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Radon in Boone, North Carolina

EPA puts Watauga County, where Boone is, in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 1 radon test from it is on file with CDC (2022). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.

Data checked By Radon411Methodology

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  • Share at 4+ pCi/L

    45.1%

    22.5 pts above NC

    Watauga
    45.1%
    NC
    22.6%

    Watauga, 2nd of 75 in NC, 2008 to 2017

  • Median result

    3.5pCi/L

    Below action level

    Watauga
    3.5 pCi/L
    EPA
    4.0 pCi/L

    Midpoint of Watauga's tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Nearest county

    38.8%

    Avery, 17 miles

    Avery
    38.8%
    Watauga
    45.1%

    160 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 1

    Highest potential

    1. Zone 1
    2. 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    Watauga, where Boone is

  • Tests reported

    1,215

    In Watauga

    Watauga
    1,215
    Avery
    160

    Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017

Read a result for Boone

Starts at Watauga County's median, 3.5 pCi/L

3.5pCi/L

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

EPA’s reading of 3.5 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. Watauga County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Boone, What is published

What is published for Boone

Information:

Every figure for Boone is a county's

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

Boone covers 6.3 square miles of land, all of it in Watauga County. About 19,929 people live there, 3,158 to the square mile.

Boone, Counties

The county Boone lies in

Measured

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

Watauga CountyZone 1Highest predicted potential

100.0%
Reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L
4.0 pCi/L
Median reported result
1 test
Tests reported to CDC
4
Annual years on file

Watauga County ranks 2nd of 75 North Carolina counties with 30 or more tests for that period, 77.4 points above the 22.6% pooled across North Carolina's counties, 64.3 points above the national pool of 35.7%.

Measured from the middle of Boone, the nearest counties with a CDC figure for 2008 to 2017, laboratory are Avery County (17 miles, 38.8% of 160 tests), Ashe County (18 miles, 34.1% of 681 tests) and Caldwell County (19 miles, 27.6% of 861 tests). Across the 8 nearest, the share at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 27.6% to 44.3%; the farthest of them, Alleghany County, is 36 miles away at 41.1%.

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

The counties around Boone

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

Nearest counties to Boone with 30 or more tests
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Avery County17 mi16038.8%2.8 pCi/L
Ashe County18 mi68134.1%2.5 pCi/L
Caldwell County19 mi86127.6%2.5 pCi/L
Wilkes County28 mi40244.3%3.5 pCi/L
Mitchell County31 mi43328.6%2.1 pCi/L
Burke County32 mi94028.3%2.4 pCi/L
Alexander County34 mi31132.8%2.5 pCi/L
Alleghany County36 mi28541.1%3.3 pCi/L

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

Boone, Geology

The ground under Boone

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Boone's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. All 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 Boone
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Blue RidgeGranite, pegmatite, monazite, schist, and gneiss.Moderate10100%

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

Boone beside its county and North Carolina

All of Boone, like all of Watauga County, is rated moderate. Across North Carolina 1.3% of the land is rated high; none of Boone's is.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Boone, the county it lies in and North Carolina
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
BooneBy countyNone100%None
Watauga CountyZone 1None100%None
North Carolina100 counties, pooled by land areaVaries64.8%33.0%1.3%

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

Boone, Homes

Homes in Boone

Boone has 6,691 homes, and many share a building: 57% are in buildings of five or more, 29% are detached houses, against 65% across Watauga County. Half of its homes were built before 1984, close to Watauga County's 1987: 8% date from before 1960 and 28% from 2000 or later. Most occupied homes here are rented: owners live in 24% (Watauga County: 61%). A tenant can run a test; a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Boone, Watauga County, North Carolina, 2019 to 2023
HomesBooneWatauga CountyNorth Carolina
Housing units6,69133,0284,815,195
Detached houses29%65%65%
In buildings of 5 or more57%18%14%
Mobile homes2%8%11%
Built before 19608%11%14%
Built since 200028%26%33%
Middle year built198419871990
Owner-occupied24%61%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

Boone, Local resources

Local resources for Boone

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

Boone, Questions

Questions about radon in Boone

What radon zone is Boone in?

Boone has no zone of its own: it shares Watauga County's, Zone 1, the map's highest class: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L.

What are radon levels in Boone?

Only 1 test from Watauga County is on file with CDC for 2022, 100.0% of them at or above 4 pCi/L: too few to say how Boone runs.

Should I test my home in Boone?

Yes. With no dependable count of tests for Watauga County, a test of your own is the only reading there is; a short-term kit takes a few days. How to test a home.

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

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

Is radon higher in the counties around Boone?

Lower: none of the 8 nearest counties with a figure matches Watauga County's 100.0%. The closest to it is Wilkes County (44.3%, 28 miles off); the lowest is Caldwell County (27.6%, 19 miles off).

The answers use the published figures of Watauga County, the county Boone lies in.

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