Skip to content
RADON411

Locations and reports

Radon Levels in Isle of Wight County, Virginia

EPA puts Isle of Wight County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 3 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

  • Nearest county

    5.9%

    Newport News city, 19 miles

    Newport News city
    5.9%
    Virginia
    30.7%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 34 tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Ground above low

    None

    77.9 pts below Virginia

    Isle of Wight
    0.0%
    Virginia
    77.9%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    3

    Too few for a share

    Isle of Wight
    3
    Needed
    30

    2008 to 2017, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 3

    Lower potential

    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. Zone 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Isle of Wight County

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

Isle of Wight County, At a glance

Isle of Wight County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential

is EPA's lowest class, and its forecast for Isle of Wight County as a whole is an average indoor of less than 2 pCi/L (less than 75 Bq/m³). A low zone clears no address in it: homes above EPA's turn up in all three zones.

USGS geologic potential: Low across 99% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

Radon tests reported for Isle of Wight County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 3 reported tests for Isle of Wight 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). Isle of Wight County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 3 tests were reported to CDC for Isle of Wight 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).

How to read these figures

Isle of Wight County, Compared

Isle of Wight County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Isle of Wight County rests on 3 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 1 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 33.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 6.1 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.1 pCi/L.

The nearest counties with a figure are Newport News city (19 miles away) at 5.9%, Norfolk city (26 miles away) at 5.3% and Chesapeake city (28 miles away) at 7.0%. 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 Isle of Wight County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 99% of the county's land low radon potential.

Virginia, the United States and the counties around Isle of Wight County, 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
Franklin city, VAborders it20.0%0.9 pCi/L
Suffolk city, VAborders it50.0%1.5 pCi/L
Southampton County, VAborders it20.0%1.1 pCi/L
The nearest Virginia counties to Isle of Wight County with 30 or more tests, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Newport News city19 mi345.9%1.4 pCi/L
Norfolk city26 mi575.3%0.7 pCi/L
Chesapeake city28 mi437.0%0.1 pCi/L
James City County30 mi7338.4%2.4 pCi/L
Virginia Beach city39 mi547.4%0.6 pCi/L
Chesterfield County58 mi64530.5%2.2 pCi/L
Henrico County58 mi57325.7%2.0 pCi/L
Richmond city60 mi44328.0%2.1 pCi/L
Isle of Wight County ten-year laboratory totals, against Virginia's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestVirginia, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 2017333.3%1.1 pCi/L6.1 pCi/L30.4%Level
2007 to 2016333.3%1.1 pCi/L6.1 pCi/L30.6%Level
2006 to 2015333.3%1.1 pCi/L6.1 pCi/L30.7%−66.7 points
2005 to 20141100.0%6.1 pCi/L6.1 pCi/L30.3%First on file

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

Isle of Wight County, Geology

The ground under Isle of Wight County

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Isle of Wight County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. 98.9% of it lies in the area the map calls Tertiary Coastal Plain Sediments, to which USGS gives a radon index of 8, in the low band (5 to 8).

USGS's geologic areas under Isle of Wight County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Tertiary Coastal Plain SedimentsTertiary Coastal Plain sand, silt, clayLow898.9%

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

Isle of Wight County beside the ground around it

Across Virginia 47.9% of the land is rated high; none of Isle of Wight County's is. None of the 4 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Isle of Wight County, the 4 counties bordering it and Virginia
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Isle of Wight CountyZone 398.9%NoneNone
Suffolk cityZone 398.3%NoneNone
Surry CountyZone 399.3%NoneNone
Franklin cityZone 3100%NoneNone
Southampton CountyZone 3100%NoneNone
Virginia133 counties, pooled by land areaVaries20.6%30.0%47.9%

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

Local help

Isle of Wight County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Isle of Wight County

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

Isle of Wight County, Questions

Questions about radon in Isle of Wight County

Are radon levels high in Isle of Wight County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 33.3% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Isle of Wight County, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.1 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 60 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 5.3% to 38.4%.

Which counties border Isle of Wight County?

Isle of Wight County borders 4 counties: Suffolk city, Surry County, Franklin city and Southampton County.

Products

Isle of Wight County, Products

Testing a home in Isle of Wight County

No CDC figure names Isle of Wight County; the nearest county with one, Newport News city (19 miles away), reported 5.9% 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. 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 Isle of Wight County.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Isle of Wight County homes, compared

Explore

Isle of Wight County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Isle of Wight County

Calculated by Radon411

Isle of Wight County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Isle of Wight County

Isle of Wight County is growing: the Census Bureau puts it at 41,321 residents on July 1, 2025, up 6.7% from 38,711 in 2020. That works out to 131 people per square mile of land. Its largest town, Smithfield, has 9,112 residents, 22.1% of the total. Together its 2 incorporated places hold 29.2% of those residents; the other 70.8% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 3 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.1 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 6.0.

From Smithfield to Windsor, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Isle of Wight County's.

The cities and towns in Isle of Wight County by residents, July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Smithfield9,112+6.5%22.1%
Windsor2,947+7.1%7.1%

2 incorporated places, 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).

Isle of Wight County, Homes

Homes in Isle of Wight County

Isle of Wight County is a place of houses on their own lots: 78% of its 16,827 homes are detached single-family houses, against 61% across Virginia. Much of Isle of Wight County is recent building: 34% of its homes have gone up since 2000 and the middle year built is 1992, against 1984 for Virginia. Owners live in 81% of the occupied homes (Virginia: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.

Homes in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 2019 to 2023
HomesIsle of Wight CountyVirginia
Housing units16,8273,654,784
Detached houses78%61%
In buildings of 5 or more7%19%
Mobile homes9%4%
Built before 196012%19%
Built since 200034%25%
Middle year built19921984
Owner-occupied81%67%

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