
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
Locations and reports
EPA puts Yellow Medicine County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 19 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2023). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Share at 4+ pCi/L
66.3%
22.1 pts above MN
300 tests, 2005 to 2014
Median result
5.9pCi/L
Action level reached
Midpoint of the tests, 2005 to 2014
Tests reported
300
57th of 87 by tests
Reported to CDC before any fix, 2005 to 2014
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Rank in Minnesota
23 of 87
Middle half
By share, of 87 with 30+ tests
Read a result for Yellow Medicine County
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 5.9 pCi/L
At or above 4 pCi/L
This result is at or above 4 pCi/L. EPA recommends fixing a home when the radon level is 4 pCi/L or higher. Yellow Medicine County's median reported result, 2005 to 2014.
The data
Yellow Medicine County, At a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA puts all of Yellow Medicine County in
USGS geologic potential: High across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 80.5% |
| 2015 | 90.9% |
| 2016 | 65.8% |
| 2017 | 67.4% |
| 2018 | 55.0% |
| 2019 | 45.0% |
| 2020 | 72.7% |
| 2021 | 84.0% |
| 2022 | 60.0% |
| 2023 | 73.7% |
2023: 73.7%. Across these years the share ran from 45.0% to 90.9%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
Only 19 tests were reported to CDC for Yellow Medicine County over 2023, 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: 2023. Measured data period: 2005 to 2023 (every CDC figure on file).
Yellow Medicine County, Compared
More than half: 66.3% of the 300 radon tests reported to CDC for Yellow Medicine County over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals read at least 4 pCi/L. That places it 23rd of 87 Minnesota counties with 30 or more tests for the same period. That is 22.1 points above the 44.2% pooled from 87 Minnesota counties.
The newest figure, in 2023, counts only 19 tests (73.7% at or above 4 pCi/L), too few to compare, so this reading uses the 300-test figure.
The median result, 5.9 pCi/L, sits above EPA's 4 pCi/L action level, and the top reported result was 39.1 pCi/L. The rest split 12.0% under 2 pCi/L and 21.7% from 2 to 4 (Minnesota: 26.4% and 29.3%). Zone 1 on EPA's map (predicted average above 4 pCi/L) and a 66.3% share point the same way here.
5 of its 6 bordering counties with figures ran higher, led by Renville County at 77.8%; Chippewa County reported 64.9%. Statewide for the same period, Rock County reported the highest share (85.0%) and Anoka County the lowest (16.4%).
The busiest year on file was 2017, with 46 tests reported; the quietest, 2023, had 19.
Over 7 years of annual figures the share fell 20.5 points, from 80.5% in 2014 to 60.0% in 2022; its peak was 90.9% in 2015. Nationally, every county with a figure for the same period pools to 36.0%; Yellow Medicine County sits 30.3 points above it. CDC also counts 14 tests taken after mitigation in Yellow Medicine County for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.
| Year | Tests | Yellow Medicine County, at or above 4 pCi/L | Minnesota, pooled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 41 | 80.5% | 42.9% |
| 2015 | 33 | 90.9% | 43.6% |
| 2016 | 38 | 65.8% | 37.0% |
| 2017 | 46 | 67.4% | 38.2% |
| 2018 | 40 | 55.0% | 38.3% |
| 2020 | 33 | 72.7% | 31.8% |
| 2022 | 40 | 60.0% | 31.6% |
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Yellow Medicine County, State data
What Minnesota's own agencies publish about radon tests in Yellow Medicine County, with their period. These are not CDC's figures and are never added to them.
Radon Testing (MN Public Health Data Access Portal): home radon tests reported voluntarily by private laboratories and licensed radon measurement professionals, counted by property. Period: 2016-2025.
Share with one or more tests at or above 4 pCi/L
65.5%
222 properties tested with one or more tests at or above 4 pCi/L
Median result
5.0 pCi/L
Average result
6.4 pCi/L
Tests behind these figures
34 properties tested a year on average
Measured: Minnesota Department of Health data, 2016-2025.
