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Radon Levels in Lancaster County, Virginia

EPA puts Lancaster County in Zone 3, its lowest radon zone, and only 8 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

    14.3%

    Westmoreland County, 32 miles

    Westmoreland
    14.3%
    Virginia
    30.7%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 35 tests, 2006 to 2015

  • Ground above low

    None

    77.9 pts below Virginia

    Lancaster
    0.0%
    Virginia
    77.9%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    12

    Too few for a share

    Lancaster
    12
    Needed
    30

    2006 to 2015, 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 Lancaster 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

Lancaster County, At a glance

Lancaster County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential

is EPA's lowest class, and its forecast for Lancaster 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 90% of the county's area

Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones

Measured: tests reported to CDC

Radon tests reported for Lancaster County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 8 reported tests for Lancaster County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 2.5 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Lancaster County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 8 tests were reported to CDC for Lancaster 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

Lancaster County, Compared

Lancaster County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Lancaster County rests on 12 tests over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals, 3 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 8.3 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 13.3 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.5 pCi/L.

The nearest counties with a figure are Westmoreland County (32 miles away) at 14.3%, James City County (33 miles away) at 38.4% and Newport News city (44 miles away) at 5.9%. 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 Lancaster County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 90% of the county's land low radon potential.

Virginia, the United States and the counties around Lancaster 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
Richmond County, VAborders it2626.9%1.8 pCi/L
Northumberland County, VAborders it1520.0%1.1 pCi/L
The nearest Virginia counties to Lancaster County with 30 or more tests, 2006 to 2015, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Westmoreland County32 mi3514.3%1.6 pCi/L
James City County33 mi7338.4%2.4 pCi/L
Newport News city44 mi345.9%1.4 pCi/L
Caroline County52 mi13536.3%2.6 pCi/L
King George County53 mi37647.6%3.8 pCi/L
Henrico County53 mi57325.7%2.0 pCi/L
Hanover County56 mi14416.0%1.4 pCi/L
Richmond city57 mi44328.0%2.1 pCi/L
Lancaster County ten-year laboratory totals, against Virginia's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestVirginia, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 2017812.5%2.5 pCi/L4.6 pCi/L30.4%Level
2007 to 2016812.5%2.5 pCi/L4.6 pCi/L30.6%−12.5 points
2006 to 20151225.0%2.5 pCi/L13.3 pCi/L30.7%Level
2005 to 20141225.0%2.5 pCi/L13.3 pCi/L30.3%First on file

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

Lancaster County, Geology

The ground under Lancaster County

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Lancaster County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. 89.7% 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 Lancaster County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Tertiary Coastal Plain SedimentsTertiary Coastal Plain sand, silt, clayLow889.7%

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

Lancaster County beside the ground around it

Across Virginia 47.9% of the land is rated high; none of Lancaster County's is. None of the 2 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Lancaster County, the 2 counties bordering it and Virginia
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Lancaster CountyZone 389.7%NoneNone
Northumberland CountyZone 385.3%NoneNone
Richmond CountyZone 395.7%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

Lancaster County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Lancaster 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

Lancaster County, Questions

Questions about radon in Lancaster County

Are radon levels high in Lancaster County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 12.5% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Lancaster County, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.5 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 57 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 5.9% to 47.6%.

Which counties border Lancaster County?

Lancaster County borders 2 counties: Northumberland County and Richmond County.

Products

Lancaster County, Products

Testing a home in Lancaster County

No CDC figure names Lancaster County; the nearest county with one, Westmoreland County (32 miles away), reported 14.3% 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 Lancaster County.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Lancaster County homes, compared

Explore

Lancaster County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Lancaster County

Calculated by Radon411

Lancaster County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Lancaster County

The Census Bureau estimates 10,995 residents in Lancaster County for July 1, 2025, 96 more than in 2020 (+0.9%). That works out to 82 people per square mile of land. Kilmarnock, the largest place on its list (1,457 residents in all), extends beyond Lancaster County, so no share of the total is worked out for it. Reported testing is thin here: 12 tests over 2006 to 2015, or 1.1 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 5.0.

From Kilmarnock to White Stone, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Lancaster County's.

The cities and towns in Lancaster County by residents, July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Kilmarnockextends beyond Lancaster County1,457+1.0%Counted whole
Irvington470+0.6%4.3%
White Stone386+0.8%3.5%

3 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). A place that extends beyond Lancaster County is counted whole, so it has no share.

Lancaster County, Homes

Homes in Lancaster County

Lancaster County is a place of houses on their own lots: 84% of its 7,483 homes are detached single-family houses, against 61% across Virginia. Half of its homes were built before 1981, close to Virginia's 1984: 20% date from before 1960 and 22% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 80% of the occupied homes (Virginia: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.

Homes in Lancaster County, Virginia, 2019 to 2023
HomesLancaster CountyVirginia
Housing units7,4833,654,784
Detached houses84%61%
In buildings of 5 or more4%19%
Mobile homes4%4%
Built before 196020%19%
Built since 200022%25%
Middle year built19811984
Owner-occupied80%67%

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