Short-term kitKidde
442020 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 3 days
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Dorchester County, Maryland
EPA puts Dorchester County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 6 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
10.4%
Sussex County
- Sussex
- 10.4%
- Wicomico
- 0.0%
2 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
0.0%
Wicomico County, 23 miles
- Wicomico
- 0.0%
- Maryland
- 23.9%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 32 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
None
64.3 pts below Maryland
- Dorchester
- 0.0%
- Maryland
- 64.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
7
Too few for a share
- Dorchester
- 7
- Needed
- 30
2006 to 2015, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 3
Lower potential
- 1
- 2
- Zone 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Dorchester 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
Dorchester County, At a glance
Dorchester County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 91% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Dorchester County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 6 reported tests for Dorchester County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 1.6 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Dorchester County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 6 tests were reported to CDC for Dorchester 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).
Dorchester County, Compared
Dorchester County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Dorchester County rests on 7 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 1 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 14.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 4.1 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.8 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Sussex County, DE reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 10.4%, and Wicomico County the smallest, 0.0%. Farther out, Calvert County (30 miles away) at 30.2%, St. Mary's County (35 miles away) at 20.9% and Queen Anne's County (40 miles away) at 16.9% have figures too. Pooled across 24 Maryland counties, 23.9% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.7%.
Statewide for the same period, Washington County reported the highest share (56.0%) and Wicomico County the lowest (0.0%). EPA's 1993 map puts Dorchester County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 91% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Dorchester County, Geology
The ground under Dorchester County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Dorchester County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. 90.9% of it lies in the area the map calls Eastern Shore, to which USGS gives a radon index of 7, in the low band (5 to 8).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Shore | Quaternary coastal sand, silt. | Low | 7 | 90.9% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Dorchester County beside the ground around it
Across Maryland 36.7% of the land is rated high; none of Dorchester County's is. None of the 5 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Dorchester County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Dorchester County
- Maryland's radon programMaryland Department of HealthMaryland's radon program offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Maryland.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
Maryland residents may be eligible for a free radon test kit.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Maryland5 professionals are listed in Maryland.
What Maryland's program says
- Phone
- 1-866-703-3266
What it means
Dorchester County, Questions
Questions about radon in Dorchester County
Are radon levels high in Dorchester County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 16.7% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Dorchester County, Maryland were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.6 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Sussex County, DE reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 10.4%, and Wicomico County the smallest, 0.0%.
Which counties border Dorchester County?
Dorchester County borders 5 counties: Talbot County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Caroline County, MD and Sussex County, DE.
Products
Dorchester County, Products
Testing a home in Dorchester County
No CDC figure names Dorchester County; the nearest county with one, Wicomico County (23 miles away), reported 0.0% 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. Zone 3 is the lowest label, yet homes at or above 4 pCi/L occur in every zone: a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Dorchester County.
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
MonitorAEGTEST
HOUND-1085 palm-sized rechargeable radon detector
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Semiconductor sensor
First reading: Within 6 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Dorchester County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Dorchester County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Sussex County, DEEPA zone 3
10.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.0 pCi/L · 451 tests
- Radon levels in Talbot County, MDEPA zone 3
7.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.1 pCi/L · 26 tests
- Radon levels in Wicomico County, MDEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.9 pCi/L · 32 tests
- Radon levels in Somerset County, MDEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.3 pCi/L · 2 tests
- Radon levels in Caroline County, MDEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.8 pCi/L · 12 tests
Dorchester County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Dorchester County
The Census Bureau estimates 33,628 residents in Dorchester County for July 1, 2025, 1,105 more than in 2020 (+3.4%). That works out to 62 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Cambridge, has 13,457 residents, 40.0% of the total. Together its 9 incorporated places hold 50.7% of those residents; the other 49.3% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 7 tests over 2006 to 2015, or 0.2 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Maryland as a whole comes to 6.2.
From Cambridge to Eldorado, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Dorchester County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | 13,457 | +2.8% | 40.0% |
| Hurlock | 2,123 | +2.5% | 6.3% |
| Secretary | 473 | +1.3% | 1.4% |
| East New Market | 416 | +3.7% | 1.2% |
| Vienna | 279 | +3.3% | 0.8% |
| Galestown | 117 | +3.5% | 0.3% |
| Church Creek | 104 | +4.0% | 0.3% |
| Brookview | 46 | +2.2% | 0.1% |
| Eldorado | 46 | +2.2% | 0.1% |
9 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).
Dorchester County, Homes
Homes in Dorchester County
Of Dorchester County's 16,416 homes, 75% are detached houses, against 51% across Maryland; 10% are in buildings of five or more homes. Half of its homes were built before 1973, close to Maryland's 1979: 39% date from before 1960 and 22% from 2000 or later. 66% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Maryland: 67%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Dorchester County | Maryland |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 16,416 | 2,545,532 |
| Detached houses | 75% | 51% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 10% | 23% |
| Mobile homes | 7% | 1% |
| Built before 1960 | 39% | 27% |
| Built since 2000 | 22% | 20% |
| Middle year built | 1973 | 1979 |
| Owner-occupied | 66% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.