Jefferson County
1.9pCi/L
CDC average, ~630 tests, 2008–2017
- 10.7% of tests at or above the 4.0 pCi/L action level
- Highest single reading in dataset: 24.6 pCi/L
- EPA Zone 2 · ADPH highest-potential county
Radon by Zip / County
Alabama Radon Levels by Zip Code & County.
The short version: radon levels by zip code in Alabama really come down to which county your zip sits in — and even inside the same county, the house next door can read very differently. This page shows what has actually been measured near your Birmingham-area address in plain numbers, plus the honest limits of the public data. A pCi/L (picocuries per liter) is just a measure of how much radon is in the air.
15
ADPH highest-radon-potential counties statewide
13
counties in EPA Radon Zone 1
1 in 9
Jefferson & Shelby tests at or above the EPA action level
Metro Zip Lookup
Look up your Birmingham metro zip code.
Each row maps a Jefferson, Shelby, or St. Clair County zip to its USPS place name and shows that county's measured radon data. Type any zip or city name to filter.
Honest caveat: we don't publish per-zip radon averages here, because no bulk-scrapable zip-level dataset exists for Alabama. Every row shows the county figure that zip sits inside. For the exact average measured under your zip, use the official ADPH Radon Measurement Lookup below.
| Zip | USPS place | County | EPA zone | County CDC avg (pCi/L) | % of tests ≥ 4.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35005 | Adamsville | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35006 | Adger | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35020 | Bessemer | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35022 | Bessemer | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35023 | Bessemer / Hueytown | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35061 | Dolomite | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35062 | Dora | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35064 | Fairfield | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35068 | Fultondale | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35071 | Gardendale | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35073 | Graysville | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35091 | Kimberly | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35094 | Leeds | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35111 | McCalla | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35116 | Morris | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35117 | Mount Olive | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35118 | Mulga | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35126 | Pinson | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35127 | Pleasant Grove | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35172 | Trafford | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35173 | Trussville | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35180 | Warrior | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35203 | Birmingham (Downtown) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35204 | Birmingham (Smithfield / Fountain Heights) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35205 | Birmingham (Five Points South / Southside) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35206 | Birmingham (Woodlawn / East Lake) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35207 | Birmingham (North Birmingham) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35208 | Birmingham (West End) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35209 | Homewood / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35210 | Irondale / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35211 | Birmingham (Southwest) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35212 | Birmingham (Woodlawn) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35213 | Mountain Brook / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35214 | Birmingham (Ensley) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35215 | Center Point / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35216 | Vestavia Hills / Hoover / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35217 | Birmingham (Airport / Tarrant) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35218 | Birmingham (Ensley) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35221 | Birmingham (Powderly) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35222 | Birmingham (Avondale) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35223 | Mountain Brook / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35224 | Birmingham (Ensley) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35226 | Hoover / Vestavia Hills / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35228 | Birmingham (Midfield area) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35233 | Birmingham (UAB / Southside) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35234 | Birmingham (Norwood / Druid Hills) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35235 | Birmingham (Roebuck / Huffman) | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35243 | Mountain Brook / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35244 | Hoover / Birmingham | Jefferson | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 10.7% |
| 35007 | Alabaster | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35040 | Calera | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35043 | Chelsea | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35051 | Columbiana | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35078 | Harpersville | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35080 | Helena | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35114 | Alabaster | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35115 | Montevallo | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35124 | Pelham | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35143 | Shelby | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35147 | Sterrett / Westover | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35176 | Vandiver | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35178 | Vincent | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35186 | Wilsonville | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35242 | Birmingham (Cahaba / US-280) | Shelby | Zone 2 | 1.9 | 11.3% |
| 35004 | Moody | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35054 | Cropwell | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35120 | Odenville | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35125 | Pell City | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35128 | Pell City | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35131 | Ragland | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35135 | Riverside | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35146 | Springville | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35953 | Ashville | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
| 35987 | Steele | St. Clair | Zone 2 | 2.1 | 14.0% |
No zips match that filter. Try a nearby zip or city name.
County radon figures: CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, 2008–2017 (republished at radonverdict.com). Zip-to-place mapping: zip-codes.com county tables for Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair.
Official state source
Alabama's exact zip-level radon lookup lives with ADPH.
The Alabama Department of Public Health runs a form-driven lookup that returns the average homeowner test result for a specific zip code. It is the authoritative source for zip-level averages in Alabama.
Metro Spotlight
Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair — the measured picture.
All three metro counties sit in EPA Radon Zone 2 (the middle rating on the EPA's three-zone map of radon potential). ADPH also names Jefferson and Shelby among Alabama's 15 highest-potential radon counties. Here's what the CDC's actual test data shows.
