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Radon Levels in Pike County, Kentucky

EPA puts Pike County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and 17.1% of its 82 reported radon tests (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals) were at or above 4 pCi/L. Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.

Data checked By Radon411Methodology

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  • Share at 4+ pCi/L

    17.1%

    26.6 pts below KY

    Pike
    17.1%
    Kentucky
    43.7%

    82 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Median result

    1.1pCi/L

    Below action level

    Pike
    1.1 pCi/L
    EPA
    4.0 pCi/L

    Midpoint of the tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Tests reported

    82

    41st of 69 by tests

    Pike
    82
    Jefferson
    6,590

    Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017

  • 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

  • Rank in Kentucky

    66 of 69

    Lowest quarter

    Pike
    17.1%
    Meade
    68.4%

    By share, of 69 with 30+ tests

Read a result for Pike County

Starts at Pike County's median, 1.1 pCi/L

1.1pCi/L

EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.

EPA’s reading of 1.1 pCi/L

Below 2 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 below 2 pCi/L, the level at which EPA says a fix should be considered. Pike County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.

Interpret this reading

The data

Pike County, At a glance

Pike County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential

Pike 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 Pike County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

Reported results by concentration band, Pike County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
Under 2 pCi/L: 66%2 to 4 pCi/L: 17%4 pCi/L and above: 17%

Of 82 pre-mitigation tests reported to CDC, not homes in this area.

Reported results by concentration band, Pike County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory: data table
Result bandTests MeasuredShare Measured
Under 2 pCi/L5465.9%
2 to 4 pCi/L1417.1%
4 pCi/L and above1417.1%
What these figures count

These are the 82 tests reported to CDC for Pike County over 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals), many from homes being sold or already suspected of a problem: they describe the county's reported tests, not 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

Pike County, Compared

Pike County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

Pike County's 82 reported tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals had a middle value of 1.1 pCi/L and a maximum of 21.5 pCi/L, and 17.1% reached 4 pCi/L. Kentucky as a whole (120 Kentucky counties, pooled) comes to 43.7%: 26.6 points higher than here.

Among its state's counties it ranks 66th of 69 Kentucky counties with 30 or more tests for the same period. Statewide for the same period, Meade County reported the highest share (68.4%) and Hopkins County the lowest (9.5%).

Below the action level, 54 tests (65.9%) came in under 2 pCi/L, against 33.2% statewide, and 14 tests (17.1%) fell between 2 and 4, against 23.1% statewide. CDC's ten-year totals for Pike County went from 84 tests (2005 to 2014) to 82 (2008 to 2017), the share going from 17.9% to 17.1%.

EPA's 1993 zone map puts Pike County in Zone 2, a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.

Wise County, VA, the one bordering county with a figure for the same period, reported 28.3%.

CDC also counts 5 tests taken after mitigation in Pike County for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.

Pike County against Kentucky, the United States and nearby counties, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianDifference from Pike County
Pike County8217.1%1.1 pCi/LThis county
Kentucky, pooled120 counties, pooled28,79343.7%Not pooled+26.6 points
United States, pooled2,661 counties, pooled2,013,54435.7%Not pooled+18.6 points
Meade Countyhighest in the state11768.4%8.2 pCi/L+51.3 points
Hopkins Countylowest in the state429.5%1.7 pCi/L−7.6 points
Dickenson County, VAborders it1040.0%3.4 pCi/L+22.9 points
Floyd County, KYborders it2040.0%2.7 pCi/L+22.9 points
Letcher County, KYborders it2231.8%1.8 pCi/L+14.7 points
Wise County, VAborders it5328.3%1.3 pCi/L+11.2 points
Buchanan County, VAborders it2025.0%2.7 pCi/L+7.9 points
Knott County, KYborders it1323.1%1.7 pCi/L+6.0 points
Martin County, KYborders it20.0%0.1 pCi/L−17.1 points
Mingo County, WVborders it50.0%1.0 pCi/L−17.1 points
Where Pike County's reported results fell, 2008 to 2017, laboratory, beside Kentucky and the United States
ResultPike County testsPike County shareKentucky shareU.S. shareAgainst Kentucky
Under 2 pCi/L5465.9%33.2%39.6%+32.7 points
2 to 4 pCi/L1417.1%23.1%24.7%−6.0 points
4 pCi/L and above1417.1%43.7%35.7%−26.6 points
Pike County ranked among the 69 Kentucky counties with 30 or more tests, by share at or above 4 pCi/L, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CountyRankTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Menifee County59 of 694122.0%1.4 pCi/L
Edmonson County60 of 696221.0%1.6 pCi/L
Daviess County61 of 6914520.0%1.8 pCi/L
Breathitt County62 of 694719.1%1.7 pCi/L
Rowan County63 of 697418.9%1.6 pCi/L
Boyd County64 of 6916817.9%2.1 pCi/L
Todd County65 of 696217.7%1.8 pCi/L
Pike County66 of 698217.1%1.1 pCi/L
Greenup County67 of 6910412.5%2.0 pCi/L
Marshall County68 of 698510.6%1.5 pCi/L
Hopkins County69 of 69429.5%1.7 pCi/L
Pike County ten-year laboratory totals, against Kentucky's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestKentucky, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 20178217.1%1.1 pCi/L21.5 pCi/L43.7%−1.7 points
2007 to 20168518.8%1.2 pCi/L34.5 pCi/L45.1%Level
2006 to 20158518.8%1.4 pCi/L34.5 pCi/L46.4%+0.9 points
2005 to 20148417.9%1.3 pCi/L34.5 pCi/L47.3%First on file

