Short-term kit
RA100 short-term liquid scintillation radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Liquid scintillation
In home: 48 to 96 hours
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Mathews County, Virginia
EPA puts Mathews 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
Nearest county
5.9%
Newport News city, 25 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
- Mathews
- 0.0%
- Virginia
- 77.9%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
3
Too few for a share
- Mathews
- 3
- Needed
- 30
2008 to 2017, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 3
Lower potential
- 1
- 2
- Zone 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts under 2 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Mathews 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
Mathews County, At a glance
Mathews County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 3: lower predicted potential
USGS geologic potential: Low across 81% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Mathews County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 3 reported tests for Mathews County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 4.0 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Mathews County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 3 tests were reported to CDC for Mathews 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).
Mathews County, Compared
Mathews County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Mathews County rests on 3 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 2 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 5.1 pCi/L, with a middle value of 4.0 pCi/L.
The nearest counties with a figure are Newport News city (25 miles away) at 5.9%, James City County (25 miles away) at 38.4% and Norfolk city (38 miles away) at 5.3%. 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 Mathews County in Zone 3, its lowest label: a predicted county average under 2 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 81% of the county's land low radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Mathews County, Geology
The ground under Mathews County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Mathews County's mapped land in one class: low radon potential. The map puts 70.4% of Mathews County in the area it calls Quaternary Coastal Plain Sediments and 11.0% in Tertiary Coastal Plain Sediments. USGS gives the first a radon index of 6 and the second 8, both in the low band (5 to 8).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quaternary Coastal Plain Sediments | Quaternary coastal sand and silt containing monazite. | Low | 6 | 70.4% |
| Tertiary Coastal Plain Sediments | Tertiary Coastal Plain sand, silt, clay | Low | 8 | 11.0% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Mathews County beside the ground around it
Across Virginia 47.9% of the land is rated high; none of Mathews County's is. None of the 2 counties that border it has any moderate-potential ground either.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Mathews County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Mathews 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
Mathews County, Questions
Questions about radon in Mathews County
Are radon levels high in Mathews County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 66.7% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Mathews County, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 4.0 pCi/L. Of the 8 nearest counties with a figure, within 63 miles, the share of tests at or above 4 pCi/L runs from 5.3% to 38.4%.
Which counties border Mathews County?
Mathews County borders 2 counties: Gloucester County and Middlesex County.
Products
Mathews County, Products
Testing a home in Mathews County
No CDC figure names Mathews County; the nearest county with one, Newport News city (25 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 Mathews County.
Test kits and monitors3
See every kit and monitor
Long-term kit
RL116 long-term radon test kit
- Lab fee extra
Method: Alpha track
In home: 90 days to 12 months
MonitorForensics Detectors
FD-65-RADON rechargeable radon detector with a color screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Semiconductor sensor
First reading: Within 6 hours
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Mathews County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Mathews County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Gloucester CountyEPA zone 3
28.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 7 tests
- Radon levels in Middlesex CountyEPA zone 3
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.6 pCi/L · 3 tests
Mathews County, Residents
Who lives in Mathews County
Mathews County's population has barely moved since 2020: 8,529 residents on July 1, 2025 against 8,520 then, by the Census Bureau's estimates. That works out to 99 people per square mile of land. Reported testing is thin here: 3 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 0.4 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where Virginia as a whole comes to 6.0.
Census lists no incorporated place in Mathews County: every home in it reads the county's figures.
Residents: U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2025 (Vintage 2025).
Mathews County, Homes
Homes in Mathews County
Mathews County is a place of houses on their own lots: 93% of its 5,486 homes are detached single-family houses, against 61% across Virginia. The homes are older than Virginia's as a whole: half were built before 1973 (1984 for Virginia), and 37% date from before 1960. Owners live in 86% of the occupied homes (Virginia: 67%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Mathews County | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 5,486 | 3,654,784 |
| Detached houses | 93% | 61% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 4% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 37% | 19% |
| Built since 2000 | 11% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1973 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 86% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.