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Radon Levels in Catron County, New Mexico

EPA puts Catron County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 1 radon test from it is 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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  • Nearest county

    41.9%

    McKinley County, 115 miles

    McKinley
    41.9%
    New Mexico
    30.3%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 31 tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Ground above low

    100.0%

    7.4 pts above New Mexico

    Catron
    100.0%
    New Mexico
    92.6%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    2

    Too few for a share

    Catron
    2
    Needed
    30

    2005 to 2014, 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 Catron 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

Catron County, At a glance

Catron County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential

Catron 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 94% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

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

CDC holds 1 reported test for Catron County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, a result of 3.9 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Catron County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 1 test was reported to CDC for Catron 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

Catron County, Compared

Catron County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Catron County rests on 2 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 50.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 3.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.4 pCi/L.

The nearest counties with a figure are McKinley County (115 miles away) at 41.9%, Bernalillo County (126 miles away) at 25.2% and Doña Ana County (141 miles away) at 16.3%. Pooled across 30 New Mexico counties, 30.3% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 36.3%.

Statewide for the same period, Taos County reported the highest share (71.9%) and Otero County the lowest (10.7%). EPA's 1993 map puts Catron County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 94% of the county's land moderate radon potential.

New Mexico, the United States and the counties around Catron County, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
New Mexico, pooled30 counties, pooled4,25130.3%Not pooled
United States, pooled2,669 counties, pooled1,805,52836.3%Not pooled
Taos Countyhighest in the state9671.9%7.7 pCi/L
Otero Countylowest in the state5610.7%1.1 pCi/L
Cibola County, NMborders it1747.1%3.5 pCi/L
Grant County, NMborders it2040.0%2.2 pCi/L
Sierra County, NMborders it70.0%1.4 pCi/L
Socorro County, NMborders it80.0%0.9 pCi/L
The nearest New Mexico counties to Catron County with 30 or more tests, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
McKinley County115 mi3141.9%2.9 pCi/L
Bernalillo County126 mi1,34225.2%2.1 pCi/L
Doña Ana County141 mi10416.3%1.4 pCi/L
Sandoval County150 mi15024.7%2.0 pCi/L
Lincoln County170 mi3420.6%1.9 pCi/L
Santa Fe County176 mi2,01932.5%2.8 pCi/L
Otero County178 mi5610.7%1.1 pCi/L
San Juan County179 mi6030.0%2.2 pCi/L
Catron County ten-year laboratory totals, against New Mexico's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestNew Mexico, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 201710.0%3.9 pCi/L3.9 pCi/L28.5%Level
2007 to 201610.0%3.9 pCi/L3.9 pCi/L30.0%Level
2006 to 201510.0%3.9 pCi/L3.9 pCi/L30.3%Level
2005 to 201420.0%2.4 pCi/L3.9 pCi/L29.7%First on file

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

Catron County, Geology

The ground under Catron County

Predicted

Most of the ground under Catron County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 94.2% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 5.8% high. The map puts 67.6% of Catron County in the area it calls Datil-Mogollon Volcanic Field and 25.6% in Southern Colorado Plateau, with 2 smaller areas beside them. USGS gives the first a radon index of 11 and the second 10, both in the moderate band (9 to 11).

USGS's geologic areas under Catron County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Datil-Mogollon Volcanic FieldSilicic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, basin-fill gravel, sand, silt.Moderate1167.6%
Southern Colorado PlateauCretaceous marine sandstone, shale.Moderate1025.6%
Grants Uranium BeltUpper Creataceous marine shales and uranium-bearing Jurassic fluvial sandstones of the Grants uranium belt.High125.8%
Colorado PlateauJurassic-Triassic nonmarine sandstones and shales.Moderate111.0%

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

Catron County beside the ground around it

New Mexico as a whole has more high-potential ground than Catron County: 19.2% of its land, against 5.8% here. Of the 6 counties that border it, 3 have more high-potential ground, Sierra County the most at 50.4%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Catron County, the 6 counties bordering it and New Mexico
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Catron CountyZone 2None94.2%5.8%
Greenlee County, AZZone 22.3%97.7%None
Cibola CountyZone 2None78.9%21.1%
Socorro CountyZone 2None77.0%23.0%
Grant CountyZone 217.8%82.2%None
Sierra CountyZone 21.1%48.6%50.4%
Apache County, AZZone 2None99.0%1.0%
New Mexico33 counties, pooled by land areaVaries7.4%73.4%19.2%

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

Local help

Catron County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Catron County

What New Mexico's program says
Phone
(505) 476-8600
Email
radon.questions@env.nm.gov
Licensing of radon professionals
There is not currently a certification program within the state.

What it means

Catron County, Questions

Questions about radon in Catron County

Are radon levels high in Catron County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Catron County, New Mexico were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.9 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 179 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 10.7% to 41.9%.

Which counties border Catron County?

Catron County borders 6 counties: Greenlee County, AZ, Cibola County, NM, Socorro County, NM, Grant County, NM, Sierra County, NM and Apache County, AZ.

Products

Catron County, Products

Testing a home in Catron County

No CDC figure names Catron County; the nearest county with one, McKinley County (115 miles away), reported 41.9% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2006 to 2015 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 Catron County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Catron County homes, compared

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Catron County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Catron County

Calculated by Radon411

Catron County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Catron County

Catron County is growing: the Census Bureau puts it at 3,827 residents on July 1, 2025, up 6.1% from 3,608 in 2020. Spread over its land, that is 0.6 people to the square mile. Reserve, its one incorporated place, has 311 residents, 8.1% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 2 tests over 2005 to 2014, or 0.5 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where New Mexico as a whole comes to 2.2.

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

Reserve, Catron County: residents on July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Reserve311+5.4%8.1%

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).

Catron County, Homes

Homes in Catron County

Of Catron County's 3,333 homes, 66% are detached houses, against 65% across New Mexico; 33% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1984, close to New Mexico's 1984: 18% date from before 1960 and 19% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 88% of the occupied homes (New Mexico: 69%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.

Homes in Catron County, New Mexico, 2019 to 2023
HomesCatron CountyNew Mexico
Housing units3,333949,524
Detached houses66%65%
In buildings of 5 or more0%10%
Mobile homes33%16%
Built before 196018%17%
Built since 200019%24%
Middle year built19841984
Owner-occupied88%69%

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