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
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Owsley County, Kentucky
EPA puts Owsley 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
19.1%
Breathitt County
- Breathitt
- 19.1%
1 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
19.1%
Breathitt County, 21 miles
- Breathitt
- 19.1%
- Kentucky
- 43.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 47 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
100.0%
5.7 pts above Kentucky
- Owsley
- 100.0%
- Kentucky
- 94.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
8
Too few for a share
- Owsley
- 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 Owsley 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
Owsley County, At a glance
Owsley County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Owsley County is a
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 Owsley County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 8 reported tests for Owsley County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 18.3 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Owsley County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 8 tests were reported to CDC for Owsley 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).
Owsley County, Compared
Owsley County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Owsley County rests on 8 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 5 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 29.7 pCi/L, with a middle value of 18.3 pCi/L.
Breathitt County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 19.1% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Estill County (24 miles away) at 44.1%, Laurel County (32 miles away) at 22.0% and Menifee County (36 miles away) at 22.0% 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 Owsley 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.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Owsley County, Geology
The ground under Owsley County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Owsley County's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. All 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 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Owsley County beside the ground around it
Across Kentucky 18.2% of the land is rated high; none of Owsley County's is. Of the 5 counties that border it, none has as large a share of moderate-potential ground; Breathitt County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Owsley County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Owsley 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
Owsley County, Questions
Questions about radon in Owsley County
Are radon levels high in Owsley County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 62.5% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Owsley County, Kentucky were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 18.3 pCi/L. Breathitt County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 19.1% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Owsley County?
Owsley County borders 5 counties: Lee County, Jackson County, Clay County, Breathitt County and Perry County.
Products
Owsley County, Products
Testing a home in Owsley County
No CDC figure names Owsley County; the nearest county with one, Breathitt County (21 miles away), reported 19.1% 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 Owsley 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
Wave Radon battery smart radon monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- App only
Method: Alpha spectrometry
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Owsley County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Owsley County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Perry CountyEPA zone 2
20.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.4 pCi/L · 24 tests
- Radon levels in Clay CountyEPA zone 2
20.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 10 tests
- Radon levels in Breathitt CountyEPA zone 2
19.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.7 pCi/L · 47 tests
- Radon levels in Lee CountyEPA zone 2
5.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.2 pCi/L · 18 tests
- Radon levels in Jackson CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.8 pCi/L · 11 tests
Owsley County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Owsley County
About 3,932 people live in Owsley County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 102 fewer than in 2020 (−2.5%). That works out to 20 people per square mile of land. Booneville, its one incorporated place, has 154 residents, 3.9% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 8 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 2.0 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Kentucky as a whole comes to 6.3.
Booneville is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Owsley County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booneville | 154 | −3.1% | 3.9% |
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).
Owsley County, Homes
Homes in Owsley County
Of Owsley County's 2,024 homes, 67% are detached houses, against 68% across Kentucky; 25% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1987, close to Kentucky's 1982: 15% date from before 1960 and 29% from 2000 or later. 68% 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 | Owsley County | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 2,024 | 2,010,655 |
| Detached houses | 67% | 68% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 4% | 12% |
| Mobile homes | 25% | 11% |
| Built before 1960 | 15% | 22% |
| Built since 2000 | 29% | 24% |
| Middle year built | 1987 | 1982 |
| Owner-occupied | 68% | 68% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.