Shelby County
1.9pCi/L
CDC average, ~283 tests, 2008–2017
- 11.3% of tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L
- Highest single reading: 14.6 pCi/L
- EPA Zone 2 · ADPH highest-potential county
St. Clair County
2.1pCi/L
CDC average, ~70 tests, 2008–2017
- 14.0% of tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L
- Highest single reading: 12.1 pCi/L
- EPA Zone 2 · not on the ADPH 15-county list
Roughly 1 in 9 reported tests in Jefferson and Shelby — and about 1 in 7 in St. Clair — came back at or above the EPA action level. ADPH names Jefferson and Shelby among Alabama's 15 highest-potential radon counties. Neither one is EPA Zone 1; both are Zone 2 (moderate potential), matching every Zone 2 label you'll see on the metro rows above.
Full State Map
Alabama Radon Map: EPA Zones by County.
All 67 Alabama counties, with the EPA Radon Zone, whether ADPH lists the county as one of the state's 15 highest-potential counties, and the Air Chek lab's published county average (indoor). Where no numeric average was published, the cell says so — we do not estimate. Filter by county name or zone.
| County | EPA zone | ADPH highest-potential? | Air Chek avg (pCi/L) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autauga | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Baldwin | Zone 3 | — | 0.9 |
| Barbour | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Bibb | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Blount | Zone 2 | — | 1.6 |
| Bullock | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Butler | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Calhoun | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.2 |
| Chambers | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Cherokee | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Chilton | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Choctaw | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Clarke | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Clay | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.8 |
| Cleburne | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.9 |
| Coffee | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Colbert | Zone 1 | Yes | 3.9 |
| Conecuh | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Coosa | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.8 |
| Covington | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Crenshaw | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Cullman | Zone 2 | — | 1.5 |
| Dale | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Dallas | Zone 2 | — | 0.3 |
| DeKalb | Zone 2 | — | 1.6 |
| Elmore | Zone 2 | — | 0.9 |
| Escambia | Zone 3 | — | 0.4 |
| Etowah | Zone 2 | — | 1.5 |
| Fayette | Zone 2 | — | 1.1 |
| Franklin | Zone 1 | Yes | 3.2 |
| Geneva | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Greene | Zone 2 | — | 1.0 |
| Hale | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Henry | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Houston | Zone 3 | — | 0.7 |
| Jackson | Zone 1 | Yes | 1.9 |
| Jefferson | Zone 2 | Yes | 1.5 |
| Lamar | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Lauderdale | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.8 |
| Lawrence | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.2 |
| Lee | Zone 2 | — | 0.4 |
| Limestone | Zone 1 | Yes | 1.6 |
| Lowndes | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Macon | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Madison | Zone 1 | Yes | 4.3 |
| Marengo | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Marion | Zone 2 | — | 2.3 |
| Marshall | Zone 2 | — | 1.5 |
| Mobile | Zone 3 | — | 0.8 |
| Monroe | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Montgomery | Zone 2 | — | 1.6 |
| Morgan | Zone 1 | Yes | 2.9 |
| Perry | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Pickens | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Pike | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Randolph | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Russell | Zone 2 | — | 0.3 |
| Shelby | Zone 2 | Yes | 1.8 |
| St. Clair | Zone 2 | — | 2.1 |
| Sumter | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Talladega | Zone 1 | Yes | 1.7 |
| Tallapoosa | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Tuscaloosa | Zone 2 | — | 1.1 |
| Walker | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
| Washington | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Wilcox | Zone 3 | — | no published figure |
| Winston | Zone 2 | — | no published figure |
No counties match that filter.
Zone legend
- Zone 1 Highest predicted potential (13 Alabama counties). Predicted average indoor screening level above 4 pCi/L.
- Zone 2 Moderate potential (33 Alabama counties). Predicted 2–4 pCi/L. Jefferson and Shelby sit here.
- Zone 3 Low predicted potential (21 Alabama counties). Predicted below 2 pCi/L — but elevated homes exist in every zone.
EPA county zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones (EPA 402-R-93-021, 1993), via city-data.com's machine-readable table. ADPH highest-potential column: Alabama Department of Public Health, "Radon in Alabama" (page last updated Feb 4, 2026). Air Chek county averages: county-radon.info per-county pages (Air Chek lab data). The EPA map is a 1993 county screening prediction — both agencies stress that elevated homes occur in all zones.
Why Here
Why the Birmingham area tests high.
The Birmingham metro sits in the Valley and Ridge physiographic province, a folded and faulted belt of limestone, dolomite, sandstone, and shale running southwest to northeast through central Alabama. The Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) ranks this province as moderate-to-high in geologic radon potential, and its stakeholders' briefing calls out three specific mechanisms.
- Faulting creates conduits. The province is heavily faulted, and faults give radon a direct migration path from bedrock into overlying soils — and, from there, up into basements, crawl spaces, and slab-on-grade homes.
- Limestone and carbonaceous shale carry uranium. GSA's statewide radon inventory identifies specific limestone, carbonaceous shale, and granitic units as the state's higher-uranium rock types. All three occur in the Birmingham metro's stratigraphy.
- Thin soils, fractured rock, hillside siting. GSA lists nine radon-potential factors; thin soils over bedrock, fractured rock, and hillside/slope construction — all common "over the mountain" in Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook — raise radon transport into occupied space.
