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 Steele County, North Dakota
EPA puts Steele County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 1 radon test from it is 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
75.9%
Grand Forks County
- Grand Forks
- 75.9%
- Traill
- 51.4%
4 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
51.4%
Traill County, 26 miles
- Traill
- 51.4%
- ND
- 59.3%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 37 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
100.0%
Level with ND
- Steele
- 100.0%
- ND
- 100.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
2
Too few for a share
- Steele
- 2
- Needed
- 30
2007 to 2016, 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 Steele 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
Steele County, At a glance
Steele County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Steele 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 Steele County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 1 reported test for Steele County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, a result of 2.0 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Steele County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 1 test was reported to CDC for Steele 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).
Steele County, Compared
Steele County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Steele County rests on 2 tests over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 50.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 2.0 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.4 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Grand Forks County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 75.9%, and Traill County the smallest, 51.4%, with Barnes County at 67.5% and Cass County at 57.5% between. Farther out, Foster County (54 miles away) at 61.3%, Walsh County (63 miles away) at 79.5% and Stutsman County (67 miles away) at 73.5% 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 Steele 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.
Steele County, Geology
The ground under Steele County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Steele County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. The map puts 77.1% of Steele County in the area it calls Great Plains (Glaciated) and 22.9% in Glacial Lakes. USGS gives the first a radon index of 13 and the second 14, both 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 | 77.1% |
| Glacial Lakes | Silt and clay deposits of Glacial Lake Agassiz derived from Cretaceous shales containing higher than average amounts of uranium. | High | 14 | 22.9% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Steele County beside the ground around it
On high-potential ground Steele County is close to North Dakota as a whole: 100% of its land against 98.9%. Of the 6 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Barnes County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Steele County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Steele 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
Steele County, Questions
Questions about radon in Steele County
Are radon levels high in Steele County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Steele County, North Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.0 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 4 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Grand Forks County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 75.9%, and Traill County the smallest, 51.4%, with Barnes County at 67.5% and Cass County at 57.5% between.
Which counties border Steele County?
Steele County borders 6 counties: Griggs County, Traill County, Grand Forks County, Nelson County, Cass County and Barnes County.
Products
Steele County, Products
Testing a home in Steele County
No CDC figure names Steele County; the nearest county with one, Traill County (26 miles away), reported 51.4% 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 Steele 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
MonitorAEGTEST
HOUND-3699 radon monitor with a 2.1-inch touchscreen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
First reading: Within 1 hour
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
Steele County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Steele County
Explore
Steele County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Steele County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Grand Forks CountyEPA zone 1
75.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 8.8 pCi/L · 680 tests
- Radon levels in Barnes CountyEPA zone 1
67.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.6 pCi/L · 83 tests
- Radon levels in Nelson CountyEPA zone 1
63.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.7 pCi/L · 19 tests
- Radon levels in Cass CountyEPA zone 1
57.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.7 pCi/L · 862 tests
- Radon levels in Griggs CountyEPA zone 1
54.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.0 pCi/L · 11 tests
- Radon levels in Traill CountyEPA zone 1
51.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.1 pCi/L · 37 tests
Steele County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Steele County
Steele County's population has barely moved since 2020: 1,797 residents on July 1, 2025 against 1,798 then, by the Census Bureau's estimates. Spread over its land, that is 2.5 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Finley, has 392 residents, 21.8% of the total. Together its 4 incorporated places hold 43.7% of those residents; the other 56.3% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 2 tests over 2007 to 2016, or 1.1 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where North Dakota as a whole comes to 8.4.
From Finley to Luverne, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Steele County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finley | 392 | −2.0% | 21.8% |
| Hope | 278 | +2.2% | 15.5% |
| Sharon | 89 | −3.3% | 5.0% |
| Luverne | 27 | Level | 1.5% |
4 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).
Steele County, Homes
Homes in Steele County
Steele County is a place of houses on their own lots: 81% of its 1,120 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 43% 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 | Steele County | North Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,120 | 374,866 |
| Detached houses | 81% | 57% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 5% | 25% |
| Mobile homes | 11% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 43% | 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.