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Radon Levels in Chowan County, North Carolina

EPA puts Chowan County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 3 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2014). 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

  • Nearest county

    40.3%

    Northampton County, 48 miles

    Northampton
    40.3%
    NC
    22.6%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 62 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Ground above low

    None

    34.2 pts below NC

    Chowan
    0.0%
    NC
    34.2%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    9

    Too few for a share

    Chowan
    9
    Needed
    30

    2008 to 2017, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 3

    Lower potential

    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. Zone 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Chowan 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

Chowan County, At a glance

Chowan County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential

is EPA's lowest class, and its forecast for Chowan County as a whole is an average indoor of less than 2 pCi/L (less than 75 Bq/m³). A low zone clears no address in it: homes above EPA's turn up in all three zones.

USGS geologic potential: Low across 97% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

Radon tests reported for Chowan County, 2014

CDC holds 3 reported tests for Chowan County in 2014, with a median of 0.1 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Chowan County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 3 tests were reported to CDC for Chowan County over 2014, 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: 2014. Measured data period: 2005 to 2017 (every CDC figure on file).

How to read these figures

Chowan County, Compared

Chowan County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Chowan County rests on 9 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 11.1 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 1.6 pCi/L, with a middle value of 0.1 pCi/L.

The nearest counties with a figure are Northampton County (48 miles away) at 40.3%, Dare County (52 miles away) at 26.8% and Pitt County (58 miles away) at 1.0%. Pooled across 99 North Carolina counties, 22.6% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.7%.

Statewide for the same period, Transylvania County reported the highest share (47.8%) and Nash County the lowest (0.0%). EPA's 1993 map puts Chowan County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 97% of the county's land low radon potential.

North Carolina, the United States and the counties around Chowan County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
North Carolina, pooled99 counties, pooled73,13922.6%Not pooled
United States, pooled2,661 counties, pooled2,013,54435.7%Not pooled
Transylvania Countyhighest in the state3,86247.8%3.7 pCi/L
Nash Countylowest in the state300.0%0.2 pCi/L
Hertford County, NCborders it20.0%0.4 pCi/L
Perquimans County, NCborders it50.0%0.8 pCi/L
Gates County, NCborders it10.0%0.1 pCi/L
The nearest North Carolina counties to Chowan County with 30 or more tests, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Northampton County48 mi6240.3%3.4 pCi/L
Dare County52 mi4126.8%0.1 pCi/L
Pitt County58 mi1011.0%0.1 pCi/L
Halifax County59 mi5942.4%2.6 pCi/L
Craven County76 mi1090.0%0.2 pCi/L
Nash County78 mi300.0%0.2 pCi/L
Warren County85 mi8242.7%3.0 pCi/L
Carteret County91 mi410.0%0.1 pCi/L
Chowan County ten-year laboratory totals, against North Carolina's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestNorth Carolina, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 201790.0%0.1 pCi/L1.6 pCi/L22.6%Level
2007 to 201690.0%0.1 pCi/L1.6 pCi/L23.2%Level
2006 to 201570.0%0.1 pCi/L1.6 pCi/L24.1%Level
2005 to 201470.0%0.1 pCi/L1.6 pCi/L24.0%First on file

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

Chowan County, Geology

The ground under Chowan County

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Chowan County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. The map puts 72.0% of Chowan County in the area it calls Inner Coastal Plain and 25.2% in Outer Coastal Plain. USGS gives the first a radon index of 8 and the second 7, both in the low band (5 to 8).

USGS's geologic areas under Chowan County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Inner Coastal PlainFossiliferous clay and sand, shelly sand, sandy marl, and limestone.Low872.0%
Outer Coastal PlainUnconsolidated sand.Low725.2%

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

Chowan County beside the ground around it

Across North Carolina 1.3% of the land is rated high; none of Chowan County's is. None of the 3 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Chowan County, the 3 counties bordering it and North Carolina
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Chowan CountyZone 397.3%NoneNone
Perquimans CountyZone 398.0%NoneNone
Gates CountyZone 398.9%NoneNone
Hertford CountyZone 399.1%NoneNone
North Carolina100 counties, pooled by land areaVaries64.8%33.0%1.3%

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

Local help

Chowan County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Chowan County

What North Carolina's program says
Licensing of radon professionals
The North Carolina Radon Program is presently developing a Radon Proficiency Program as directed by Session Law 2023-91 House Bill 782 .

What it means

Chowan County, Questions

Questions about radon in Chowan County

Are radon levels high in Chowan County?

In 2014, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Chowan County, North Carolina were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 0.1 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 91 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 0.0% to 42.7%.

Which counties border Chowan County?

Chowan County borders 3 counties: Perquimans County, Gates County and Hertford County.

Products

Chowan County, Products

Testing a home in Chowan County

No CDC figure names Chowan County; the nearest county with one, Northampton County (48 miles away), reported 40.3% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. Zone 3 is the lowest label, yet homes at or above 4 pCi/L occur in every zone: a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Chowan County.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Chowan County homes, compared

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Chowan County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Chowan County

Calculated by Radon411

Chowan County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Chowan County

The Census Bureau estimates 14,082 residents in Chowan County for July 1, 2025, 380 more than in 2020 (+2.8%). That works out to 82 people per square mile of land. Edenton, its one incorporated place, has 4,546 residents, 32.3% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 9 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.6 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where North Carolina as a whole comes to 6.5.

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

Edenton, Chowan County: residents on July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Edenton4,546+1.9%32.3%

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).

Chowan County, Homes

Homes in Chowan County

Of Chowan County's 7,169 homes, 71% are detached houses, against 65% across North Carolina; 20% are mobile homes. The homes are older than North Carolina's as a whole: half were built before 1979 (1990 for North Carolina), and 24% date from before 1960. 70% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (North Carolina: 66%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Chowan County, North Carolina, 2019 to 2023
HomesChowan CountyNorth Carolina
Housing units7,1694,815,195
Detached houses71%65%
In buildings of 5 or more2%14%
Mobile homes20%11%
Built before 196024%14%
Built since 200015%33%
Middle year built19791990
Owner-occupied70%66%

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