Skip to content
RADON411

Locations and reports

Radon Levels in Buena Vista city, Virginia

EPA puts Buena Vista city in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 7 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

How to test this homeFind a certified tester

  • Highest bordering

    50.9%

    Rockbridge County

    Rockbridge
    50.9%

    1 of 1 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Nearest county

    50.9%

    Rockbridge County, 8 miles

    Rockbridge
    50.9%
    Virginia
    30.7%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 112 tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Ground above low

    100.0%

    22.1 pts above Virginia

    Buena Vista city
    100.0%
    Virginia
    77.9%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    9

    Too few for a share

    Buena Vista city
    9
    Needed
    30

    2006 to 2015, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 1

    Highest potential

    1. Zone 1
    2. 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Buena Vista city

Starts at EPA's action level

4.0pCi/L

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

  1. Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
  2. 2 to 4consider a fix
  3. 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.

Interpret this readingWhat a fix costs

The data

Buena Vista city, At a glance

Buena Vista city at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential

EPA puts all of Buena Vista city in and predicts an average indoor of greater than 4 pCi/L (greater than 150 Bq/m³) across the county. That is one forecast for the whole county, not a reading of any address in it; homes above EPA's turn up in all three zones.

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 Buena Vista city, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 7 reported tests for Buena Vista city over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 10.4 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Buena Vista city beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 7 tests were reported to CDC for Buena Vista city 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).

How to read these figures

Buena Vista city, Compared

Buena Vista city radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Buena Vista city rests on 9 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 6 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 11.1 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 22.7 pCi/L, with a middle value of 8.5 pCi/L.

Rockbridge County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 50.9% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Amherst County (15 miles away) at 33.8%, Lynchburg city (25 miles away) at 28.0% and Nelson County (26 miles away) at 29.8% have figures too. Pooled across 132 Virginia counties, 30.7% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 36.3%.

Statewide for the same period, Russell County reported the highest share (68.5%) and Norfolk city the lowest (5.3%). EPA's 1993 map puts Buena Vista city 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.

Virginia, the United States and the counties around Buena Vista city, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Virginia, pooled132 counties, pooled44,81730.7%Not pooled
United States, pooled2,669 counties, pooled1,805,52836.3%Not pooled
Russell Countyhighest in the state5468.5%6.7 pCi/L
Norfolk citylowest in the state575.3%0.7 pCi/L
Rockbridge County, VAborders it11250.9%4.3 pCi/L
The nearest Virginia counties to Buena Vista city with 30 or more tests, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Rockbridge County8 mi11250.9%4.3 pCi/L
Amherst County15 mi19833.8%2.8 pCi/L
Lynchburg city25 mi52928.0%2.3 pCi/L
Nelson County26 mi9429.8%2.6 pCi/L
Botetourt County28 mi63540.2%3.2 pCi/L
Bedford County30 mi61021.6%2.0 pCi/L
Augusta County32 mi60649.5%3.9 pCi/L
Staunton city34 mi31754.3%4.4 pCi/L
Buena Vista city ten-year laboratory totals, against Virginia's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestVirginia, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 2017785.7%10.4 pCi/L22.7 pCi/L30.4%−1.8 points
2007 to 2016887.5%10.3 pCi/L22.7 pCi/L30.6%+20.8 points
2006 to 2015966.7%8.5 pCi/L22.7 pCi/L30.7%+4.2 points
2005 to 2014862.5%9.3 pCi/L22.7 pCi/L30.3%First on file

Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.

Buena Vista city, Geology

The ground under Buena Vista city

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Buena Vista city's mapped land in one class: high radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Valley and Ridge, to which USGS gives a radon index of 15, in the high band (12 to 17).

USGS's geologic areas under Buena Vista city
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Valley and RidgeCambrian dolomite, limestone, shale, and sandstone, Silurian-Ordovician limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone, Mississippian-Devonian sandstone, shale, limestone, gypsum, and coal.High15100%

Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.

Buena Vista city beside the ground around it

Buena Vista city has more high-potential ground than Virginia as a whole: 100% of its land against 47.9%. Of the one county that borders it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Rockbridge County comes nearest at 93.8%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Buena Vista city, the county bordering it and Virginia
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Buena Vista cityZone 1NoneNone100%
Rockbridge CountyZone 1None6.2%93.8%
Virginia133 counties, pooled by land areaVaries20.6%30.0%47.9%

The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.

Local help

Buena Vista city, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Buena Vista city

What Virginia's program says
Phone
(804) 864-8161
Email
Radon@vdh.virginia.gov
Licensing of radon professionals
The Code of Virginia requires that Radon testers and mitigators be currently certified by either the National Radon Proficiency Program (NRPP) or the National Radon Safety Board (NRSB).

What it means

Buena Vista city, Questions

Questions about radon in Buena Vista city

Are radon levels high in Buena Vista city?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 85.7% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Buena Vista city, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 10.4 pCi/L. Rockbridge County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 50.9% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.

Which counties border Buena Vista city?

Buena Vista city borders 1 county: Rockbridge County.

Products

Buena Vista city, Products

Testing a home in Buena Vista city

No CDC figure names Buena Vista city; the nearest county with one, Rockbridge County (8 miles away), reported 50.9% 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 Buena Vista city 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

Buena Vista city is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Buena Vista city

Explore

Buena Vista city, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Buena Vista city

Calculated by Radon411

Buena Vista city, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Buena Vista city

The Census Bureau estimates 6,672 residents in Buena Vista city for July 1, 2025, 56 more than in 2020 (+0.8%). Packed into its land, that is 1,036 people per square mile. Buena Vista, its one incorporated place, has 6,672 residents, 100.0% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 9 tests over 2006 to 2015, or 1.3 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 5.0.

Buena Vista is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Buena Vista city's.

Buena Vista, Buena Vista city: residents on July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Buena Vista6,672+0.8%100.0%

One incorporated place, 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).

Buena Vista city, Homes

Homes in Buena Vista city

Buena Vista city is a place of houses on their own lots: 86% of its 2,944 homes are detached single-family houses, against 61% across Virginia. The homes are older than Virginia's as a whole: half were built before 1972 (1984 for Virginia), and 36% date from before 1960. 57% of occupied homes are lived in by their owner (Virginia: 67%); in the rest a tenant can run a test, but a fix is the landlord's to make.

Homes in Buena Vista city, Virginia, 2019 to 2023
HomesBuena Vista cityVirginia
Housing units2,9443,654,784
Detached houses86%61%
In buildings of 5 or more5%19%
Mobile homes5%4%
Built before 196036%19%
Built since 200012%25%
Middle year built19721984
Owner-occupied57%67%

Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.