Skip to content
RADON411

Locations and reports

Radon Levels in Roane County, West Virginia

EPA puts Roane County in Zone 2, its middle radon zone, and only 22 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

  • Highest bordering

    20.6%

    Kanawha County

    Kanawha
    20.6%

    1 of 5 neighbours have 30+ tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Nearest county

    20.6%

    Kanawha County, 28 miles

    Kanawha
    20.6%
    WV
    37.5%

    Share at 4+ pCi/L, 247 tests, 2008 to 2017

  • Ground above low

    100.0%

    14.0 pts above WV

    Roane
    100.0%
    WV
    86.0%

    Share of land USGS rates moderate or high potential

  • Tests reported

    22

    Too few for a share

    Roane
    22
    Needed
    30

    2008 to 2017, laboratory

  • EPA radon zone

    Zone 2

    Moderate potential

    1. 1
    2. Zone 2
    3. 3

    1 highest, 3 lowest

    EPA predicts 2 to 4 pCi/L indoors

Read a result for Roane 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

Roane County, At a glance

Roane County at a glance

Predicted: EPA radon zone

EPA Zone 2: moderate predicted potential

Roane County is a county: EPA's forecast for it as a whole is an average indoor of 2 to 4 pCi/L (75 to 150 Bq/m³). It describes no single address, and homes above EPA's are found in every zone, this one included.

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 Roane County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory

CDC holds 22 reported tests for Roane County over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, with a median of 2.3 pCi/L: too few to describe a county (Radon411 reads a share from 30 tests up). Roane County beside the counties around it is how this page reads it.

What these figures count

Only 22 tests were reported to CDC for Roane 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

Roane County, Compared

Roane County radon figures, compared

Calculated by Radon411

CDC's largest figure for Roane County rests on 22 tests over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 8 of them at or above 4 pCi/L, so each test moves its share by 4.5 points and no rank or comparison is drawn from it. Results reached as high as 7.8 pCi/L, with a middle value of 2.3 pCi/L.

Kanawha County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 20.6% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L. Farther out, Putnam County (33 miles away) at 23.1%, Wood County (35 miles away) at 15.9% and Cabell County (52 miles away) at 16.6% 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 Roane 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.

West Virginia, the United States and the counties around Roane County, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
AreaTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
West Virginia, pooled55 counties, pooled10,06137.5%Not pooled
United States, pooled2,661 counties, pooled2,013,54435.7%Not pooled
Morgan Countyhighest in the state24158.1%5.8 pCi/L
Grant Countylowest in the state1649.8%1.1 pCi/L
Jackson County, WVborders it2425.0%2.5 pCi/L
Kanawha County, WVborders it24720.6%2.2 pCi/L
Clay County, WVborders it10.0%0.1 pCi/L
Wirt County, WVborders it80.0%1.6 pCi/L
Calhoun County, WVborders it40.0%2.4 pCi/L
The nearest West Virginia counties to Roane County with 30 or more tests, 2008 to 2017, laboratory
CountyDistanceTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedian
Kanawha County28 mi24720.6%2.2 pCi/L
Putnam County33 mi5223.1%1.5 pCi/L
Wood County35 mi90515.9%1.8 pCi/L
Cabell County52 mi14516.6%2.0 pCi/L
Tyler County58 mi3522.9%1.8 pCi/L
Raleigh County65 mi4216.7%1.4 pCi/L
Harrison County65 mi18736.4%2.6 pCi/L
Greenbrier County72 mi17652.3%4.5 pCi/L
Roane County ten-year laboratory totals, against West Virginia's pooled share
PeriodTestsAt or above 4 pCi/LMedianHighestWest Virginia, pooledChange from the row before
2008 to 20172236.4%2.3 pCi/L7.8 pCi/L37.5%−5.7 points
2007 to 20161942.1%2.0 pCi/L9.8 pCi/L37.3%Level
2006 to 20151942.1%2.0 pCi/L9.8 pCi/L37.7%−2.3 points
2005 to 20141844.4%2.3 pCi/L9.8 pCi/L37.3%First on file

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

Roane County, Geology

The ground under Roane County

Predicted

USGS's geologic map puts all of Roane 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).

