Short-term kit
Radon Short Term Test Kit short-term charcoal radon test kit, lab fee included
- Lab fee included
Method: Charcoal
In home: 2 to 7 days
Locations and reports
Radon Levels in Ritchie County, West Virginia
EPA puts Ritchie County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 18 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
22.9%
Tyler County
- Tyler
- 22.9%
- Wood
- 15.9%
2 of 7 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017
Nearest county
22.9%
Tyler County, 22 miles
- Tyler
- 22.9%
- WV
- 37.5%
Share at 4+ pCi/L, 35 tests, 2008 to 2017
Ground above low
100.0%
14.0 pts above WV
- Ritchie
- 100.0%
- WV
- 86.0%
Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential
Tests reported
20
Too few for a share
- Ritchie
- 20
- Needed
- 30
2007 to 2016, laboratory
EPA radon zone
Zone 2
Moderate potential
- 1
- Zone 2
- 3
1 highest, 3 lowest
EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors
Read a result for Ritchie 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
Ritchie County, At a glance
Ritchie County at a glance
Predicted: EPA radon zone
EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential
Ritchie County is a
USGS geologic potential: Moderate across 100% of the county's area
Predicted: EPA Map of Radon Zones
Measured: tests reported to CDC
Radon tests reported for Ritchie County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CDC holds 18 reported tests for Ritchie County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 1.9 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Ritchie County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.
What these figures count
Only 18 tests were reported to CDC for Ritchie 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).
Ritchie County, Compared
Ritchie County radon figures, compared
Calculated by Radon411CDC's largest figure for Ritchie County rests on 20 tests over the 2007 to 2016 laboratory totals, 1 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 5.0 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 4.6 pCi/L, with a middle value of 1.8 pCi/L.
Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Tyler County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 22.9%, and Wood County the smallest, 15.9%. Farther out, Wetzel County (37 miles away) at 35.2%, Harrison County (37 miles away) at 36.4% and Marion County (50 miles away) at 29.1% have figures too. Pooled across 55 West Virginia counties, 37.5% of reported tests reached that level; across every county in the country with a figure, 35.7%.
Statewide for the same period, Morgan County reported the highest share (58.1%) and Grant County the lowest (9.8%). EPA's 1993 map puts Ritchie County in Zone 2, its middle label: a predicted county average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. USGS geology rates 100% of the county's land moderate radon potential.
Pooled shares: Radon411's sum of CDC's county counts for one period.
Ritchie County, Geology
The ground under Ritchie County
PredictedUSGS's geologic map puts all of Ritchie County's mapped land in one class: moderate radon potential. All of it lies in the area the map calls Central Allegheny Plateau, to which USGS gives a radon index of 10, in the moderate band (9 to 11).
| Area | The rock, in USGS's words | Potential | Radon index | Share of land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Allegheny Plateau | Permian and Pennsylvanian shale, siltstone, sandstone, minor limestone. | Moderate | 10 | 100% |
Names, descriptions and indexes: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Radon Potential Map (2025). Shares: Radon411, from the map cut to the boundary.
Ritchie County beside the ground around it
Across West Virginia 18.7% of the land is rated high; none of Ritchie County's is. Of the 7 counties that border it, none has as large a share of moderate-potential ground; Calhoun County comes nearest at 100%.
The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.
Local help
Ritchie County, Local resources
Radon testing and mitigation in Ritchie County
- OEHS Radon ProgramOEHS Radon Program, run by WV DHHR OEHS Radiation, Toxics & Indoor Air Division, licenses or certifies radon professionals and offers free or discounted test kits, and answers questions about testing and mitigation in West Virginia.Visit the program’s page(opens in a new tab)
- Free and low-cost kitsThe program says:
West Virginia residents can request a free Radon Test Kit by emailing Radon@wv.gov or calling 304-352-5039
- Compare kits
- Professionals in West Virginia35 professionals are listed in West Virginia.
