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Radon in Bismarck, North Dakota

EPA puts Burleigh County, where Bismarck is, in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and high results are common there: 51.1% of the 1,558 radon tests reported to CDC (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals) came back 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

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  • Share at 4+ pCi/L

    51.1%

    8.2 pts below ND

    Burleigh
    51.1%
    ND
    59.3%

    Burleigh, 24th of 29 in ND, 2008 to 2017

  • Median result

    4.0pCi/L

    Action level reached

    Burleigh
    4.0 pCi/L
    EPA
    4.0 pCi/L

    Midpoint of Burleigh's tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Nearest county

    53.4%

    Morton, 25 miles

    Morton
    53.4%
    Burleigh
    51.1%

    268 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 1

    Highest potential

    1. Zone 1
    2. 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    Burleigh, where Bismarck is

  • Tests reported

    1,558

    In Burleigh

    Burleigh
    1,558
    Morton
    268

    Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017

Read a result for Bismarck

Starts at Burleigh County's median, 4.0 pCi/L

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. Burleigh County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Bismarck, What is published

What is published for Bismarck

Information:

Every figure for Bismarck is a county's

Radon data is published by county, not by city, so for Bismarck it is Burleigh County's: its EPA zone (Zone 1) and the 1,558 tests reported to CDC for 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Only a test tells you about one home.

Bismarck covers 34.7 square miles of land, all of it in Burleigh County. About 77,963 people live there, 2,248 to the square mile.

Bismarck, Counties

The county Bismarck lies in

Measured

Burleigh County's EPA zone and the figures CDC publishes for it, 2008 to 2017, laboratory.

Burleigh CountyZone 1Highest predicted potential

51.1%
Reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L
4.0 pCi/L
Median reported result
1,558 tests
Tests reported to CDC
None
Yearly figures on file

Burleigh County ranks 24th of 29 North Dakota counties with 30 or more tests for that period, 8.2 points below the 59.3% pooled across North Dakota's counties, 15.4 points above the national pool of 35.7%.

The counties nearest Bismarck with a CDC figure for 2008 to 2017, laboratory, measured from the middle of the city: Morton County (25 miles, 53.4% of 268 tests), McLean County (61 miles, 63.2% of 95 tests) and Mercer County (61 miles, 63.5% of 85 tests). Across the 8 nearest, the share at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 48.1% to 74.3%; the farthest of them, Dunn County, is 95 miles away at 74.3%.

No business in the directory gives Bismarck as its address; the North Dakota list covers it. North Dakota's other cities with a page of their own: Fargo.

The counties around Bismarck

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

Nearest counties to Bismarck with 30 or more tests
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Morton County25 mi26853.4%4.2 pCi/L
McLean County61 mi9563.2%5.6 pCi/L
Mercer County61 mi8563.5%5.7 pCi/L
Wells County75 mi8148.1%3.8 pCi/L
McIntosh County80 mi3271.9%7.0 pCi/L
Stutsman County86 mi35173.5%5.8 pCi/L
Stark County89 mi38662.4%5.1 pCi/L
Dunn County95 mi3574.3%7.1 pCi/L

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones, by county. Measured: CDC tracking data, by county, 2008 to 2017, laboratory.

Bismarck, Geology

The ground under Bismarck

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Bismarck's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Great Plains (Glaciated), to which USGS gives a radon index of 13, in the high band (12 to 17).

USGS's geologic areas under Bismarck
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Great Plains (Glaciated)Glacial deposits derived from Cretaceous shales containing higher than average amounts of uranium.High13100%

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

Bismarck beside its county and North Dakota

All of Bismarck, like all of Burleigh County, is rated high. On high-potential ground Bismarck is close to North Dakota as a whole: 100% of its land against 98.9%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Bismarck, the county it lies in and North Dakota
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
BismarckBy countyNoneNone100%
Burleigh CountyZone 1NoneNone100%
North Dakota53 counties, pooled by land areaVariesNone1.1%98.9%

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

Bismarck, Homes

Homes in Bismarck

Fewer than six in ten of Bismarck's 34,852 homes are detached houses (47%, against 56% across Burleigh County); the rest are attached, in shared buildings or mobile. Half of its homes were built before 1984, close to Burleigh County's 1987: 18% date from before 1960 and 32% from 2000 or later. 66% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Burleigh County: 72%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota, 2019 to 2023
HomesBismarckBurleigh CountyNorth Dakota
Housing units34,85243,387374,866
Detached houses47%56%57%
In buildings of 5 or more27%22%25%
Mobile homes8%7%7%
Built before 196018%15%24%
Built since 200032%35%31%
Middle year built198419871981
Owner-occupied66%72%63%

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

Local help

Bismarck, Local resources

Local resources for Bismarck

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

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

What it means

Bismarck, Questions

Questions about radon in Bismarck

What radon zone is Bismarck in?

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

What are radon levels in Bismarck?

51.1% of the 1,558 tests reported from Burleigh County for 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals) were at or above 4 pCi/L, the level at which EPA says to fix a home: high results are ordinary around Bismarck. The median reported result was 4.0 pCi/L.

Should I test my home in Bismarck?

Yes. About 796 of the 1,558 tests reported from Burleigh County were at or above 4 pCi/L. That is below North Dakota's pooled 59.3%, and still not a reason to skip it, and ranks Burleigh County 24th of the 29 North Dakota counties with 30 or more tests. No map says which homes those are. How to test a home.

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

USGS's geologic map puts all of Bismarck on one named area, "Great Plains (Glaciated)", rated high for radon potential, radon index 13.

Is radon higher in the counties around Bismarck?

Some are and some are not. Against Burleigh County's 51.1%, 7 of the 8 nearest counties with a figure report more and 1 less, from Wells County (48.1%, 75 miles off) to Dunn County (74.3%, 95 miles off).

The answers use the published figures of Burleigh County, the county Bismarck lies in.

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