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 Potter County, South Dakota
EPA puts Potter County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 1 radon test from it is 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
61.8%
Edmunds County
- Edmunds
- 61.8%
1 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
61.8%
Edmunds County, 44 miles
- Edmunds
- 61.8%
- SD
- 58.8%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 68 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
1.0 pts above SD
- Potter
- 100.0%
- SD
- 99.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
1
Too few for a share
- Potter
- 1
- 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 Potter 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
Potter County, At a glance
Potter County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Potter 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 Potter County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 1 reported test for Potter County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, a result of 1.2 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Potter County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 1 test was reported to CDC for Potter 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).
Potter County, Compared
Potter County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Potter County rests on 1 test over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 100.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 1.2 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.2 pCi/L.
Edmunds County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 61.8% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Hughes County (47 miles away) at 66.7%, Brown County (86 miles away) at 59.6% and Beadle County (94 miles away) at 63.0% 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 Potter 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.
Potter County, Geology
The ground under Potter County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Potter 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.
Potter County beside the ground around it
Potter 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; Edmunds County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Potter County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Potter 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
Potter County, Questions
Questions about radon in Potter County
Are radon levels high in Potter County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Potter County, South Dakota were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.2 pCi/L. Edmunds County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 61.8% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Potter County?
Potter County borders 6 counties: Walworth County, Sully County, Faulk County, Edmunds County, Dewey County and Hyde County.
Products
Potter County, Products
Testing a home in Potter County
No CDC figure names Potter County; the nearest county with one, Edmunds County (44 miles away), reported 61.8% 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 Potter 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
MonitorAranet
Radon One battery digital radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Bluetooth
- Alarm
- Screen, app
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
Short-term kitKidde
442020 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 3 days
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Potter County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Potter County
Explore
Potter County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Potter County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Sully CountyEPA zone 1
100.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.1 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Faulk CountyEPA zone 1
100.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 32.2 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Walworth CountyEPA zone 1
81.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 6.1 pCi/L · 16 tests
- Radon levels in Hyde CountyEPA zone 1
80.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.9 pCi/L · 5 tests
- Radon levels in Edmunds CountyEPA zone 1
61.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 5.0 pCi/L · 68 tests
- Radon levels in Dewey CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.6 pCi/L · 1 test
Potter County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Potter County
About 2,377 people live in Potter County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 95 fewer than in 2020 (−3.8%). Spread over its land, that is 2.8 people to the square mile. Its largest town, Gettysburg, has 1,049 residents, 44.1% of the total. Together its 4 incorporated places hold 62.0% of those residents; the other 38.0% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 1 test over 2008 to 2017, or 0.4 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where South Dakota as a whole comes to 6.7.
From Gettysburg to Lebanon, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Potter County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gettysburg | 1,049 | −4.9% | 44.1% |
| Hoven | 355 | −6.6% | 14.9% |
| Tolstoy | 38 | −2.6% | 1.6% |
| Lebanon | 32 | −3.0% | 1.3% |
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).
Potter County, Homes
Homes in Potter County
Of Potter County's 1,569 homes, 68% are detached houses, against 67% across South Dakota; 26% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1972, close to South Dakota's 1979: 32% date from before 1960 and 19% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 79% of the occupied homes (South Dakota: 69%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Potter County | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,569 | 402,364 |
| Detached houses | 68% | 67% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 3% | 16% |
| Mobile homes | 26% | 8% |
| Built before 1960 | 32% | 29% |
| Built since 2000 | 19% | 28% |
| Middle year built | 1972 | 1979 |
| Owner-occupied | 79% | 69% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.