What West Virginia's program says
- Phone
- 304-352-5039
- Radon@wv.gov
- Licensing of radon professionals
Complete listings of professionals licensed to perform Asbestos, Lead, Radon and Clandestine Drug Laboratory Remediation activities in West Virginia.
What it means
Ritchie County, Questions
Questions about radon in Ritchie County
Are radon levels high in Ritchie County?
Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 5.6% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Ritchie County, West Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 1.9 pCi/L. Of the counties bordering it, 2 have a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals: Tyler County reported the largest share at or above 4 pCi/L, 22.9%, and Wood County the smallest, 15.9%.
Which counties border Ritchie County?
Ritchie County borders 7 counties: Pleasants County, Doddridge County, Wirt County, Wood County, Tyler County, Gilmer County and Calhoun County.
Products
Ritchie County, Products
Testing a home in Ritchie County
No CDC figure names Ritchie County; the nearest county with one, Tyler County (22 miles away), reported 22.9% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, the only reading nearby until a test of this home. In Zone 2 a short-term kit (2 to 90 days) is the quick first check in Ritchie County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.
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
Monitor
EcoBlu plug-in digital radon monitor with a display
- C-NRPP 2024/25: Not included
- Plug-in
- Alarm
- Screen
Method: Ion chamber
First reading: Within 10 minutes
- See every kit and monitor Test kits and monitors
Test kits and monitors: 1 of 3
Explore
Ritchie County, Bordering counties
Counties bordering Ritchie County
Calculated by Radon411- Radon levels in Pleasants CountyEPA zone 2
50.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 4.0 pCi/L · 24 tests
- Radon levels in Tyler CountyEPA zone 2
22.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.8 pCi/L · 35 tests
- Radon levels in Wood CountyEPA zone 2
15.9%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.8 pCi/L · 905 tests
- Radon levels in Gilmer CountyEPA zone 2
12.5%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.1 pCi/L · 8 tests
- Radon levels in Doddridge CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 0.5 pCi/L · 1 test
- Radon levels in Wirt CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 1.6 pCi/L · 8 tests
- Radon levels in Calhoun CountyEPA zone 2
0.0%at or above 4 pCi/L
Median 2.4 pCi/L · 4 tests
Ritchie County, Cities and towns
Cities and towns in Ritchie County
About 8,034 people live in Ritchie County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 390 fewer than in 2020 (−4.6%). That works out to 18 people per square mile of land. No town dominates: Harrisville, the largest, has 1,511 residents, 18.8% of the total. Together its 6 incorporated places hold 38.8% of those residents; the other 61.2% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 20 tests over 2007 to 2016, or 2.5 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where West Virginia as a whole comes to 5.5.
From Harrisville to Auburn, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Ritchie County's.
| Place | Residents | Since 2020 | Share of residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisville | 1,511 | −7.0% | 18.8% |
| Pennsboro | 987 | −6.2% | 12.3% |
| Ellenboro | 244 | +8.9% | 3.0% |
| Cairo | 165 | −4.6% | 2.1% |
| Pullman | 132 | −2.2% | 1.6% |
| Auburn | 76 | −5.0% | 0.9% |
6 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).
Ritchie County, Homes
Homes in Ritchie County
Of Ritchie County's 4,187 homes, 72% are detached houses, against 71% across West Virginia; 23% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1974, close to West Virginia's 1976: 35% date from before 1960 and 18% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 84% of the occupied homes (West Virginia: 74%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.
| Homes | Ritchie County | West Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 4,187 | 859,653 |
| Detached houses | 72% | 71% |
| In buildings of 5 or more | 2% | 8% |
| Mobile homes | 23% | 14% |
| Built before 1960 | 35% | 33% |
| Built since 2000 | 18% | 18% |
| Middle year built | 1974 | 1976 |
| Owner-occupied | 84% | 74% |
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019 to 2023: estimates from a sample of homes, looser for a small place. Shares by Radon411.