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
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Butte County, South Dakota
EPA puts Butte County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 24 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
60.5%
Lawrence County
- Lawrence
- 60.5%
- Meade
- 54.5%
3 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
60.5%
Lawrence County, 40 miles
- Lawrence
- 60.5%
- SD
- 58.8%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 124 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
1.0 pts above SD
- Butte
- 100.0%
- SD
- 99.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
24
Too few for a share
- Butte
- 24
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, laboratory
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 Butte 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
Butte County, At a glance
Butte County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Butte County is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 82% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Butte County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 24 reported tests for Butte County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 5.4 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Butte County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 24 tests were reported to CDC for Butte 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).
Butte County, Compared
Butte County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Butte County rests on 24 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 14 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 4.2 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 23.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 5.4 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Lawrence County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 60.5%, and Meade County the smallest, 54.5%, with Crook County, WY at 57.1% between. Farther out, Pennington County (71 miles away) at 51.8%, Custer County (85 miles away) at 68.3% and Hughes County (177 miles away) at 66.7% 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 Butte County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 82% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Butte County, Geology
The ground under Butte County
PredictedMost of the ground under Butte County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 82.2% of its land is moderate radon potential, with 17.8% high. The map puts 80.8% of Butte County in the area it calls Pierre Hills and 17.8% in Black Hills, with one smaller area beside them. USGS gives the first a radon index of 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11), and the second 14, in the high band (12 to 17).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre Hills | Pierre Shale and Fox Hills sandstone. | Moderate | 10 | 80.8% |
| Black Hills | Sandstones and shales of Cretaceous age that surround the Black Hills. | High | 14 | 17.8% |
| Black Hills | Late Paleozoic sedimentary or Precambrian intrusive igneous rocks. | Moderate | 11 | 1.3% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Butte County beside the ground around it
South Dakota as a whole has more high-potential ground than Butte County: 56.7% of its land, against 17.8% here. Of the 6 counties that border it, 4 have more high-potential ground, Perkins County the most at 53.8%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Butte County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Butte 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
Butte County, Questions
Questions about radon in Butte County
Are radon levels high in Butte County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 58.3% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Butte County, South Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 5.4 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Lawrence County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 60.5%, and Meade County the smallest, 54.5%, with Crook County, WY at 57.1% between.
Which counties border Butte County?
Butte County borders 6 counties: Lawrence County, SD, Harding County, SD, Meade County, SD, Crook County, WY, Carter County, MT and Perkins County, SD.
Products
Butte County, Products
Testing a home in Butte County
No CDC figure names Butte County; the nearest county with one, Lawrence County (40 miles away), reported 60.5% 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 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Butte County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
Long-term kit
RL416 long-term radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Monitor
Wave Radon battery smart radon monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- App only
Method: Alpha spectrometry
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Butte County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Butte County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Harding County, SDEPA zone 2
100.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.9 pCi/L · 2 tests
- Radon levels in Perkins County, SDEPA zone 1
62.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 7.9 pCi/L · 16 tests
- Radon levels in Lawrence County, SDEPA zone 2
60.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.3 pCi/L · 124 tests
- Radon levels in Crook County, WYEPA zone 1
57.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.4 pCi/L · 42 tests
- Radon levels in Meade County, SDEPA zone 2
54.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.1 pCi/L · 112 tests
- Radon levels in Carter County, MTEPA zone 1
No CDC figure for 2006 to 2015; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Butte County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Butte County
Butte County is growing: the Census Bureau puts it at 10,856 residents on July 1, 2025, up 5.5% from 10,292 in 2020. Spread over its land, that is 4.8 people to the square mile. Belle Fourche alone is home to 5,791 of them, 53.3% of the total. Together its 4 incorporated places hold 61.2% of those residents; the other 38.8% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 24 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 2.2 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where South Dakota as a whole comes to 6.7.
From Belle Fourche to Fruitdale, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Butte County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Fourche | 5,791 | +2.5% | 53.3% |
| Newell | 570 | −1.4% | 5.3% |
| Nisland | 206 | Level | 1.9% |
| Fruitdale | 80 | +9.6% | 0.7% |
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).
Butte County, Homes
Homes in Butte County
Of Butte County's 4,737 homes, 61% are detached houses, against 67% across South Dakota; 26% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1981, close to South Dakota's 1979: 28% date from before 1960 and 26% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 80% of the occupied homes (South Dakota: 69%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Butte County | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 4,737 | 402,364 |
| Detached houses | 61% | 67% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 5% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 26% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 28% | 29% |
| Built since 2000 | 26% | 28% |
| Middle year built | 1981 | 1979 |
| Owner-occupied | 80% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.