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

Pike County, Geology

The ground under Pike County

Predicted

Most of the ground under Pike County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 99.9% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 0.1% low. 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).

USGS's geologic areas under Pike County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Cumberland PlateauPennsylvanian sandstones, siltstones, and shales.Moderate999.9%

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

Pike County beside the ground around it

Across Kentucky 18.2% of the land is rated high; none of Pike County's is. Of the 8 counties that border it, 2 have more high-potential ground, Wise County, VA the most at 10.6%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Pike County, the 8 counties bordering it and Kentucky
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Pike CountyZone 20.1%99.9%None
Buchanan County, VAZone 20.2%99.0%0.8%
Mingo County, WVZone 398.8%1.2%None
Dickenson County, VAZone 2None100%None
Floyd CountyZone 2None100%None
Martin CountyZone 20.1%99.9%None
Knott CountyZone 2None100%None
Wise County, VAZone 2None89.4%10.6%
Letcher 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

Pike County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Pike County

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

What it means

Pike County, Questions

Questions about radon in Pike County

Are radon levels high in Pike County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 17.1% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Pike County, Kentucky were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.1 pCi/L. Of 69 Kentucky counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, 65 reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 43.7%.

Which counties border Pike County?

Pike County borders 8 counties: Buchanan County, VA, Mingo County, WV, Dickenson County, VA, Floyd County, KY, Martin County, KY, Knott County, KY, Wise County, VA and Letcher County, KY.

Products

Pike County, Products

Testing a home in Pike County

In Pike County, 17.1% of 82 tests reported to CDC over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals reached 4 pCi/L, against 43.7% pooled across Kentucky. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Pike County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.

Test kits and monitors3

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Best radon monitors for Pike County homes, compared

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Pike County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Pike County

Calculated by Radon411

Pike County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Pike County

Pike County has been losing residents: from 58,459 in 2020 to 54,721 on July 1, 2025, a fall of 6.4% by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 70 people per square mile of land. No town dominates: Pikeville, the largest, has 7,270 residents, 13.3% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 17.9% of those residents; the other 82.1% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 82 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 1.5 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Kentucky as a whole comes to 6.3.

From Pikeville to Elkhorn City, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Pike County's.

The cities and towns in Pike County by residents, July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Pikeville7,270−6.0%13.3%
Coal Run Village1,565−5.7%2.9%
Elkhorn City963−6.8%1.8%

3 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).

Pike County, Homes

Homes in Pike County

Mobile homes are 36% of Pike County's 28,955 homes and detached houses 55%, against 68% across Kentucky. Half of its homes were built before 1985, close to Kentucky's 1982: 13% date from before 1960 and 22% 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 Pike County, Kentucky, 2019 to 2023
HomesPike CountyKentucky
Housing units28,9552,010,655
Detached houses55%68%
In buildings of 5 or more6%12%
Mobile homes36%11%
Built before 196013%22%
Built since 200022%24%
Middle year built19851982
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.