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Radon in Asheville, North Carolina

EPA puts Buncombe County, where Asheville is, in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and 38.0% of its 50 reported radon tests (2022) were at or above 4 pCi/L. Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.

Data checked By Radon411Methodology

How to test this homeFind a certified tester

  • Share at 4+ pCi/L

    38.0%

    27.3 pts above NC

    Buncombe
    38.0%
    NC
    10.7%

    Buncombe, 1st of 4 in NC, 2022

  • Median result

    2.5pCi/L

    Below action level

    Buncombe
    2.5 pCi/L
    EPA
    4.0 pCi/L

    Midpoint of Buncombe's tests, 2022

  • Nearest county

    2.3%

    Wake, 220 miles

    Wake
    2.3%
    Buncombe
    38.0%

    88 tests, 2022

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 1

    Highest potential

    1. Zone 1
    2. 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    Buncombe, where Asheville is

  • Tests reported

    50

    In Buncombe

    Buncombe
    50
    Wake
    88

    Reported to CDC before any fix, 2022

Read a result for Asheville

Starts at Buncombe County's median, 2.5 pCi/L

2.5pCi/L

EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.

EPA’s reading of 2.5 pCi/L

Between 2 and 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 between 2 and 4 pCi/L. EPA recommends considering a fix when the level is between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Buncombe County's median reported result, 2022.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Asheville, What is published

What is published for Asheville

Information:

Every figure for Asheville is a county's

Radon data is published by county, not by city, so for Asheville it is Buncombe County's: its EPA zone (Zone 1) and the 50 tests reported to CDC for 2022. Only a test tells you about one home.

Asheville covers 45.5 square miles of land, all of it in Buncombe County. About 93,523 people live there, 2,057 to the square mile.

Asheville, Counties

The county Asheville lies in

Measured

Buncombe County's EPA zone and the figures CDC publishes for it, 2022.

Buncombe CountyZone 1Highest predicted potential

38.0%
Reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L
2.5 pCi/L
Median reported result
50 tests
Tests reported to CDC
4
Annual years on file

Buncombe County ranks 1st of 4 North Carolina counties with 30 or more tests for that period, 27.3 points above the 10.7% pooled across North Carolina's counties, 14.1 points above the national pool of 23.9%.

Measured from the middle of Asheville, the nearest counties with a CDC figure for 2022 are Wake County (220 miles, 2.3% of 88 tests), Wayne County (257 miles, 1.5% of 67 tests) and Pitt County (292 miles, 0.9% of 116 tests). Their shares run from 0.9% to 2.3%.

No business in the directory gives Asheville as its address; the North Carolina list covers it. North Carolina's other cities with a page of their own: Raleigh, Charlotte, Boone and Greensboro.

The counties around Asheville

By distance from the middle of Asheville; counties with 30 or more tests.

Nearest counties to Asheville with 30 or more tests
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Wake County220 mi882.3%0.1 pCi/L
Wayne County257 mi671.5%1.0 pCi/L
Pitt County292 mi1160.9%1.0 pCi/L

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones, by county. Measured: CDC tracking data, by county, 2022.

Asheville, Geology

The ground under Asheville

Predicted

Most of the ground under Asheville is one class on USGS's geologic map: 98.3% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 1.7% high. 98.3% of it lies in the area the map calls Blue Ridge, to which USGS gives a radon index of 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11).

USGS's geologic areas under Asheville
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Blue RidgeGranite, pegmatite, monazite, schist, and gneiss.Moderate1098.3%
Brevard Fault ZoneSchist, marble and phyllonite.High121.7%

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

Asheville beside its county and North Carolina

Buncombe County as a whole has more high-potential ground than Asheville: 12.0% of the county against 1.7% of the city. On high-potential ground Asheville is close to North Carolina as a whole: 1.7% of its land against 1.3%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Asheville, the county it lies in and North Carolina
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
AshevilleBy countyNone98.3%1.7%
Buncombe CountyZone 1None88.0%12.0%
North Carolina100 counties, pooled by land areaVaries64.8%33.0%1.3%

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

Asheville, Homes

Homes in Asheville

Of Asheville's 49,130 homes, 57% are detached houses, against 64% across Buncombe County; 27% are in buildings of five or more homes. The homes are older than Buncombe County's as a whole: half were built before 1980 (1989 for Buncombe County), and 32% date from before 1960. 50% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Buncombe County: 64%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, 2019 to 2023
HomesAshevilleBuncombe CountyNorth Carolina
Housing units49,130132,1914,815,195
Detached houses57%64%65%
In buildings of 5 or more27%16%14%
Mobile homes4%12%11%
Built before 196032%21%14%
Built since 200027%32%33%
Middle year built198019891990
Owner-occupied50%64%66%

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

Local help

Asheville, Local resources

Local resources for Asheville

Who to ask in North Carolina: its radon program, test kits and professionals.

The program's own words on licensing are on the North Carolina page.

What it means

Asheville, Questions

Questions about radon in Asheville

What radon zone is Asheville in?

Asheville takes its zone from Buncombe County, which EPA puts in Zone 1, the map's highest class: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L.

What are radon levels in Asheville?

Around Asheville, 38.0% of 50 tests reported from Buncombe County for 2022 reached 4 pCi/L or more, so a high result is no surprise here. The median reported result was 2.5 pCi/L.

Should I test my home in Asheville?

Yes. Buncombe County reported about 19 of its 50 tests at or above 4 pCi/L. That is above North Carolina's pooled 10.7%. Which homes they were, no map can say. How to test a home.

What ground is Asheville built on, as far as radon goes?

USGS's geologic map puts all of Asheville on one named area, "Blue Ridge", rated moderate for radon potential, radon index 10.

Is radon higher in the counties around Asheville?

Lower: none of the 3 nearest counties with a figure matches Buncombe County's 38.0%. The closest to it is Wake County (2.3%, 220 miles off); the lowest is Pitt County (0.9%, 292 miles off).

The answers use the published figures of Buncombe County, the county Asheville lies in.

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