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 Aurora County, South Dakota
EPA puts Aurora County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 15 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
62.5%
Brule County
- Brule
- 62.5%
- Davison
- 47.9%
2 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
47.9%
Davison County, 21 miles
- Davison
- 47.9%
- SD
- 58.8%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 71 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
1.0 pts above SD
- Aurora
- 100.0%
- SD
- 99.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
15
Too few for a share
- Aurora
- 15
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, 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 Aurora 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
Aurora County, At a glance
Aurora County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Aurora 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 Aurora County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 15 reported tests for Aurora County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 2.7 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Aurora County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 15 tests were reported to CDC for Aurora 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).
Aurora County, Compared
Aurora County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Aurora County rests on 15 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 6 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 6.7 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 16.8 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.7 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Brule County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 62.5%, and Davison County the smallest, 47.9%. Farther out, Beadle County (50 miles away) at 63.0%, Bon Homme County (61 miles away) at 79.5% and Kingsbury County (70 miles away) at 68.8% have figures too. Pooled across 63 South Dakota counties, 58.8% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 36.3%.
Statewide for the same period, Bon Homme County reported the highest share (79.5%) and Davison County the lowest (47.9%). EPA's 1993 map puts Aurora 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.
Aurora County, Geology
The ground under Aurora County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Aurora County's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Missouri Coteau/James River Lowland/Coteau des Prairies, to which USGS gives a radon index of 14, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Coteau/James River Lowland/Coteau des Prairies | Glacial drift derived largely from Cretaceous marine shale. | High | 14 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Aurora County beside the ground around it
Aurora County has more high-potential ground than South Dakota as a whole: 100% of its land against 56.7%. Of the 6 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Brule County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Aurora County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Aurora County
- South Dakota's radon programDepartment of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesSouth Dakota's radon program offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in South Dakota.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) will provide 500 free Radon test kits to South Dakota Residents.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in South Dakota5 professionals are listed in South Dakota.
What South Dakota's program says
- Phone
- 1-800-438-3367
What it means
Aurora County, Questions
Questions about radon in Aurora County
Are radon levels high in Aurora County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 40.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Aurora County, South Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.7 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Brule County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 62.5%, and Davison County the smallest, 47.9%.
Which counties border Aurora County?
Aurora County borders 6 counties: Davison County, Jerauld County, Brule County, Douglas County, Sanborn County and Charles Mix County.
Products
Aurora County, Products
Testing a home in Aurora County
No CDC figure names Aurora County; the nearest county with one, Davison County (21 miles away), reported 47.9% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Aurora 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
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
Short-term kit
RA400 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
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
Aurora County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Aurora County
Explore
Aurora County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Aurora County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Jerauld CountyEPA zone 1
72.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 8.2 pCi/L · 22 tests
- Radon levels in Sanborn CountyEPA zone 1
66.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.8 pCi/L · 3 tests
- Radon levels in Charles Mix CountyEPA zone 1
63.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.1 pCi/L · 11 tests
- Radon levels in Brule CountyEPA zone 1
62.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.3 pCi/L · 32 tests
- Radon levels in Davison CountyEPA zone 1
47.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.7 pCi/L · 71 tests
- Radon levels in Douglas CountyEPA zone 1
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.3 pCi/L · 3 tests
Aurora County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Aurora County
The Census Bureau estimates 2,801 residents in Aurora County for July 1, 2025, 71 more than in 2020 (+2.6%). Spread over its land, that is 4.0 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Plankinton, has 777 residents, 27.7% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 53.8% of those residents; the other 46.2% live outside any of them. CDC's 15 reported tests for 2008 to 2017 work out to 5.4 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to South Dakota's 6.7.
From Plankinton to Stickney, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Aurora County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plankinton | 777 | +1.7% | 27.7% |
| White Lake | 410 | +3.3% | 14.6% |
| Stickney | 319 | Level | 11.4% |
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).
Aurora County, Homes
Homes in Aurora County
Aurora County is a place of houses on their own lots: 86% of its 1,227 homes are detached single-family houses, against 67% across South Dakota. The homes are older than South Dakota's as a whole: half were built before 1959 (1979 for South Dakota), and 51% date from before 1960. Owners live in 76% of the occupied homes (South Dakota: 69%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Aurora County | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,227 | 402,364 |
| Detached houses | 86% | 67% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 4% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 7% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 51% | 29% |
| Built since 2000 | 17% | 28% |
| Middle year built | 1959 | 1979 |
| Owner-occupied | 76% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.