Long-term kit
RL416 long-term radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Burke County, North Dakota
EPA puts Burke County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 11 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Highest bordering
66.7%
Mountrail County
- Mountrail
- 66.7%
- Williams
- 33.8%
3 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
66.7%
Mountrail County, 41 miles
- Mountrail
- 66.7%
- ND
- 59.3%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 48 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
100.0%
Level with ND
- Burke
- 100.0%
- ND
- 100.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
25
Too few for a share
- Burke
- 25
- Needed
- 30
2005 to 2014, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
- Zone 1
- 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Burke 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
Burke County, At a glance
Burke County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Burke County in
USGS geologic potential: High across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Burke County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 11 reported tests for Burke County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 7.8 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Burke County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 11 tests were reported to CDC for Burke County over 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals), 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: 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Measured data period: 2005 to 2017 (every CDC figure on file).
Burke County, Compared
Burke County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Burke County rests on 25 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 14 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 4.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 16.8 pCi/L, with a middle value of 5.2 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Mountrail County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 66.7%, and Williams County the smallest, 33.8%, with Ward County at 43.0% between. Farther out, Bottineau County (77 miles away) at 64.0%, McKenzie County (83 miles away) at 56.1% and McLean County (99 miles away) at 63.2% have figures too. Pooled across 53 North Dakota counties, 59.3% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.7%.
Statewide for the same period, Pembina County reported the highest share (82.5%) and Williams County the lowest (33.8%). EPA's 1993 map puts Burke County in Zone 1, the map's highest label: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land high radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Burke County, Geology
The ground under Burke County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Burke County'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).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Plains (Glaciated) | Glacial deposits derived from Cretaceous shales containing higher than average amounts of uranium. | High | 13 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Burke County beside the ground around it
On high-potential ground Burke County is close to North Dakota as a whole: 100% of its land against 98.9%. Of the 5 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Divide County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Burke County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Burke County
- North Dakota's radon programNorth Dakota Department of Environmental QualityNorth Dakota's radon program offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in North Dakota.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
Notice: The DEQ is out of free radon test kits.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in North Dakota47 professionals are listed in North Dakota.
What North Dakota's program says
- Phone
- 701-328-5166
- jOtto@nd.gov
What it means
Burke County, Questions
Questions about radon in Burke County
Are radon levels high in Burke County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 63.6% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Burke County, North Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 7.8 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Mountrail County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 66.7%, and Williams County the smallest, 33.8%, with Ward County at 43.0% between.
Which counties border Burke County?
Burke County borders 5 counties: Renville County, Mountrail County, Divide County, Williams County and Ward County.
Products
Burke County, Products
Testing a home in Burke County
No CDC figure names Burke County; the nearest county with one, Mountrail County (41 miles away), reported 66.7% 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. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Burke County is the one to know: a long-term test (more than 90 days) or a monitor, with a short-term kit for a first answer.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
MonitorAranet
Radon Plus battery digital radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- Alarm
- Screen, app
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
Short-term kit
RA100 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Burke County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Burke County
Explore
Burke County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Burke County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Renville CountyEPA zone 1
72.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.4 pCi/L · 11 tests
- Radon levels in Mountrail CountyEPA zone 1
66.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.3 pCi/L · 48 tests
- Radon levels in Divide CountyEPA zone 1
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.6 pCi/L · 14 tests
- Radon levels in Ward CountyEPA zone 1
43.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.3 pCi/L · 446 tests
- Radon levels in Williams CountyEPA zone 1
33.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.9 pCi/L · 204 tests
Burke County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Burke County
About 2,132 people live in Burke County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 59 fewer than in 2020 (−2.7%). Spread over its land, that is 1.9 people to the square mile. No town dominates: Powers Lake, the largest, has 372 residents, 17.4% of the total. Together its 6 incorporated places hold 51.4% of those residents; the other 48.6% live outside any of them. CDC's 25 reported tests for 2005 to 2014 work out to 11.7 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to North Dakota's 8.2.
From Powers Lake to Flaxton, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Burke County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powers Lake | 372 | −3.6% | 17.4% |
| Bowbells | 284 | −3.1% | 13.3% |
| Lignite | 131 | −3.7% | 6.1% |
| Columbus | 130 | −4.4% | 6.1% |
| Portal | 117 | −3.3% | 5.5% |
| Flaxton | 61 | −3.2% | 2.9% |
6 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).
Burke County, Homes
Homes in Burke County
Burke County is a place of houses on their own lots: 78% of its 1,403 homes are detached single-family houses, against 57% across North Dakota. The homes are older than North Dakota's as a whole: half were built before 1968 (1981 for North Dakota), and 39% date from before 1960. Owners live in 78% of the occupied homes (North Dakota: 63%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Burke County | North Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,403 | 374,866 |
| Detached houses | 78% | 57% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 7% | 25% |
| Mobile homes | 8% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 39% | 24% |
| Built since 2000 | 16% | 31% |
| Middle year built | 1968 | 1981 |
| Owner-occupied | 78% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.