What Zone 1 means in Montgomery County
The EPA recommends that every home in a Zone 1 county be tested, and that new homes be built with radon-resistant features.
The EPA's Map of Radon Zones (EPA-402-R-93-071) sorts all 3,143 US counties into three tiers by predicted indoor screening level. Montgomery County sits in Zone 1. The classification is a planning assumption for builders, inspectors and buyers, and it is the figure a home inspector or realtor will cite for this county.
How Montgomery County compares inside Maryland
Of the 23 counties in Maryland on the EPA map, 7 are Zone 1, 9 are Zone 2 and 7 are Zone 3. Montgomery County is one of the 7 Maryland counties classified Zone 1.
Why your own home still needs a test
Radon comes out of the soil and enters through the foundation, so two houses on the same street can read very differently depending on foundation cracks, soil contact and how the house is ventilated. A Zone 1 classification tells you the county's planning assumption, not your reading. A short-term test kit costs about $15 to $30 and settles it. Many state radon programs also offer free or low-cost kits.
ZIP codes in Montgomery County
20810, 20811, 20812, 20813, 20814, 20815, 20816, 20817, 20818, 20824, 20825, 20827, 20830, 20832, 20833, 20837, 20838, 20839, 20841, 20842, 20847, 20848, 20849, 20850, 20851, 20852, 20853, 20854, 20855, 20857, 20859, 20860, 20861, 20862, 20866, 20868, 20871, 20872, 20874, 20875, 20876, 20877, 20878, 20879, 20880, 20882, 20883, 20884, 20885, 20886, 20889, 20891, 20892, 20894, 20895, 20896, 20897, 20898, 20899, 20901 and 16 more
Get the full dossier for your ZIP
The $9 Montgomery County radon report gives you the county's EPA zone, the expected indoor average, your home's estimated likelihood of testing above the 4 pCi/L action level adjusted for basement and home type, the mitigation cost band, and the EPA lifetime-risk figures, on one printable page you can hand to a buyer's inspector.
Related reading
- What EPA Zones 1, 2 and 3 actually mean
- How to test your home for radon yourself
- How radon mitigation systems work, and what they cost
- Selling a home with high radon
- Radon zones for other counties
Source
Zone classification: US EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (EPA-402-R-93-071 / EPA 402/A-16/001). Population: US Census Bureau county population estimates, 2024 vintage. This page reports the EPA's own classification for Montgomery County exactly as published. We do not interpolate or adjust it.