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 Howard County, Texas
EPA puts Howard County in Zone 3, its lowest 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
Nearest county
1.0%
Midland County, 46 miles
- Midland
- 1.0%
- Texas
- 10.4%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 100 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
44.1%
16.8 pts above Texas
- Howard
- 44.1%
- Texas
- 27.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
5
Too few for a share
- Howard
- 5
- Needed
- 30
2006 to 2015, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 3
Lower potential
- 1
- 2
- Zone 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Howard 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
Howard County, At a glance
Howard County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 56% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Howard County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 1 reported test for Howard County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, a result of 1.5 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Howard County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 1 test was reported to CDC for Howard 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).
Howard County, Compared
Howard County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Howard County rests on 5 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 20.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 1.5 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.0 pCi/L.
The nearest counties with a figure are Midland County (46 miles away) at 1.0%, Lubbock County (93 miles away) at 57.8% and Randall County (185 miles away) at 71.4%. Pooled across 140 Texas counties, 10.4% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.8%.
Statewide for the same period, Randall County reported the highest share (71.4%) and Nueces County the lowest (0.0%). EPA's 1993 map puts Howard County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 56% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Howard County, Geology
The ground under Howard County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map splits Howard County: 55.9% of its land is low radon potential and 44.1% moderate. The map puts 55.9% of Howard County in the area it calls Southern High Plains and Plateaus and 44.1% in Northern High Plains and Plateaus. USGS gives the first a radon index of 7, in the low band (5 to 8), and the second 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern High Plains and Plateaus | Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstone, limestone, shale. | Low | 7 | 55.9% |
| Northern High Plains and Plateaus | Tertiary sandstone, siltstone, shale. | Moderate | 10 | 44.1% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Howard County beside the ground around it
Across Texas 0.5% of the land is rated high; none of Howard County's is. Of the 6 counties that border it, 4 have more moderate-potential ground, Borden County the most at 99.0%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Howard County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Howard County
- Texas Radon GroupTexas Radon Group, run by Texas Tech University, does not license radon professionals and offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in Texas.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
The Texas Radon Group offers free radon test kits for Texas individuals who qualify.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Texas7 professionals are listed in Texas.
What Texas's program says
- Licensing of radon professionals
There are no radon certification requirements for the State of Texas at this time, but the National Radon Proficiency Program lists radon testers and mitigators within Texas that have passed a rigorous national certification program.
What it means
Howard County, Questions
Questions about radon in Howard County
Are radon levels high in Howard County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Howard County, Texas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.5 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 254 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 1.0% to 71.4%.
Which counties border Howard County?
Howard County borders 6 counties: Mitchell County, Martin County, Borden County, Glasscock County, Sterling County and Dawson County.
Products
Howard County, Products
Testing a home in Howard County
No CDC figure names Howard County; the nearest county with one, Midland County (46 miles away), reported 1.0% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. Zone 3 is the lowest label, yet homes at or above 4 pCi/L occur in every zone: a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Howard County.
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
Monitor
Corentium Home battery digital radon detector
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Battery
- Screen
Method: Alpha spectrometry
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Howard County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Howard County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Dawson CountyEPA zone 3
25.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.0 pCi/L · 4 tests
- Radon levels in Mitchell CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Martin CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Borden CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Glasscock CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
- Radon levels in Sterling CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Howard County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Howard County
Howard County has been losing residents: from 34,811 in 2020 to 30,504 on July 1, 2025, a fall of 12.4% by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 34 people per square mile of land. Big Spring alone is home to 22,290 of them, 73.1% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 76.8% of those residents; the other 23.2% live outside any of them. CDC's 5 reported tests for 2006 to 2015 work out to 0.2 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to Texas' 0.1.
From Big Spring to Forsan, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Howard County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring | 22,290 | −15.2% | 73.1% |
| Coahoma | 938 | Level | 3.1% |
| Forsan | 207 | −4.2% | 0.7% |
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).
Howard County, Homes
Homes in Howard County
Of Howard County's 13,999 homes, 75% are detached houses, against 65% across Texas; 11% are in buildings of five or more homes. The homes are older than Texas' as a whole: half were built before 1967 (1990 for Texas), and 37% date from before 1960. 69% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Texas: 63%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.
| Homes | Howard County | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 13,999 | 11,890,808 |
| Detached houses | 75% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 11% | 21% |
| Mobile homes | 9% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 37% | 13% |
| Built since 2000 | 13% | 37% |
| Middle year built | 1967 | 1990 |
| Owner-occupied | 69% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.