Yellow Medicine County, Geology
USGS's geologic map puts all of Yellow Medicine County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. The map puts 94.0% of Yellow Medicine County in the area it calls Central Lowland-Till Prairie and 6.0% in Glacial Lake Deposits. USGS gives both a radon index of 14, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Lowland-Till Prairie | Silty and clayey till derived from shale and sandstone. | High | 14 | 94.0% |
| Glacial Lake Deposits | Silt and clay glacial lake deposits. | High | 14 | 6.0% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Yellow Medicine County has more high-potential ground than Minnesota as a whole: 100% of its land against 61.1%. Of the 7 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Deuel County, SD comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Yellow Medicine County, Local resources
The Radon Licensing Act requires anyone who performs a radon test or radon mitigation, in a building they do not own or lease, must be licensed by MDH.
The Minnesota Radon Awareness Act requires specific disclosure and education be provided to potential home buyers during residential real estate transactions in Minnesota.
What it means
Yellow Medicine County, Questions
In 2023, 73.7% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 7.8 pCi/L. Of 87 Minnesota counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, 22 reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 44.2%.
Yellow Medicine County borders 7 counties: Lyon County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Lincoln County, MN, Deuel County, SD, Redwood County, MN and Renville County, MN.
Products
Yellow Medicine County, Products
In Yellow Medicine County, 66.3% of 300 tests reported to CDC over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals reached 4 pCi/L, against 44.2% pooled across Minnesota. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Yellow Medicine County is the one to know: a long-term test (more than 90 days) or a monitor, with a short-term kit for a first answer.
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Yellow Medicine County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Yellow Medicine County
Explore
Yellow Medicine County, Bordering counties
77.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.3 pCi/L · 338 tests · 11.5 points above Yellow Medicine County
70.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.3 pCi/L · 540 tests · 3.9 points above Yellow Medicine County
69.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.5 pCi/L · 26 tests · 2.9 points above Yellow Medicine County
68.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.8 pCi/L · 905 tests · 2.2 points above Yellow Medicine County
67.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.6 pCi/L · 357 tests · 0.9 points above Yellow Medicine County
66.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.6 pCi/L · 129 tests · 0.4 points above Yellow Medicine County
64.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.5 pCi/L · 333 tests · 1.4 points below Yellow Medicine County
Yellow Medicine County, Cities and towns
Yellow Medicine County's population has barely moved since 2020: 9,477 residents on July 1, 2025 against 9,498 then, by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 12 people per square mile of land. Granite Falls, the largest place on its list (2,691 residents in all), extends beyond Yellow Medicine County, so no share of the total is worked out for it. Testing is reported here more often than across the state: CDC's 300 reported tests for 2005 to 2014 come to 31.7 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), against 19.9 for Minnesota.
From Granite Falls to Hazel Run, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Yellow Medicine County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granite Fallsextends beyond Yellow Medicine County | 2,691 | −1.7% | Counted whole |
| Canby | 1,674 | −1.2% | 17.7% |
| Clarkfield | 878 | +4.8% | 9.3% |
| Wood Lake | 371 | −2.1% | 3.9% |
| Hanley Falls | 240 | −2.0% | 2.5% |
| Echo | 237 | −1.7% | 2.5% |
| Porter | 163 | −1.8% | 1.7% |
| St. Leo | 91 | −1.1% | 1.0% |
| Hazel Run | 52 | −1.9% | 0.5% |
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). A place that extends beyond Yellow Medicine County is counted whole, so it has no share.
Yellow Medicine County, Homes
Yellow Medicine County is a place of houses on their own lots: 89% of its 4,512 homes are detached single-family houses, against 66% across Minnesota. The homes are older than Minnesota's as a whole: half were built before 1956 (1978 for Minnesota), and 54% date from before 1960. Owners live in 84% of the occupied homes (Minnesota: 72%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Yellow Medicine County | Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 4,512 | 2,519,538 |
| Detached houses | 89% | 66% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 6% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 2% | 3% |
| Built before 1960 | 54% | 29% |
| Built since 2000 | 9% | 22% |
| Middle year built | 1956 | 1978 |
| Owner-occupied | 84% | 72% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.