Long-term kit
RL416 long-term radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Highland County, Virginia
EPA puts Highland County in Zone 1, its highest 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
49.5%
Augusta County
- Augusta
- 49.5%
1 of 4 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
49.5%
Augusta County, 27 miles
- Augusta
- 49.5%
- Virginia
- 30.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 606 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
22.1 pts above Virginia
- Highland
- 100.0%
- Virginia
- 77.9%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
9
Too few for a share
- Highland
- 9
- 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 Highland 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
Highland County, At a glance
Highland County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Highland County 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 Highland County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 9 reported tests for Highland County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 1.1 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Highland County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 9 tests were reported to CDC for Highland 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).
Highland County, Compared
Highland County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Highland County rests on 9 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 2 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 4.4 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.1 pCi/L.
Augusta County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 49.5% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Staunton city (31 miles away) at 54.3%, Harrisonburg city (38 miles away) at 35.8% and Rockbridge County (38 miles away) at 50.9% 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 Highland County 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.
Highland County, Geology
The ground under Highland County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Highland County'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 | 99.8% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Highland County beside the ground around it
Highland County has more high-potential ground than Virginia as a whole: 100% of its land against 47.9%. Of the 4 counties that border it, none has as large a share of high-potential ground; Bath County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Highland County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Highland County
- 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
Highland County, Questions
Questions about radon in Highland County
Are radon levels high in Highland County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 22.2% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Highland County, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.1 pCi/L. Augusta County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, reported 49.5% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.
Which counties border Highland County?
Highland County borders 4 counties: Augusta County, VA, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV and Bath County, VA.
Products
Highland County, Products
Testing a home in Highland County
No CDC figure names Highland County; the nearest county with one, Augusta County (27 miles away), reported 49.5% 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 Highland County 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 Wi-Fi continuous radon monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Plug-in
- Wi-Fi
- App only
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
Short-term kit
Air Chek Short-Term radon test kit you hang, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
In home: 72 to 168 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Highland County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Highland County
Explore
Highland County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Highland County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Augusta County, VAEPA zone 1
49.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.9 pCi/L · 606 tests
- Radon levels in Pocahontas County, WVEPA zone 1
45.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.7 pCi/L · 11 tests
- Radon levels in Pendleton County, WVEPA zone 1
24.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.2 pCi/L · 25 tests
- Radon levels in Bath County, VAEPA zone 1
17.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 23 tests
Highland County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Highland County
The Census Bureau estimates 2,318 residents in Highland County for July 1, 2025, 76 more than in 2020 (+3.4%). Spread over its land, that is 5.6 people to the square mile. Monterey, its one incorporated place, has 162 residents, 7.0% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 9 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 3.9 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 6.0.
Monterey is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Highland County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey | 162 | +1.9% | 7.0% |
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).
Highland County, Homes
Homes in Highland County
Highland County is a place of houses on their own lots: 79% of its 1,839 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 40% date from before 1960. Owners live in 88% of the occupied homes (Virginia: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Highland County | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 1,839 | 3,654,784 |
| Detached houses | 79% | 61% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 1% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 16% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 40% | 19% |
| Built since 2000 | 18% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1972 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 88% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.