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
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Miner County, South Dakota
EPA puts Miner County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 4 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
73.7%
Lake County
- Lake
- 73.7%
- Kingsbury
- 68.8%
2 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
73.7%
Lake County, 24 miles
- Lake
- 73.7%
- SD
- 58.8%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 38 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
1.0 pts above SD
- Miner
- 100.0%
- SD
- 99.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
10
Too few for a share
- Miner
- 10
- Needed
- 30
2006 to 2015, 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 Miner 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
Miner County, At a glance
Miner County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Miner 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 Miner County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 4 reported tests for Miner County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 3.9 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Miner County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 4 tests were reported to CDC for Miner 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).
Miner County, Compared
Miner County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Miner County rests on 10 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 8 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 10.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 127.3 pCi/L, with a middle value of 10.0 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Lake County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 73.7%, and Kingsbury County the smallest, 68.8%. Farther out, Davison County (36 miles away) at 47.9%, Beadle County (43 miles away) at 63.0% and Brookings County (47 miles away) at 67.4% 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 Miner 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.
Miner County, Geology
The ground under Miner County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Miner 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.
Miner County beside the ground around it
Miner County has more high-potential ground than South Dakota as a whole: 100% of its land against 56.7%. Of the 5 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Hanson County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Miner County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Miner 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
Miner County, Questions
Questions about radon in Miner County
Are radon levels high in Miner County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 50.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Miner County, South Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.9 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Lake County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 73.7%, and Kingsbury County the smallest, 68.8%.
Which counties border Miner County?
Miner County borders 5 counties: Lake County, Sanborn County, Kingsbury County, Hanson County and McCook County.
Products
Miner County, Products
Testing a home in Miner County
No CDC figure names Miner County; the nearest county with one, Lake County (24 miles away), reported 73.7% 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 Miner 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
XR0A-SR battery digital radon detector with a screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Screen
Method: Alpha spectrometry
First reading: Within 24 hours
Short-term kit
RA100 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
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
Miner County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Miner County
Explore
Miner County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Miner County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Lake CountyEPA zone 1
73.7%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 8.3 pCi/L · 38 tests
- Radon levels in Kingsbury CountyEPA zone 1
68.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 8.4 pCi/L · 32 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 McCook CountyEPA zone 1
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.3 pCi/L · 18 tests
- Radon levels in Hanson CountyEPA zone 1
20.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.8 pCi/L · 5 tests
Miner County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Miner County
About 2,281 people live in Miner County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 19 fewer than in 2020 (−0.8%). Spread over its land, that is 4.0 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Howard, has 838 residents, 36.7% of the total. Together its 4 incorporated places hold 47.3% of those residents; the other 52.7% live outside any of them. CDC's 10 reported tests for 2006 to 2015 work out to 4.4 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to South Dakota's 5.2.
From Howard to Vilas, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Miner County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howard | 838 | −2.2% | 36.7% |
| Carthage | 127 | −3.1% | 5.6% |
| Canova | 92 | Level | 4.0% |
| Vilas | 23 | −4.2% | 1.0% |
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).
Miner County, Homes
Homes in Miner County
Miner County is a place of houses on their own lots: 91% of its 1,210 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 1954 (1979 for South Dakota), and 53% date from before 1960. Owners live in 82% of the occupied homes (South Dakota: 69%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Miner County | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,210 | 402,364 |
| Detached houses | 91% | 67% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 5% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 2% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 53% | 29% |
| Built since 2000 | 12% | 28% |
| Middle year built | 1954 | 1979 |
| Owner-occupied | 82% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.