 15 miles

    Estill
    44.1%
    Kentucky
    43.7%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 177 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Ground above low

    100.0%

    5.7 pts above Kentucky

    Lee
    100.0%
    Kentucky
    94.3%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    18

    Too few for a share

    Lee
    18
    Needed
    30

    2008 to 2017, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 2

    Moderate potential

    1. 1
    2. Zone 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Lee County

Starts at EPA's action level

4.0pCi/L

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

  1. Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
  2. 2 to 4consider a fix
  3. 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.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Lee County, At a glance

Lee County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential

Lee County is a county: EPA's forecast for it as a whole is an average indoor of 2 to 4 pCi/L (75 to 150 Bq/m³). It describes no single address, and homes above EPA's are found in every zone, this one included.

USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 100% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

Radon tests reported for Lee County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 18 reported tests for Lee County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 1.2 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Lee County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 18 tests were reported to CDC for Lee 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).

How to read these figures

Lee County, Compared

Lee County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Lee County rests on 18 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 1 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 7.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.2 pCi/L.

Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Estill County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 44.1%, and Breathitt County the smallest, 19.1%. Farther out, Menifee County (25 miles away) at 22.0%, Madison County (32 miles away) at 38.7% and Montgomery County (32 miles away) at 51.4% 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 Lee County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.

Kentucky, the United States and the counties around Lee County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Kentucky, pooled120 counties, pooled28,79343.7%Not pooled
United States, pooled2,661 counties, pooled2,013,54435.7%Not pooled
Meade Countyhighest in the state11768.4%8.2 pCi/L
Hopkins Countylowest in the state429.5%1.7 pCi/L
Owsley County, KYborders it862.5%18.3 pCi/L
Powell County, KYborders it2944.8%3.2 pCi/L
Estill County, KYborders it17744.1%3.2 pCi/L
Breathitt County, KYborders it4719.1%1.7 pCi/L
Jackson County, KYborders it110.0%1.8 pCi/L
Wolfe County, KYborders it40.0%0.1 pCi/L
The nearest Kentucky counties to Lee County with 30 or more tests, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Estill County15 mi17744.1%3.2 pCi/L
Breathitt County22 mi4719.1%1.7 pCi/L
Menifee County25 mi4122.0%1.4 pCi/L
Madison County32 mi60438.7%2.9 pCi/L
Montgomery County32 mi10551.4%4.1 pCi/L
Clark County35 mi23129.0%2.4 pCi/L
Laurel County40 mi10022.0%1.9 pCi/L
Rowan County45 mi7418.9%1.6 pCi/L
Lee County ten-year laboratory totals, against Kentucky's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestKentucky, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 2017185.6%1.2 pCi/L7.9 pCi/L43.7%+5.6 points
2007 to 2016100.0%1.2 pCi/L3.1 pCi/L45.1%Level
2006 to 201580.0%1.0 pCi/L1.8 pCi/L46.4%Level
2005 to 2014100.0%1.1 pCi/L3.2 pCi/L47.3%First on file

Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.

Lee County, Geology

The ground under Lee County

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Lee County's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. The map puts 88.9% of Lee County in the area it calls Cumberland Plateau and 11.1% in Mississippian Plateau. USGS gives the first a radon index of 9 and the second 11, both in the moderate band (9 to 11).

USGS's geologic areas under Lee County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Cumberland PlateauPennsylvanian sandstones, siltstones, and shales.Moderate988.9%
Mississippian PlateauMississippian marine limestones, dolomites, marine sandstones, siltstones, and shales.Moderate1111.1%

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

Lee County beside the ground around it

Across Kentucky 18.2% of the land is rated high; none of Lee County's is. Of the 6 counties that border it, 2 have more high-potential ground, Estill County the most at 42.7%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Lee County, the 6 counties bordering it and Kentucky
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Lee CountyZone 2None100%None
Owsley CountyZone 2None100%None
Estill CountyZone 2None57.3%42.7%
Wolfe CountyZone 2None100%None
Powell CountyZone 2None75.6%24.4%
Jackson CountyZone 2None100%None
Breathitt CountyZone 2None100%None
Kentucky120 counties, pooled by land areaVaries5.7%76.1%18.2%

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

Local help

Lee County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Lee County

What Kentucky's program says
Phone
502-782-2782
Email
Radon@ky.gov

What it means

Lee County, Questions

Questions about radon in Lee County

Are radon levels high in Lee County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 5.6% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Lee County, Kentucky were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.2 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Estill County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 44.1%, and Breathitt County the smallest, 19.1%.

Which counties border Lee County?

Lee County borders 6 counties: Owsley County, Estill County, Wolfe County, Powell County, Jackson County and Breathitt County.

Products

Lee County, Products

Testing a home in Lee County

No CDC figure names Lee County; the nearest county with one, Estill County (15 miles away), reported 44.1% 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 Lee County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Lee County homes, compared

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Lee County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Lee County

Calculated by Radon411

Lee County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Lee County

About 7,297 people live in Lee County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 68 fewer than in 2020 (−0.9%). That works out to 35 people per square mile of land. Beattyville, its one incorporated place, has 2,114 residents, 29.0% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 18 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 2.5 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Kentucky as a whole comes to 6.3.

Beattyville is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Lee County's.

Beattyville, Lee County: residents on July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Beattyville2,114−2.6%29.0%

One incorporated place, 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).

Lee County, Homes

Homes in Lee County

Of Lee County's 3,227 homes, 71% are detached houses, against 68% across Kentucky; 22% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1986, close to Kentucky's 1982: 18% date from before 1960 and 24% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 75% of the occupied homes (Kentucky: 68%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.

Homes in Lee County, Kentucky, 2019 to 2023
HomesLee CountyKentucky
Housing units3,2272,010,655
Detached houses71%68%
In buildings of 5 or more5%12%
Mobile homes22%11%
Built before 196018%22%
Built since 200024%24%
Middle year built19861982
Owner-occupied75%68%

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