Short-term kit
Air Chek Short-Term radon test kit you hang, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
In home: 72 to 168 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Pender County, North Carolina
EPA puts Pender County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 5 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2020). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Highest bordering
3.4%
New Hanover County
- New Hanover
- 3.4%
- Columbus
- 0.0%
4 of 7 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
3.4%
New Hanover County, 20 miles
- New Hanover
- 3.4%
- NC
- 22.6%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 117 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
None
34.2 pts below NC
- Pender
- 0.0%
- NC
- 34.2%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
17
Too few for a share
- Pender
- 17
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 3
Lower potential
- 1
- 2
- Zone 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Pender 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
Pender County, At a glance
Pender County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
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 Pender County, 2020
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.0% |
2020: 0.0%. Across these years the share ran from 0.0% to 0.0%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
Only 5 tests were reported to CDC for Pender County over 2020, 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: 2020. Measured data period: 2005 to 2020 (every CDC figure on file).
Pender County, Compared
Pender County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Pender County rests on 17 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 2 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.9 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 27.4 pCi/L, with a middle value of 0.1 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: New Hanover County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 3.4%, and Columbus County the smallest, 0.0%, with Onslow County at 2.7% and Brunswick County at 0.0% between. Farther out, Wayne County (58 miles away) at 8.2%, Craven County (62 miles away) at 0.0% and Cumberland County (64 miles away) at 1.9% have figures too. 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 Pender 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.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Pender County, Geology
The ground under Pender County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Pender County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. The map puts 89.8% of Pender County in the area it calls Inner Coastal Plain and 7.2% 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).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner Coastal Plain | Fossiliferous clay and sand, shelly sand, sandy marl, and limestone. | Low | 8 | 89.8% |
| Outer Coastal Plain | Unconsolidated sand. | Low | 7 | 7.2% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Pender County beside the ground around it
Across North Carolina 1.3% of the land is rated high; none of Pender County's is. None of the 7 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Pender County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Pender County
- North Carolina Radon ProgramNorth Carolina Radon Program, run by NCDHHS, answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in North Carolina.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsAsk the program whether it has free or discounted kits, or compare kits you can buy.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in North Carolina2 professionals are listed in North Carolina.
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
Pender County, Questions
Questions about radon in Pender County
Are radon levels high in Pender County?
In 2020, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Pender County, North Carolina were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 0.9 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: New Hanover County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 3.4%, and Columbus County the smallest, 0.0%, with Onslow County at 2.7% and Brunswick County at 0.0% between.
Which counties border Pender County?
Pender County borders 7 counties: New Hanover County, Duplin County, Onslow County, Brunswick County, Sampson County, Bladen County and Columbus County.
Products
Pender County, Products
Testing a home in Pender County
No CDC figure names Pender County; the nearest county with one, New Hanover County (20 miles away), reported 3.4% 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 Pender County.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
Long-term kit
RL116 long-term radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
MonitorAranet
Radon One battery digital radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- Alarm
- Screen, app
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Pender County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Pender County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in New Hanover CountyEPA zone 3
3.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 117 tests
- Radon levels in Onslow CountyEPA zone 3
2.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.5 pCi/L · 188 tests
- Radon levels in Duplin CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 5 tests
- Radon levels in Brunswick CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.5 pCi/L · 62 tests
- Radon levels in Sampson CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.6 pCi/L · 13 tests
- Radon levels in Bladen CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 14 tests
- Radon levels in Columbus CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 31 tests
Pender County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Pender County
Pender County is growing: the Census Bureau puts it at 72,111 residents on July 1, 2025, up 19.0% from 60,614 in 2020. That works out to 83 people per square mile of land. Surf City, the largest place on its list (5,142 residents in all), extends beyond Pender County, so no share of the total is worked out for it. Reported testing is thin here: 17 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.2 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where North Carolina as a whole comes to 6.5.
From Surf City to Watha, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Pender County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surf Cityextends beyond Pender County | 5,142 | +31.9% | Counted whole |
| Burgaw | 3,903 | +4.5% | 5.4% |
| Wallaceextends beyond Pender County | 3,570 | +5.7% | Counted whole |
| Topsail Beach | 503 | +7.9% | 0.7% |
| St. Helena | 434 | +4.1% | 0.6% |
| Atkinson | 357 | +18.6% | 0.5% |
| Watha | 226 | +24.9% | 0.3% |
7 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). A place that extends beyond Pender County is counted whole, so it has no share.
Pender County, Homes
Homes in Pender County
Of Pender County's 31,007 homes, 70% are detached houses, against 65% across North Carolina; 23% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1997, close to North Carolina's 1990: 9% date from before 1960 and 45% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 82% of the occupied homes (North Carolina: 66%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Pender County | North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 31,007 | 4,815,195 |
| Detached houses | 70% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 4% | 14% |
| Mobile homes | 23% | 11% |
| Built before 1960 | 9% | 14% |
| Built since 2000 | 45% | 33% |
| Middle year built | 1997 | 1990 |
| Owner-occupied | 82% | 66% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.