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 Covington city, Virginia
EPA puts Covington city in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 5 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
44.4%
Alleghany County
- Alleghany
- 44.4%
1 of 1 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
44.4%
Alleghany County, 1 miles
- Alleghany
- 44.4%
- Virginia
- 30.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 54 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
22.1 pts above Virginia
- Covington city
- 100.0%
- Virginia
- 77.9%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
5
Too few for a share
- Covington city
- 5
- 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 Covington city
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
Covington city, At a glance
Covington city at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Covington city 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 Covington city, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 5 reported tests for Covington city over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 3.3 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Covington city beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 5 tests were reported to CDC for Covington 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).
Covington city, Compared
Covington city radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Covington city rests on 5 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 2 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 40.5 pCi/L, with a middle value of 3.3 pCi/L.
Alleghany County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 44.4% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Botetourt County (18 miles away) at 40.2%, Rockbridge County (30 miles away) at 50.9% and Salem city (34 miles away) at 28.6% 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 Covington 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.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Covington city, Geology
The ground under Covington city
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Covington 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).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley and Ridge | Cambrian dolomite, limestone, shale, and sandstone, Silurian-Ordovician limestone, dolomite, shale, and sandstone, Mississippian-Devonian sandstone, shale, limestone, gypsum, and coal. | High | 15 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Covington city beside the ground around it
Covington 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; Alleghany County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Covington city, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Covington city
- VDH Radon ProgramVDH Radon Program answers questions about testing, mitigation and the rules in Virginia.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsAsk the program whether it has free or discounted kits, or compare kits you can buy.
- Compare kits
- Professionals in Virginia2 professionals are listed in Virginia.
What Virginia's program says
- Phone
- (804) 864-8161
- 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
Covington city, Questions
Questions about radon in Covington city
Are radon levels high in Covington city?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 40.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Covington city, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.3 pCi/L. Alleghany County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 44.4% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Covington city?
Covington city borders 1 county: Alleghany County.
Products
Covington city, Products
Testing a home in Covington city
No CDC figure names Covington city; the nearest county with one, Alleghany County (1 miles away), reported 44.4% 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 Covington 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
Monitor
EcoQube Flex 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 15 minutes
Short-term kit
PicoCan short-term charcoal canister radon test
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 48 to 96 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Covington city is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Covington city
Explore
Covington city, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Covington city
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Alleghany CountyEPA zone 1
44.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.5 pCi/L · 54 tests
Covington city, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Covington city
About 5,680 people live in Covington city by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 67 fewer than in 2020 (−1.2%). Packed into its land, that is 1,039 people per square mile. Covington, its one incorporated place, has 5,680 residents, 100.0% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 5 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.9 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 6.0.
Covington is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Covington city's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covington | 5,680 | −1.2% | 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).
Covington city, Homes
Homes in Covington city
Covington city is a place of houses on their own lots: 86% of its 3,038 homes are detached single-family houses, against 61% across Virginia. The homes are older than Virginia's as a whole: half were built before 1949 (1984 for Virginia), and 65% date from before 1960. 71% 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 | Covington city | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 3,038 | 3,654,784 |
| Detached houses | 86% | 61% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 7% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 65% | 19% |
| Built since 2000 | 3% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1949 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 71% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.