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 Roanoke city, Virginia
EPA puts Roanoke city in Zone 1, its highest radon zone, and 25.9% of its 1,010 reported radon tests (2008 to 2017, laboratory totals) were at or above 4 pCi/L. Homes with elevated levels occur in all three zones, so only a test measures yours.
Data checked By Radon411Methodology
Share at 4+ pCi/L
25.9%
4.5 pts below VA
- Roanoke city
- 25.9%
- Virginia
- 30.4%
1,010 tests, 2008 to 2017
Median result
2.3pCi/L
Below action level
- Roanoke city
- 2.3 pCi/L
- EPA
- 4.0 pCi/L
Midpoint of the tests, 2008 to 2017
Tests reported
1,010
12th of 84 by tests
- Roanoke city
- 1,010
- Fairfax
- 8,657
Reported to CDC before any fix, 2008 to 2017
EPA radon zone
Zone 1
Highest potential
- Zone 1
- 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts over 4 pCi/L indoors
Rank in Virginia
63 of 84
Middle half
- Roanoke city
- 25.9%
- Russell
- 67.3%
By share, of 84 with 30+ tests
Read a result for Roanoke city
Starts at Roanoke city's median, 2.3 pCi/L
EPA’s own thresholds; the figures are the area’s, never this home’s.
EPA’s reading of 2.3 pCi/L
Between 2 and 4 pCi/L
- Under 20 to 1.9 pCi/L
- 2 to 4consider a fix
- 4 and aboveEPA says fix it
This result is between 2 and 4 pCi/L. EPA recommends considering a fix when the level is between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Roanoke city's median reported result, 2008 to 2017.
The data
Roanoke city, At a glance
Roanoke city at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 1: highest predicted potential
EPA puts all of Roanoke city in
USGS geologic potential: High across 97% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Roanoke city, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
Under 2 pCi/L: 42%2 to 4 pCi/L: 32%4 pCi/L and above: 26%
Of 1,010 pre-mitigation tests reported to CDC, not homes in this area.
| Result band | Tests Measured | Share Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 pCi/L | 421 | 41.7% |
| 2 to 4 pCi/L | 327 | 32.4% |
| 4 pCi/L and above | 262 | 25.9% |
What these figures count
These are the 1,010 tests reported to CDC for Roanoke city over 2008 to 2017 (laboratory totals), many from homes being sold or already suspected of a problem: they describe the county's reported tests, not this house.
Measured: CDC tracking data. Figure above: 2008 to 2017, laboratory. Measured data period: 2005 to 2017 (every CDC figure on file).
Roanoke city, Compared
Roanoke city radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411Roanoke city's 1,010 reported tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals had a middle value of 2.3 pCi/L and a maximum of 27.3 pCi/L, and 25.9% reached 4 pCi/L. Virginia as a whole (131 Virginia counties, pooled) comes to 30.4%: 4.5 points higher than here.
Among its state's counties it ranks 63rd of 84 Virginia counties with 30 or more tests for the same period. Statewide for the same period, Russell County reported the highest share (67.3%) and Norfolk city the lowest (2.7%).
Below the action level, 421 tests (41.7%) came in under 2 pCi/L, against 44.7% statewide, and 327 tests (32.4%) fell between 2 and 4, against 24.9% statewide. CDC's ten-year totals for Roanoke city went from 1,076 tests (2005 to 2014) to 1,010 (2008 to 2017), the share going from 25.7% to 25.9%.
EPA's 1993 zone map puts Roanoke city in Zone 1, a predicted county average above 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 97% of the county's land high radon potential.
Next door, the shares run from 22.1% in Roanoke County to 33.6% in Salem city, with Roanoke County below Roanoke city.
CDC also counts 92 tests taken after mitigation in Roanoke city for the same period: tests in homes where a fix was already in.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Roanoke city, Geology
The ground under Roanoke city
PredictedMost of the ground under Roanoke city is one class on USGS's geologic map: 96.7% of its land is high radon potential, with 3.3% moderate. 96.7% 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 | 96.7% |
| Blue Ridge | Granite, pegmatite, monazite, schist, and gneiss. | Moderate | 10 | 3.3% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Roanoke city beside the ground around it
Roanoke city has more high-potential ground than Virginia as a whole: 96.7% of its land against 47.9%. Of the 2 counties that border it, 1 has more high-potential ground, Salem city the most at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Roanoke city, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Roanoke city
- 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
Roanoke city, Questions
Questions about radon in Roanoke city
Are radon levels high in Roanoke city?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 25.9% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Roanoke city, Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.3 pCi/L. Of 84 Virginia counties with 30 or more tests for the same period, 62 reported a higher share; pooled, the state comes to 30.4%.
Which counties border Roanoke city?
Roanoke city borders 2 counties: Salem city and Roanoke County.
Products
Roanoke city, Products
Testing a home in Roanoke city
In Roanoke city, 25.9% of 1,010 tests reported to CDC over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals reached 4 pCi/L, against 30.4% pooled across Virginia. In Zone 1 the year-round level in Roanoke city 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
MonitorX-Sense
XR0A-iR Wi-Fi battery radon detector with a screen
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Battery
- Wi-Fi
- Screen, app
Method: Alpha spectrometry
First reading: Within 24 hours
Short-term kitKidde
442020 short-term charcoal radon test kit
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 3 days
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Roanoke city is in EPA Zone 1, the highest predicted radon potential. Best radon monitors for Zone 1 counties like Roanoke city
Explore
Roanoke city, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Roanoke city
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Salem cityEPA zone 1
33.6%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.8 pCi/L · 286 tests · 7.7 points above Roanoke city
- Radon levels in Roanoke CountyEPA zone 1
22.1%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.9 pCi/L · 1,541 tests · 3.8 points below Roanoke city
Roanoke city, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Roanoke city
About 99,111 people live in Roanoke city by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 792 fewer than in 2020 (−0.8%). Packed into its land, that is 2,331 people per square mile. Roanoke, its one incorporated place, has 99,111 residents, 100.0% of the total. Testing is reported here more often than across the state: CDC's 1,010 reported tests for 2008 to 2017 come to 10.2 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), against 6.0 for Virginia.
Roanoke is the one incorporated place here; CDC publishes no figure by town, so it reads Roanoke city's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke | 99,111 | −0.8% | 100.0% |
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).
Roanoke city, Homes
Homes in Roanoke city
Of Roanoke city's 48,931 homes, 61% are detached houses, against 61% across Virginia; 22% are in buildings of five or more homes. The homes are older than Virginia's as a whole: half were built before 1959 (1984 for Virginia), and 52% date from before 1960. 52% 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 | Roanoke city | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 48,931 | 3,654,784 |
| Detached houses | 61% | 61% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 22% | 19% |
| Mobile homes | 1% | 4% |
| Built before 1960 | 52% | 19% |
| Built since 2000 | 9% | 25% |
| Middle year built | 1959 | 1984 |
| Owner-occupied | 52% | 67% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.