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 Wharton County, Texas
EPA puts Wharton County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 9 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
6.3%
Brazoria County
- Brazoria
- 6.3%
- Fort Bend
- 3.4%
2 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2007 to 2016
Nearest county
3.4%
Fort Bend County, 32 miles
- Fort Bend
- 3.4%
- Texas
- 10.4%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 117 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
None
27.3 pts below Texas
- Wharton
- 0.0%
- Texas
- 27.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
10
Too few for a share
- Wharton
- 10
- Needed
- 30
2005 to 2014, 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 Wharton 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
Wharton County, At a glance
Wharton County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Wharton County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 9 reported tests for Wharton County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 0.5 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Wharton County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 9 tests were reported to CDC for Wharton 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).
Wharton County, Compared
Wharton County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Wharton County rests on 10 tests over the 2005 to 2014 laboratory totals, 0 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 1.9 pCi/L, with a middle value of 0.5 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Brazoria County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 6.3%, and Fort Bend County the smallest, 3.4%. Farther out, Harris County (64 miles away) at 3.1%, Galveston County (76 miles away) at 0.0% and Montgomery County (83 miles away) at 7.1% have figures too. 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 Wharton County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Wharton County, Geology
The ground under Wharton County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Wharton County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Coastal Plain, to which USGS gives a radon index of 7, in the low band (5 to 8).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Plain | Cretaceous through Quaternary marine sandstone, shale, chalk, limestone, siltstone, clay, and lignite. | Low | 7 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Wharton County beside the ground around it
Across Texas 0.5% of the land is rated high; none of Wharton County's is. None of the 6 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Wharton County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Wharton 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
Wharton County, Questions
Questions about radon in Wharton County
Are radon levels high in Wharton County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Wharton County, Texas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 0.5 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals: Brazoria County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 6.3%, and Fort Bend County the smallest, 3.4%.
Which counties border Wharton County?
Wharton County borders 6 counties: Colorado County, Jackson County, Fort Bend County, Matagorda County, Austin County and Brazoria County.
Products
Wharton County, Products
Testing a home in Wharton County
No CDC figure names Wharton County; the nearest county with one, Fort Bend County (32 miles away), reported 3.4% 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 Wharton 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
MonitorINKBIRD
INK-RD3 battery radon monitor with an e-ink screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Screen
First reading: Within 24 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Wharton County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Wharton County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Matagorda CountyEPA zone 3
33.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 6 tests
- Radon levels in Brazoria CountyEPA zone 3
6.3%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.3 pCi/L · 32 tests
- Radon levels in Fort Bend CountyEPA zone 3
3.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.2 pCi/L · 117 tests
- Radon levels in Colorado CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.5 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Jackson CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Austin CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 2 tests
Wharton County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Wharton County
The Census Bureau estimates 42,060 residents in Wharton County for July 1, 2025, 479 more than in 2020 (+1.2%). That works out to 39 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, El Campo, has 12,142 residents, 28.9% of the total. Together its 3 incorporated places hold 55.1% of those residents; the other 44.9% live outside any of them. Testing is reported here more often than across the state: CDC's 10 reported tests for 2005 to 2014 come to 0.2 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), against 0.1 for Texas.
From El Campo to East Bernard, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Wharton County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Campo | 12,142 | −1.5% | 28.9% |
| Wharton | 8,776 | +1.5% | 20.9% |
| East Bernard | 2,256 | +1.5% | 5.4% |
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).
Wharton County, Homes
Homes in Wharton County
Of Wharton County's 17,546 homes, 75% are detached houses, against 65% across Texas; 12% are mobile homes. The homes are older than Texas' as a whole: half were built before 1978 (1990 for Texas), and 27% date from before 1960. 71% 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 | Wharton County | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 17,546 | 11,890,808 |
| Detached houses | 75% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 8% | 21% |
| Mobile homes | 12% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 27% | 13% |
| Built since 2000 | 21% | 37% |
| Middle year built | 1978 | 1990 |
| Owner-occupied | 71% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.