This is the honest geologic reason Jefferson and Shelby show up on the state's highest-potential list even though the EPA's 1993 map assigns them Zone 2 rather than Zone 1. Local rocks carry uranium, faulting moves radon up, and the metro's terrain means many homes are built on or over exposed bedrock. The GSA 2025 briefing is the primary source for this section.
Reading the Numbers
Radon levels chart: what the pCi/L number means.
Every county number on this page is a pCi/L reading — again, picocuries per liter, the radioactivity concentration in air. Here is where the reference points sit on that scale, and what the EPA recommends at each level.
U.S. average indoor level is about 1.3 pCi/L (per EPA/ADPH).
Below 2.0 pCi/L
No action needed
No action needed.
2.0–3.9 pCi/L
EPA suggests considering fixes
EPA suggests considering fixes; retesting is reasonable.
4.0+ pCi/L
EPA action level
EPA action level — mitigation recommended, retest after.
Reference points
- 0.4 pCi/L — U.S. average outdoor level (EPA/ADPH).
- 1.3 pCi/L — U.S. average indoor level (EPA/ADPH).
- 1.9 pCi/L — Jefferson and Shelby County indoor average (CDC 2008–2017).
- 2.0 pCi/L — EPA recommends thinking about fixing homes at or above this level.
- 4.0 pCi/L — EPA action level. Mitigation recommended. Roughly 1 in 15 U.S. homes tests at or above this.
Data Gaps
Where the public data honestly stops.
Three limits are worth naming plainly before anyone reads too much into a county number:
- ADPH's ZIP tool is the only official ZIP-level source, and it isn't bulk-scrapable. Public per-ZIP averages for Alabama don't exist in downloadable form. Anyone publishing a full ZIP-by-ZIP Alabama radon table is either querying ADPH one ZIP at a time, or estimating.
- Some sites publish very small samples as "regional averages." One widely-linked page cites a "Birmingham metro regional average of 6.4 pCi/L" — that figure is drawn from five user-submitted tests, and it labels the metro EPA Zone 1. Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair are all EPA Zone 2. We do not use that figure anywhere on this page.
- House-to-house variation swamps county averages. ADPH says this directly: "radon levels can vary greatly from home to home — even levels next door can be very different." A county average is a useful prior, not a prediction for any one address. The only way to know your home's number is to test it.
One test. Independent lab. $295 flat — every home, every zip.
Nearby Pages
Related reading.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions.
Where is radon most common in Alabama?
The EPA's 1993 Map of Radon Zones puts 13 Alabama counties in Zone 1 (highest predicted potential), 33 in Zone 2, and 21 in Zone 3. The Alabama Department of Public Health separately names 15 counties as the state's highest-radon-potential group — Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Shelby, and Talladega. Both Birmingham-metro counties on that list, Jefferson and Shelby, are on EPA Zone 2, not Zone 1.
How common is elevated radon in Alabama homes?
Nationally, EPA estimates roughly 1 in 15 U.S. homes have radon at or above the 4.0 pCi/L action level. In the CDC Tracking Network's 2008–2017 Alabama data, roughly 1 in 9 reported tests in Jefferson and Shelby counties, and about 1 in 7 in St. Clair, came back at or above 4.0 pCi/L. ADPH's own guidance is that every home should be tested regardless of county — levels can vary sharply house to house, and elevated readings show up in every zone.
Is my zip code high for radon?
Alabama's official ZIP-level source is the ADPH Radon Measurement Lookup at dph1.adph.state.al.us/RadonTestMeasurements — it returns the average homeowner test result for a given ZIP. We do not publish per-ZIP radon numbers on this page because no bulk-scrapable ZIP-level dataset exists, and estimating would be dishonest. Our metro table maps each ZIP to its city and county, and shows that county's measured data. For the exact ZIP-level average, use the ADPH lookup directly.
What is a safe indoor radon level?
The EPA and U.S. Surgeon General recommend fixing homes with radon at or above 4.0 pCi/L, and thinking about fixing homes between 2.0 and 4.0 pCi/L. There is no threshold below which radon is known to be entirely safe — the U.S. indoor average is about 1.3 pCi/L and the outdoor average about 0.4 pCi/L. See our safe radon levels page for a plain-language breakdown.
Why does the EPA rate Jefferson and Shelby only Zone 2 when ADPH lists them as highest-potential counties?
EPA's Zone 1/2/3 map is a 1993 county-level screening prediction, and ADPH's 15-county list is a separate state-level priority ranking. Both matter, and they don't cancel each other out — Jefferson and Shelby carry the EPA Zone 2 designation and ADPH's highest-potential designation at the same time. The measured CDC data (avg 1.9 pCi/L in both counties, roughly 1 in 9 tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L) sits between them.
Does Alabama require radon testing when selling a home?
No. Alabama has no state-level radon disclosure requirement for real estate transactions, and no state licensing of radon professionals — the credential to look for is NRPP or AARST certification through the national program. Testing is voluntary, but on the inspection checklist for most Alabama buyers.