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
Radon Levels in Colfax County, New Mexico
EPA puts Colfax County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 15 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
71.9%
Taos County
- Taos
- 71.9%
- Las Animas
- 63.9%
2 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
71.9%
Taos County, 55 miles
- Taos
- 71.9%
- New Mexico
- 30.3%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 96 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
7.4 pts above New Mexico
- Colfax
- 100.0%
- New Mexico
- 92.6%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
19
Too few for a share
- Colfax
- 19
- Needed
- 30
2005 to 2014, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
- Zone 1
- 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Colfax 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
Colfax County, At a glance
Colfax County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Colfax County in
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 95% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Colfax County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 15 reported tests for Colfax County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 2.6 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Colfax County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 15 tests were reported to CDC for Colfax 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).
Colfax County, Compared
Colfax County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Colfax County rests on 19 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 13 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 26.6 pCi/L, with a middle value of 8.5 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Taos County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 71.9%, and Las Animas County, CO the smallest, 63.9%. Farther out, San Miguel County (78 miles away) at 44.4%, Los Alamos County (106 miles away) at 38.3% and Santa Fe County (106 miles away) at 32.5% have figures too. 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 Colfax County in Zone 1, the map's highest label: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 95% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Colfax County, Geology
The ground under Colfax County
PredictedMost of the ground under Colfax County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 95.2% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 4.8% high. The map puts 86.8% of Colfax County in the area it calls Southern Great Plains and 8.4% in Great Plains Pecos Valley Section, with 2 smaller areas beside them. USGS gives the first a radon index of 10 and the second 9, both in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Great Plains | Cretaceous sedimentary rocks including sandstone and shale. | Moderate | 10 | 86.8% |
| Great Plains Pecos Valley Section | Triassic sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, Quaternary alluvial and eolian sand and silt. | Moderate | 9 | 8.4% |
| Rocky Mountains (southern extension) | Sandstone, siltstone, shale, volcanic sediments, and valley-fill alluvium. | High | 12 | 2.4% |
| High Plains | Quaternary deposits and Cretaceous marine shales that locally have a high radiometric signature. | High | 12 | 2.3% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Colfax County beside the ground around it
New Mexico as a whole has more high-potential ground than Colfax County: 19.2% of its land, against 4.8% here. Of the 6 counties that border it, 5 have more high-potential ground, Taos County the most at 91.9%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Colfax County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Colfax County
- New Mexico Indoor Radon Outreach ProgramNew Mexico Indoor Radon Outreach Program, run by New Mexico Environment Department, does not license radon professionals and offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in New Mexico.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
The New Mexico Environment Department seasonally distributes free radon testing kits to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Compare kits
- See the New Mexico directoryNo professionals are listed in New Mexico yet. The state program can point you to registered testers and mitigators.
What New Mexico's program says
- Phone
- (505) 476-8600
- radon.questions@env.nm.gov
- Licensing of radon professionals
There is not currently a certification program within the state.
What it means
Colfax County, Questions
Questions about radon in Colfax County
Are radon levels high in Colfax County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 40.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Colfax County, New Mexico were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.6 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Taos County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 71.9%, and Las Animas County, CO the smallest, 63.9%.
Which counties border Colfax County?
Colfax County borders 6 counties: Mora County, NM, Taos County, NM, Union County, NM, Costilla County, CO, Harding County, NM and Las Animas County, CO.
Products
Colfax County, Products
Testing a home in Colfax County
No CDC figure names Colfax County; the nearest county with one, Taos County (55 miles away), reported 71.9% 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 1 the year-round level in Colfax 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 monitors3
See every kit and monitor
MonitorAranet
Radon Plus battery digital radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- Alarm
- Screen, app
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
Short-term kit
RA100 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Colfax County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Colfax County
Explore
Colfax County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Colfax County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Union County, NMEPA zone 2
100.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.1 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Taos County, NMEPA zone 1
71.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.7 pCi/L · 96 tests
- Radon levels in Las Animas County, COEPA zone 1
63.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.5 pCi/L · 183 tests
- Radon levels in Costilla County, COEPA zone 2
44.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.9 pCi/L · 9 tests
- Radon levels in Mora County, NMEPA zone 1
42.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.4 pCi/L · 7 tests
- Radon levels in Harding County, NMEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 1 test
Colfax County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Colfax County
About 12,184 people live in Colfax County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 170 fewer than in 2020 (−1.4%). Spread over its land, that is 3.2 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Raton, has 5,952 residents, 48.9% of the total. Together its 6 incorporated places hold 76.9% of those residents; the other 23.1% live outside any of them. CDC's 19 reported tests for 2005 to 2014 work out to 1.6 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to New Mexico's 2.2.
From Raton to Maxwell, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Colfax County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raton | 5,952 | −1.3% | 48.9% |
| Angel Fire | 1,170 | −1.9% | 9.6% |
| Springer | 922 | −1.1% | 7.6% |
| Cimarron | 784 | −0.5% | 6.4% |
| Eagle Nest | 321 | −0.9% | 2.6% |
| Maxwell | 220 | −1.3% | 1.8% |
6 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).
Colfax County, Homes
Homes in Colfax County
Of Colfax County's 9,578 homes, 73% are detached houses, against 65% across New Mexico; 15% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1977, close to New Mexico's 1984: 31% date from before 1960 and 18% from 2000 or later. 72% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (New Mexico: 69%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Colfax County | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 9,578 | 949,524 |
| Detached houses | 73% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 7% | 10% |
| Mobile homes | 15% | 16% |
| Built before 1960 | 31% | 17% |
| Built since 2000 | 18% | 24% |
| Middle year built | 1977 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 72% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.