Long-term kit
RL116 long-term radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Golden Valley County, North Dakota
EPA puts Golden Valley County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 7 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
56.1%
McKenzie County
- McKenzie
- 56.1%
1 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
62.4%
Stark County, 57 miles
- Stark
- 62.4%
- ND
- 59.3%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 386 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
100.0%
Level with ND
- Golden Valley
- 100.0%
- ND
- 100.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
19
Too few for a share
- Golden Valley
- 19
- 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 Golden Valley 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
Golden Valley County, At a glance
Golden Valley County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Golden Valley 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 Golden Valley County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 7 reported tests for Golden Valley County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 6.2 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Golden Valley County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 7 tests were reported to CDC for Golden Valley 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).
Golden Valley County, Compared
Golden Valley County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Golden Valley County rests on 19 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 6 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 6.3 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.7 pCi/L.
McKenzie County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 56.1% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Stark County (57 miles away) at 62.4%, Bowman County (59 miles away) at 71.4% and Dunn County (65 miles away) at 74.3% 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 Golden Valley 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.
Golden Valley County, Geology
The ground under Golden Valley County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Golden Valley County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Great Plains (Unglaciated), 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 (Unglaciated) | Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous sandstones, shales, and locally, coal-bearing units. | High | 13 | 99.9% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Golden Valley County beside the ground around it
On high-potential ground Golden Valley 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; Billings County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Golden Valley County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Golden Valley 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
Golden Valley County, Questions
Questions about radon in Golden Valley County
Are radon levels high in Golden Valley County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 71.4% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Golden Valley County, North Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 6.2 pCi/L. McKenzie County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 56.1% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Golden Valley County?
Golden Valley County borders 5 counties: Billings County, ND, Wibaux County, MT, Slope County, ND, Fallon County, MT and McKenzie County, ND.
Products
Golden Valley County, Products
Testing a home in Golden Valley County
No CDC figure names Golden Valley County; the nearest county with one, Stark County (57 miles away), reported 62.4% 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. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Golden Valley 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
MonitorForensics Detectors
FD-65-RADON rechargeable radon detector with a color screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Semiconductor sensor
First reading: Within 6 hours
Short-term kitempowerDX
Standard Radon Test short-term mail-in radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Passive sampler
In home: 48 to 96 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Golden Valley County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Golden Valley County
Explore
Golden Valley County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Golden Valley County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Billings County, NDEPA zone 1
85.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 11.0 pCi/L · 20 tests
- Radon levels in Slope County, NDEPA zone 1
70.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 10.3 pCi/L · 10 tests
- Radon levels in Fallon County, MTEPA zone 1
62.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.7 pCi/L · 8 tests
- Radon levels in McKenzie County, NDEPA zone 1
56.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.8 pCi/L · 41 tests
- Radon levels in Wibaux County, MTEPA zone 1
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.0 pCi/L · 4 tests
Golden Valley County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Golden Valley County
The Census Bureau estimates 1,808 residents in Golden Valley County for July 1, 2025, 83 more than in 2020 (+4.8%). Spread over its land, that is 1.8 people to the square mile. Beach alone is home to 994 of them, 55.0% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 63.7% of those residents; the other 36.3% live outside any of them. CDC's 19 reported tests for 2005 to 2014 work out to 10.5 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to North Dakota's 8.2.
From Beach to Sentinel Butte, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Golden Valley County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beach | 994 | +2.1% | 55.0% |
| Golva | 88 | +11.4% | 4.9% |
| Sentinel Butte | 69 | +7.8% | 3.8% |
3 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).
Golden Valley County, Homes
Homes in Golden Valley County
Golden Valley County is a place of houses on their own lots: 90% of its 906 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 1964 (1981 for North Dakota), and 47% date from before 1960. Owners live in 75% of the occupied homes (North Dakota: 63%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Golden Valley County | North Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 906 | 374,866 |
| Detached houses | 90% | 57% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 6% | 25% |
| Mobile homes | 2% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 47% | 24% |
| Built since 2000 | 11% | 31% |
| Middle year built | 1964 | 1981 |
| Owner-occupied | 75% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.