Short-term kitFirst Alert
RD1 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 2 to 4 days
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Wheeler County, Oregon
EPA puts Wheeler County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 4 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2021). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Highest bordering
10.0%
Wasco County
- Wasco
- 10.0%
1 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2016
Nearest county
10.0%
Wasco County, 63 miles
- Wasco
- 10.0%
- Oregon
- 21.5%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 30 tests, 2016
Ground above low
100.0%
37.7 pts above Oregon
- Wheeler
- 100.0%
- Oregon
- 62.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
4
Too few for a share
- Wheeler
- 4
- Needed
- 30
2021
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Wheeler 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
Wheeler County, At a glance
Wheeler County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Wheeler County is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Wheeler County, 2021
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 100.0% |
| 2018 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.0% |
2021: 0.0%. Across these years the share ran from 0.0% to 100.0%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
Only 4 tests were reported to CDC for Wheeler County over 2021, 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: 2021. Measured data period: 2005 to 2021 (every CDC figure on file).
Wheeler County, Compared
Wheeler County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Wheeler County rests on 4 tests in 2021, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 25.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 0.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 0.8 pCi/L.
Wasco County, the one bordering county with a figure in 2016, reported 10.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Deschutes County (82 miles away) at 6.7%, Hood River County (96 miles away) at 20.8% and Union County (107 miles away) at 39.1% have figures too. Pooled across 35 Oregon counties, 21.5% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 31.2%.
Statewide for the same period, Union County reported the highest share (39.1%) and Deschutes County the lowest (6.7%). EPA's 1993 map puts Wheeler County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Wheeler County, Geology
The ground under Wheeler County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Wheeler County's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. 95.9% of it lies in the area the map calls Blue Mountains, to which USGS gives a radon index of 9, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountains | Tertiary basalt and andesite, tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, and tuff. | Moderate | 9 | 95.9% |
| Deschutes Umatilla Plateau | Tertiary basalt, basaltic breccia, tuffaceous sedimentary rocks and tuff. Elevated uranium in soils. | Moderate | 9 | 4.1% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Wheeler County beside the ground around it
Wheeler County has more moderate-potential ground than Oregon as a whole: 100% of its land against 62.3%. Of the 6 counties that border it, none has as large a share of moderate-potential ground; Morrow County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Wheeler County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Wheeler County
- Oregon Radon Awareness ProgramOregon Radon Awareness Program, run by Oregon Health Authority, offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Oregon.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
Oregon Radon Awareness Program provides a FREE short-term radon test kit to those living in areas of Oregon where little radon testing has been done.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Oregon38 professionals are listed in Oregon.
What Oregon's program says
- Radon.program@dhsoha.state.or.us
What it means
Wheeler County, Questions
Questions about radon in Wheeler County
Are radon levels high in Wheeler County?
In 2021, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Wheeler County, Oregon were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 0.8 pCi/L. Wasco County, the one bordering county with a figure in 2016, reported 10.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Wheeler County?
Wheeler County borders 6 counties: Crook County, Grant County, Jefferson County, Morrow County, Gilliam County and Wasco County.
Products
Wheeler County, Products
Testing a home in Wheeler County
No CDC figure names Wheeler County; the nearest county with one, Wasco County (63 miles away), reported 10.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L in 2016, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Wheeler County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
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
MonitorPYZYCKYH
RD17 plug-in radon detector with a rechargeable battery and color screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Semiconductor sensor
First reading: Within 6 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Wheeler County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Wheeler County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Wasco CountyEPA zone 2
10.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.8 pCi/L · 30 tests
- Radon levels in Crook CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.8 pCi/L · 6 tests
- Radon levels in Grant CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.2 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Jefferson CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.0 pCi/L · 5 tests
- Radon levels in Morrow CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.9 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Gilliam CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.4 pCi/L · 1 test
Wheeler County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Wheeler County
The Census Bureau estimates 1,472 residents in Wheeler County for July 1, 2025, 12 more than in 2020 (+0.8%). Spread over its land, that is 0.9 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Fossil, has 456 residents, 31.0% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 50.4% of those residents; the other 49.6% live outside any of them. Testing is reported here more often than across the state: CDC's 4 reported tests for 2021 come to 2.7 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), against 1.0 for Oregon.
From Fossil to Spray, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Wheeler County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fossil | 456 | +0.4% | 31.0% |
| Mitchell | 144 | +0.7% | 9.8% |
| Spray | 142 | Level | 9.6% |
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).
Wheeler County, Homes
Homes in Wheeler County
Wheeler County is a place of houses on their own lots: 82% of its 905 homes are detached single-family houses, against 63% across Oregon. Half of its homes were built before 1975, close to Oregon's 1980: 42% date from before 1960 and 17% from 2000 or later. 69% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Oregon: 63%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Wheeler County | Oregon |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 905 | 1,838,631 |
| Detached houses | 82% | 63% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 1% | 17% |
| Mobile homes | 17% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 42% | 23% |
| Built since 2000 | 17% | 24% |
| Middle year built | 1975 | 1980 |
| Owner-occupied | 69% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.