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Radon Levels in Galax city, Virginia

EPA puts Galax city in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 18 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

    54.2%

    Carroll County

    Carroll
    54.2%
    Grayson
    48.9%

    2 of 2 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Nearest county

    54.2%

    Carroll County, 11 miles

    Carroll
    54.2%
    Virginia
    30.7%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 131 tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Ground above low

    100.0%

    22.1 pts above Virginia

    Galax city
    100.0%
    Virginia
    77.9%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    19

    Too few for a share

    Galax city
    19
    Needed
    30

    2006 to 2015, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 2

    Moderate potential

    1. 1
    2. Zone 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Galax 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

Galax city, At a glance

Galax city at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential

Galax city is a county: EPA's forecast for it as a whole is an average indoor of 2 to 4 pCi/L (75 to 150 Bq/m³). It describes no single address, and homes above EPA's are found in every zone, this one included.

USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 100% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

Radon tests reported for Galax city, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 18 reported tests for Galax 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). Galax city beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 18 tests were reported to CDC for Galax 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

Galax city, Compared

Galax city radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Galax city rests on 19 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 7 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 7.7 pCi/L, with a middle value of 3.3 pCi/L.

Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Carroll County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 54.2%, and Grayson County the smallest, 48.9%. Farther out, Wythe County (19 miles away) at 63.0%, Pulaski County (30 miles away) at 51.0% and Patrick County (35 miles away) at 49.2% 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 Galax city in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.

Virginia, the United States and the counties around Galax 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
Carroll County, VAborders it13154.2%4.6 pCi/L
Grayson County, VAborders it4748.9%3.9 pCi/L
The nearest Virginia counties to Galax city with 30 or more tests, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Carroll County11 mi13154.2%4.6 pCi/L
Grayson County17 mi4748.9%3.9 pCi/L
Wythe County19 mi11963.0%6.3 pCi/L
Pulaski County30 mi25151.0%4.0 pCi/L
Patrick County35 mi6149.2%3.9 pCi/L
Floyd County36 mi4643.5%3.3 pCi/L
Smyth County36 mi13162.6%6.0 pCi/L
Radford city37 mi10140.6%2.9 pCi/L
Galax city ten-year laboratory totals, against Virginia's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestVirginia, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 20171838.9%3.3 pCi/L7.7 pCi/L30.4%Level
2007 to 20161838.9%3.3 pCi/L7.7 pCi/L30.6%+2.1 points
2006 to 20151936.8%3.3 pCi/L7.7 pCi/L30.7%Level
2005 to 20141936.8%3.3 pCi/L7.7 pCi/L30.3%First on file

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

Galax city, Geology

The ground under Galax city

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Galax city's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Blue Ridge, to which USGS gives a radon index of 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11).

USGS's geologic areas under Galax city
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Blue RidgeGranite, pegmatite, monazite, schist, and gneiss.Moderate10100%

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

Galax city beside the ground around it

Across Virginia 47.9% of the land is rated high; none of Galax city's is. Every one of the 2 counties that border it has more high-potential ground, Carroll County the most at 3.9%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Galax city, the 2 counties bordering it and Virginia
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Galax cityZone 2None100%None
Carroll CountyZone 2None96.1%3.9%
Grayson CountyZone 2None97.5%2.5%
Virginia133 counties, pooled by land areaVaries20.6%30.0%47.9%

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

Local help

Galax city, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Galax 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

Galax city, Questions

Questions about radon in Galax city

Are radon levels high in Galax city?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 38.9% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Galax city, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 3.3 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Carroll County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 54.2%, and Grayson County the smallest, 48.9%.

Which counties border Galax city?

Galax city borders 2 counties: Carroll County and Grayson County.

Products

Galax city, Products

Testing a home in Galax city

No CDC figure names Galax city; the nearest county with one, Carroll County (11 miles away), reported 54.2% 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 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Galax city; a long-term test tells the year-round average.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Galax city homes, compared

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Galax city, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Galax city

Calculated by Radon411

Galax city, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Galax city

About 6,670 people live in Galax city by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 46 fewer than in 2020 (−0.7%). That works out to 810 people per square mile of land. Galax, its one incorporated place, has 6,670 residents, 100.0% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 19 tests over 2006 to 2015, or 2.8 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 5.0.

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

Galax, Galax city: residents on July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Galax6,670−0.7%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).

Galax city, Homes

Homes in Galax city

Of Galax city's 3,213 homes, 72% are detached houses, against 61% across Virginia; 10% are in buildings of five or more homes. The homes are older than Virginia's as a whole: half were built before 1968 (1984 for Virginia), and 38% date from before 1960. 62% 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 Galax city, Virginia, 2019 to 2023
HomesGalax cityVirginia
Housing units3,2133,654,784
Detached houses72%61%
In buildings of 5 or more10%19%
Mobile homes8%4%
Built before 196038%19%
Built since 200010%25%
Middle year built19681984
Owner-occupied62%67%

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