Short-term kit
PicoCan short-term charcoal canister radon test
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Quay County, New Mexico
EPA puts Quay County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 2 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
44.4%
San Miguel County
- San Miguel
- 44.4%
1 of 10 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
44.4%
San Miguel County, 76 miles
- San Miguel
- 44.4%
- New Mexico
- 30.3%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 36 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
7.4 pts above New Mexico
- Quay
- 100.0%
- New Mexico
- 92.6%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
4
Too few for a share
- Quay
- 4
- Needed
- 30
2005 to 2014, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Quay 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
Quay County, At a glance
Quay County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Quay County is a
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 Quay County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 2 reported tests for Quay County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 5.3 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Quay County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 2 tests were reported to CDC for Quay 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).
Quay County, Compared
Quay County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Quay County rests on 4 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 2 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 25.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 5.5 pCi/L, with a middle value of 3.8 pCi/L.
San Miguel County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 44.4% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Santa Fe County (140 miles away) at 32.5%, Lincoln County (144 miles away) at 20.6% and Taos County (155 miles away) at 71.9% 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 Quay County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Quay County, Geology
The ground under Quay County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Quay County's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. The map puts 65.4% of Quay County in the area it calls Great Plains Pecos Valley Section and 21.9% in Ogallala Formation/High Plains, with one smaller area beside them. USGS gives both a radon index of 9, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Plains Pecos Valley Section | Triassic sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, Quaternary alluvial and eolian sand and silt. | Moderate | 9 | 65.4% |
| Ogallala Formation/High Plains | Sandstone, siltstone, minor shale of the Ogallala Formation. | Moderate | 9 | 21.9% |
| High Plains | Sandstone, siltstone, minor shale-Tertiary Ogallala Formation. | Moderate | 9 | 12.7% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Quay County beside the ground around it
Across New Mexico 19.2% of the land is rated high; none of Quay County's is. Of the 10 counties that border it, 2 have more high-potential ground, Union County the most at 33.0%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Quay County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Quay 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
Quay County, Questions
Questions about radon in Quay County
Are radon levels high in Quay County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 100.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Quay County, New Mexico were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 5.3 pCi/L. San Miguel County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 44.4% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Quay County?
Quay County borders 10 counties: Curry County, NM, Harding County, NM, Deaf Smith County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Guadalupe County, NM, De Baca County, NM, Roosevelt County, NM, San Miguel County, NM, Hartley County, TX and Union County, NM.
Products
Quay County, Products
Testing a home in Quay County
No CDC figure names Quay County; the nearest county with one, San Miguel County (76 miles away), reported 44.4% 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 Quay County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
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
Monitor
RadonScan-Plus USB-powered radon monitor with Wi-Fi
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Plug-in
- Wi-Fi
- Alarm
- Screen, app
First reading: Within 5 minutes
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Quay County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Quay 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 Deaf Smith County, TXEPA zone 2
75.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 10.9 pCi/L · 4 tests
- Radon levels in Curry County, NMEPA zone 2
69.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.8 pCi/L · 13 tests
- Radon levels in Roosevelt County, NMEPA zone 2
60.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.2 pCi/L · 5 tests
- Radon levels in Hartley County, TXEPA zone 2
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.1 pCi/L · 2 tests
- Radon levels in San Miguel County, NMEPA zone 1
44.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.5 pCi/L · 36 tests
- Radon levels in Harding County, NMEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Oldham County, TXEPA zone 2
No CDC figure for 2006 to 2015; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Guadalupe County, NMEPA zone 2
No CDC figure for 2006 to 2015; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in De Baca County, NMEPA zone 2
No CDC figure for 2006 to 2015; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Quay County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Quay County
About 8,454 people live in Quay County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 260 fewer than in 2020 (−3.0%). Spread over its land, that is 2.9 people to the square mile. Tucumcari alone is home to 5,082 of them, 60.1% of the total. Together its 4 incorporated places hold 74.2% of those residents; the other 25.8% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 4 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.
From Tucumcari to House, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Quay County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tucumcari | 5,082 | −3.4% | 60.1% |
| Logan | 948 | −2.1% | 11.2% |
| San Jon | 186 | −2.6% | 2.2% |
| House | 55 | −3.5% | 0.7% |
4 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).
Quay County, Homes
Homes in Quay County
Of Quay County's 5,513 homes, 70% are detached houses, against 65% across New Mexico; 21% are mobile homes. The homes are older than New Mexico's as a whole: half were built before 1965 (1984 for New Mexico), and 42% date from before 1960. 73% 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 | Quay County | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 5,513 | 949,524 |
| Detached houses | 70% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 3% | 10% |
| Mobile homes | 21% | 16% |
| Built before 1960 | 42% | 17% |
| Built since 2000 | 9% | 24% |
| Middle year built | 1965 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 73% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.