Short-term kit
Radon Short Term Test Kit short-term charcoal radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 2 to 7 days
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Newport County, Rhode Island
EPA puts Newport County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 3 radon tests from it are on file with CDC (2018). Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Share at 4+ pCi/L
24.4%
0.6 pts above RI
- Newport
- 24.4%
- RI
- 23.8%
2,792 tests, 2008 to 2017
Median result
1.9pCi/L
Below action level
- Newport
- 1.9 pCi/L
- EPA
- 4.0 pCi/L
Midpoint of the tests, 2008 to 2017
Tests reported
2,792
4th of 5 by tests
- Newport
- 2,792
- Providence
- 17,655
Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Rank in RI
3 of 5
Middle half
- Newport
- 24.4%
- Washington
- 39.1%
By share, of 5 with 30+ tests
Read a result for Newport County
Starts at Newport County's median, 1.9 pCi/L
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 1.9 pCi/L
Below 2 pCi/L
- Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
- 2 to 4consider a fix
- 4 and aboveEPA says fix it
This result is below 2 pCi/L, the level at which EPA says a fix should be considered. Newport County's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.
The data
Newport County, At a glance
Newport County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Newport County is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 55% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Newport County, 2018
| Year | Share of reported tests at or above 4 pCi/L |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 21.9% |
| 2018 | 0.0% |
2018: 0.0%. Across these years the share ran from 0.0% to 21.9%. Each column counts radon tests reported to CDC that year, not homes.
What these figures count
Only 3 tests were reported to CDC for Newport County over 2018, 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: 2018. Measured data period: 2005 to 2018 (every CDC figure on file).
Newport County, Compared
Newport County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411Newport County's 2,792 reported tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals had a middle value of 1.9 pCi/L and a maximum of 197.4 pCi/L, and 24.4% reached 4 pCi/L. Rhode Island as a whole (5 Rhode Island counties, pooled) comes to 23.8%: 0.6 points lower than here.
The newest figure, in 2018, counts only 3 tests (0.0% at or above 4 pCi/L), too few to compare, so this reading uses the 2,792-test figure.
Among its state's counties it ranks 3rd of 5 Rhode Island counties with 30 or more tests for the same period. Statewide for the same period, Washington County reported the highest share (39.1%) and Bristol County the lowest (14.8%).
Below the action level, 1,417 tests (50.8%) came in under 2 pCi/L, against 50.6% statewide, and 693 tests (24.8%) fell between 2 and 4, against 25.7% statewide. The busiest year on file was 2014, with 83 tests reported; the quietest, 2018, had 3.
EPA's 1993 zone map puts Newport County in Zone 2, a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 55% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Bristol County, MA, the one bordering county with a figure for the same period, reported 23.2%.
CDC also counts 21 tests taken after mitigation in Newport County for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Newport County, Geology
The ground under Newport County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map splits Newport County: 55.1% of its land is moderate radon potential and 39.8% high. The map puts 42.2% of Newport County in the area it calls Narragansett Bay Group and 35.4% in Narragansett Bay Group, with 6 smaller areas beside them. USGS gives the first a radon index of 11, in the moderate band (9 to 11), and the second 15, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narragansett Bay Group | Sandstone, shale, and conglomerate with minor coal layers. Sandy till. | Moderate | 11 | 42.2% |
| Narragansett Bay Group | Granite and porphyritic granite. | High | 15 | 35.4% |
| Narragansett Bay Group | Sandstone, shale, and conglomerate with minor coal layers.Sandy till. | Moderate | 11 | 4.9% |
| Esmond-Dedham Subterrane | Mica schist. | Moderate | 11 | 4.9% |
| Conanicut Group | Phyllite, sandstone, siltstone, and volcaniclastic rocks. | High | 15 | 3.3% |
| Esmond Igneous Suite | Conglomerate, slate, siltstone, sanstone, ash-flow tuff, and tuff. | Moderate | 11 | 1.9% |
2 smaller areas are not listed. Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Newport County beside the ground around it
On high-potential ground Newport County is close to Rhode Island as a whole: 39.8% of its land against 43.2%. None of the one county that borders it has any high-potential ground.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Newport County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Newport County
- Radon Control ProgramRadon Control Program, run by Rhode Island Department of Health, licenses or certifies radon professionals, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Rhode Island.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsAsk the program whether it has free or discounted kits, or compare kits you can buy.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Rhode Island36 professionals are listed in Rhode Island.
What Rhode Island's program says
- Licensing of radon professionals
This page lists Radon Testing businesses that are licensed by the Rhode Island Department of Health.
What it means
Newport County, Questions
Questions about radon in Newport County
Are radon levels high in Newport County?
In 2018, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Newport County, Rhode Island were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.1 pCi/L. Of 5 Rhode Island counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, 2 reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 23.8%.
Which counties border Newport County?
Newport County borders 1 county: Bristol County, MA.
Products
Newport County, Products
Testing a home in Newport County
In Newport County, 24.4% of 2,792 tests reported to CDC over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals reached 4 pCi/L, against 23.8% pooled across Rhode Island. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Newport 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
MonitorX-Sense
XR0B-SR battery digital radon monitor with an alarm
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Alpha spectrometry
First reading: Within 24 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Newport County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Newport County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Bristol County, MAEPA zone 2
23.2%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.0 pCi/L · 13,358 tests · 1.2 points below Newport County
Newport County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Newport County
About 83,051 people live in Newport County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 2,447 fewer than in 2020 (−2.9%). That works out to 811 people per square mile of land. Newport, its one incorporated place, has 24,251 residents, 29.2% of the total. CDC's 2,792 reported tests for 2008 to 2017 work out to 33.6 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to Rhode Island's 34.0.
Newport is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Newport County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | 24,251 | −3.4% | 29.2% |
One incorporated place, 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).
Newport County, Homes
Homes in Newport County
Of Newport County's 43,554 homes, 62% are detached houses, against 55% across Rhode Island; 12% are in buildings of five or more homes. Half of its homes were built before 1963, close to Rhode Island's 1961: 47% date from before 1960 and 12% from 2000 or later. 67% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Rhode Island: 63%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Newport County | Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 43,554 | 484,615 |
| Detached houses | 62% | 55% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 12% | 17% |
| Mobile homes | 2% | 1% |
| Built before 1960 | 47% | 49% |
| Built since 2000 | 12% | 10% |
| Middle year built | 1963 | 1961 |
| Owner-occupied | 67% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.