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 Lee County, Virginia
EPA puts Lee County in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and only 14 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
44.1%
Scott County
- Scott
- 44.1%
- Wise
- 20.4%
3 of 6 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2006 to 2015
Nearest county
44.1%
Scott County, 29 miles
- Scott
- 44.1%
- Virginia
- 30.7%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 111 tests, 2006 to 2015
Ground above low
100.0%
22.1 pts above Virginia
- Lee
- 100.0%
- Virginia
- 77.9%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
14
Too few for a share
- Lee
- 14
- 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 Lee 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
Lee County, At a glance
Lee County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Lee County in
USGS geologic potential: High across 91% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Lee County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 14 reported tests for Lee County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 4.9 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Lee County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 14 tests were reported to CDC for Lee 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).
Lee County, Compared
Lee County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Lee County rests on 14 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 7 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 7.1 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 55.4 pCi/L, with a middle value of 4.9 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Scott County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 44.1%, and Wise County the smallest, 20.4%, with Claiborne County, TN at 43.8% between. Farther out, Bristol city (54 miles away) at 40.2%, Russell County (59 miles away) at 68.5% and Washington County (65 miles away) at 55.6% 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 Lee County in Zone 1, the map's highest label: a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 91% of the county's land high radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Lee County, Geology
The ground under Lee County
PredictedMost of the ground under Lee County is one class on USGS's geologic map: 91.2% of its land is high radon potential, with 8.8% moderate. The map puts 90.8% of Lee County in the area it calls Valley and Ridge and 8.6% in Appalachian Plateau. USGS gives the first a radon index of 15, in the high band (12 to 17), and the second 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| 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 | 90.8% |
| Appalachian Plateau | Pennsylvanian sandstone, shale, and coal. | Moderate | 10 | 8.6% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Lee County beside the ground around it
Lee County has more high-potential ground than Virginia as a whole: 91.2% of its land against 47.9%. Of the 6 counties that border it, 2 have more high-potential ground, Hancock County, TN the most at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Lee County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Lee 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
Lee County, Questions
Questions about radon in Lee County
Are radon levels high in Lee County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 50.0% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Lee County, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 4.9 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 3 have a figure over the 2006 to 2015 laboratory totals: Scott County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 44.1%, and Wise County the smallest, 20.4%, with Claiborne County, TN at 43.8% between.
Which counties border Lee County?
Lee County borders 6 counties: Harlan County, KY, Scott County, VA, Hancock County, TN, Wise County, VA, Bell County, KY and Claiborne County, TN.
Products
Lee County, Products
Testing a home in Lee County
No CDC figure names Lee County; the nearest county with one, Scott County (29 miles away), reported 44.1% 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 Lee 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
View Plus radon and air quality monitor
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Approved
- Battery
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Screen, app
Method: Alpha spectrometry
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
Lee County is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Lee County
Explore
Lee County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Lee County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Scott County, VAEPA zone 1
44.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.1 pCi/L · 111 tests
- Radon levels in Claiborne County, TNEPA zone 1
43.8%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 3.5 pCi/L · 96 tests
- Radon levels in Wise County, VAEPA zone 2
20.4%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.9 pCi/L · 49 tests
- Radon levels in Bell County, KYEPA zone 2
20.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.3 pCi/L · 5 tests
- Radon levels in Hancock County, TNEPA zone 1
10.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.7 pCi/L · 20 tests
- Radon levels in Harlan County, KYEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.1 pCi/L · 1 test
Lee County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Lee County
About 21,642 people live in Lee County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 468 fewer than in 2020 (−2.1%). That works out to 50 people per square mile of land. No town dominates: Pennington Gap, the largest, has 1,568 residents, 7.2% of the total. Reported testing is thin here: 14 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.6 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 6.0.
From Pennington Gap to St. Charles, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Lee County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennington Gap | 1,568 | −2.5% | 7.2% |
| Jonesville | 843 | −2.5% | 3.9% |
- St. Charles
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).
Lee County, Homes
Homes in Lee County
Of Lee County's 10,857 homes, 73% are detached houses, against 61% across Virginia; 20% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1978, close to Virginia's 1984: 28% date from before 1960 and 16% from 2000 or later. 74% 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 | Lee County | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 10,857 | 3,654,784 |
| Detached houses | 73% | 61% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 20% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 28% | 19% |
| Built since 2000 | 16% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1978 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 74% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.