USGS's geologic areas under Roane County
AreaThe rock, in USGS's wordsPotentialRadon indexShare of land
Central Allegheny PlateauPermian and Pennsylvanian shale, siltstone, sandstone, minor limestone.Moderate10100%

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

Roane County beside the ground around it

Across West Virginia 18.7% of the land is rated high; none of Roane County's is. Of the 5 counties that border it, none has as large a share of moderate-potential ground; Calhoun County comes nearest at 100%.

Share of land by USGS radon potential: Roane County, the 5 counties bordering it and West Virginia
AreaEPA zoneLow potentialModerate potentialHigh potential
Roane CountyZone 2None100%None
Calhoun CountyZone 2None100%None
Jackson CountyZone 2None100%None
Wirt CountyZone 2None100%None
Clay CountyZone 21.7%98.3%None
Kanawha CountyZone 329.4%70.6%None
West Virginia55 counties, pooled by land areaVaries14.0%67.3%18.7%

The map rates the ground, not the air in any home.

Local help

Roane County, Local resources

Radon testing and mitigation in Roane County

What West Virginia's program says
Phone
304-352-5039
Email
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

Roane County, Questions

Questions about radon in Roane County

Are radon levels high in Roane County?

Over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, 36.4% of the radon tests reported to CDC for Roane County, West Virginia were at or above 4 pCi/L, and the median reported pre-mitigation result was 2.3 pCi/L. Kanawha County, the one bordering county with a figure over the 2008 to 2017 laboratory totals, reported 20.6% of its tests at or above 4 pCi/L.

Which counties border Roane County?

Roane County borders 5 counties: Calhoun County, Jackson County, Wirt County, Clay County and Kanawha County.

Products

Roane County, Products

Testing a home in Roane County

No CDC figure names Roane County; the nearest county with one, Kanawha County (28 miles away), reported 20.6% 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 Roane County; a long-term test tells the year-round average.

Test kits and monitors3

See every kit and monitor

Best radon monitors for Roane County homes, compared

Explore

Roane County, Bordering counties

Counties bordering Roane County

Calculated by Radon411

Roane County, Cities and towns

Cities and towns in Roane County

About 13,317 people live in Roane County by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025, 671 fewer than in 2020 (−4.8%). That works out to 28 people per square mile of land. No town dominates: Spencer, the largest, has 1,895 residents, 14.2% of the total. Together its 2 incorporated places hold 15.3% of those residents; the other 84.7% live outside any of them. Reported testing is thin here: 22 tests over 2008 to 2017, or 1.7 for every 1,000 residents (2025 estimate), where West Virginia as a whole comes to 5.7.

From Spencer to Reedy, CDC publishes no figure by town: each reads Roane County's.

The cities and towns in Roane County by residents, July 1, 2025
PlaceResidentsSince 2020Share of residents
Spencer1,895−6.4%14.2%
Reedy144−5.3%1.1%

2 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).

Roane County, Homes

Homes in Roane County

Of Roane County's 7,157 homes, 68% are detached houses, against 71% across West Virginia; 28% are mobile homes. Half of its homes were built before 1977, close to West Virginia's 1976: 28% date from before 1960 and 15% from 2000 or later. Owners live in 77% of the occupied homes (West Virginia: 74%), so for most households a test and a fix are their own to order.

Homes in Roane County, West Virginia, 2019 to 2023
HomesRoane CountyWest Virginia
Housing units7,157859,653
Detached houses68%71%
In buildings of 5 or more2%8%
Mobile homes28%14%
Built before 196028%33%
Built since 200015%18%
Middle year built19771976
Owner-occupied77%74%

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