Short-term kit
Air Chek Short-Term radon test kit you hang, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
In home: 72 to 168 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Zapata County, Texas
EPA puts Zapata County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 2 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
Nearest county
0.0%
Nueces County, 108 miles
- Nueces
- 0.0%
- Texas
- 10.4%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 45 tests, 2007 to 2016
Ground above low
None
27.3 pts below Texas
- Zapata
- 0.0%
- Texas
- 27.3%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
2
Too few for a share
- Zapata
- 2
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, 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 Zapata 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
Zapata County, At a glance
Zapata 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 Zapata County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 2 reported tests for Zapata County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 0.1 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Zapata County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 2 tests were reported to CDC for Zapata 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).
Zapata County, Compared
Zapata County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Zapata County rests on 2 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 50.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 0.1 pCi/L, with a middle value of 0.1 pCi/L.
The nearest counties with a figure are Nueces County (108 miles away) at 0.0%, Bexar County (173 miles away) at 6.6% and Travis County (245 miles away) at 9.3%. 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 Zapata 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.
Zapata County, Geology
The ground under Zapata County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Zapata County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls South Texas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Texas Plain | Cretaceous through Quaternary marine sandstone, shale, chalk, limestone, siltstone, clay, and lignite. | Low | 7 | 99.9% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Zapata County beside the ground around it
Across Texas 0.5% of the land is rated high; none of Zapata County's is. None of the 3 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Zapata County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Zapata 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
Zapata County, Questions
Questions about radon in Zapata County
Are radon levels high in Zapata County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 0.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Zapata County, Texas were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 0.1 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 302 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 0.0% to 14.3%.
Which counties border Zapata County?
Zapata County borders 3 counties: Jim Hogg County, Starr County and Webb County.
Products
Zapata County, Products
Testing a home in Zapata County
No CDC figure names Zapata County; the nearest county with one, Nueces County (108 miles away), reported 0.0% 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 Zapata 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
MonitorX-Sense
XR0A-iR Wi-Fi battery radon detector with a screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Wi-Fi
- Screen, app
Method: Alpha spectrometry
First reading: Within 24 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Zapata County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Zapata County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Starr CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.2 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Webb CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.6 pCi/L · 6 tests
- Radon levels in Jim Hogg CountyEPA zone 3
No CDC figure for 2007 to 2016; its page reads it against its own neighbours.
Zapata County, Residents
Who lives in Zapata County
About 13,753 people live in Zapata County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 122 fewer than in 2020 (−0.9%). That works out to 14 people per square mile of land. CDC's 2 reported tests for 2008 to 2017 work out to 0.1 per 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), close to Texas' 0.1.
Census lists no incorporated place in Zapata County: every home in it reads the county's figures.
Residents: U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2025 (Vintage 2025).
Zapata County, Homes
Homes in Zapata County
Of Zapata County's 6,218 homes, 61% are detached houses, against 65% across Texas; 30% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1990, close to Texas' 1990: 9% date from before 1960 and 24% from 2000 or later. 75% 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 | Zapata County | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 6,218 | 11,890,808 |
| Detached houses | 61% | 65% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 3% | 21% |
| Mobile homes | 30% | 7% |
| Built before 1960 | 9% | 13% |
| Built since 2000 | 24% | 37% |
| Middle year built | 1990 | 1990 |
| Owner-occupied | 75% | 63% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.