Radon Mitigation in Fairview Township, PA
Updated
PA DEP has 7,156 home radon tests on record from the ZIP codes that cover Fairview Township (17339, 17070, 17319). 43.4% came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level, against 52.5% for York County as a whole. Lower than York County overall, yet still more than four tests in ten. A standard system here typically costs $800 to $1,500. The only way to know about one house is to test it.
Fairview Township sits at the county's northern tip, across the river from Harrisburg, and it works more like a Harrisburg suburb than a York one. It overlaps three ZIP codes: 17339 (Lewisberry), 17070 (New Cumberland) and 17319 (Etters). All three test below the county, with about 42% to 45% of tests at or above the action level. About 31% of its homes were built in 2000 or later.
What the PA DEP test records show for Fairview Township
ZIP codes don't follow township lines, so the 3 ZIP codes below also take in some homes just outside Fairview Township.
| ZIP | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L | 10+ | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17339 | 2,150 | 3.4 | 44.9% | 17.1% | 5.8% |
| 17070 | 2,101 | 3.2 | 43.6% | 20.7% | 8.6% |
| 17319 | 2,905 | 3.2 | 42.1% | 16.6% | 6.4% |
| York County | 98,845 | 4.3 | 52.5% | 26.8% | 13.1% |
- ZIP 17339 (about 43% of Fairview Township's land): median 3.4 pCi/L across 2,150 tests, 5.8% at 20 or higher, top reading 382. Basement median 3.7, first floor 2.6.
- ZIP 17070 (about 36% of Fairview Township's land): median 3.2 pCi/L across 2,101 tests, 8.6% at 20 or higher, top reading 282. Basement median 3.8, first floor 1.4.
- ZIP 17319 (about 13% of Fairview Township's land): median 3.2 pCi/L across 2,905 tests, 6.4% at 20 or higher, top reading 343. Basement median 3.4, first floor 2.1.
The spread inside Fairview Township runs from 42.1% of tests high in 17319 to 44.9% in 17339.
The share that matters most is the 20+ column. 6.9% of tests here came in at 20 pCi/L or more, five times the action level. The single highest reading on record in these ZIP codes is 382 pCi/L. Neighboring houses can differ by a factor of ten, so none of this tells you what your house is. It tells you the odds are high enough that a $15 to $30 test kit is worth buying.
Tests people chose to run, not a random survey. Details on the York County radon levels page.
Basement readings versus first-floor readings
In ZIP 17339, basement tests have a median of 3.7 pCi/L, while tests taken on the first floor have a median of 2.6 pCi/L (195 first-floor tests). The gap is smaller than in most of the county, which means readings upstairs here are not much of a relief from the basement number.
Radon results by decade in ZIP 17339
| Decade tested | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 306 | 3.6 | 44.8% |
| 2000s | 558 | 4.3 | 52.3% |
| 2010s | 865 | 3.3 | 43.9% |
| 2020s | 387 | 2.2 | 36.7% |
The share peaked in the 2000s at 52.3% and sits at 36.7% for tests since 2020. A drop that size is mostly about who is testing, not the ground. More recent tests come from home sales and from retests after a system went in, and both pull the share down. The rock under Fairview Township has not changed. 387 tests have been logged in 17339 since 2020, so people here are still testing.
The ground under Fairview Township
Fairview is in the Gettysburg-Newark Lowland. PA DCNR names it specifically as one of the townships where diabase, a dark igneous rock that pushed up through the Triassic shales, forms prominent hills and boulder fields.
The Triassic shales and diabase of the northern county carry less radon than the schist further south, which fits the lower numbers here. Individual houses still vary widely.
Housing in Fairview Township and what it means for a system
Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024:
| Fairview Township | York County | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes (housing units) | 7,114 | 189,857 |
| Median year built | 1983 | 1976 |
| Built before 1940 | 6.6% | 18.3% |
| Built before 1980 | 46.4% | 54.8% |
| Built 2000 or later | 30.7% | 20.6% |
| Single-family detached | 77.8% | 64.3% |
| Attached (rowhome, townhouse) | 10.6% | 17.1% |
| Mobile homes | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Owner-occupied | 87% | 76.3% |
30.7% of the homes here were built in 2000 or later, one of the higher shares in the county. New construction is not radon-proof. A tight modern house can hold radon in as well as it holds heat in. Some builders rough in a passive vent pipe during construction, which makes a later active system cheaper, so check for a capped pipe in the basement. More on that in radon in new construction.
77.8% of homes in Fairview Township are single-family detached. A detached house with a basement is the easiest layout to mitigate: one suction point through the slab, a fan outside or in the garage, and a vent above the roof line. It is the standard sub-slab depressurization job covered step by step on our mitigation process page, and it usually lands in the middle of the cost range.
Cost-wise, a newer house with a passive pipe already roughed in can come in under the usual $800 to $1,500, since the installer mostly adds a fan and a gauge. Full ranges on the cost page.
Where we work in Fairview Township
That covers New Market. Interstate 83, Route 262 and Route 114 run through the township. Capital City Airport is inside the township, and English Quakers settled the area around 1730.
Installers must hold a PA DEP radon mitigation certification (how to check).
Common questions
Is radon a problem in Fairview Township?
Yes. PA DEP has 7,156 tests on record from the ZIP codes covering Fairview Township, and 43.4% of them came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level. 6.9% were at 20 pCi/L or more. The county-wide rate is 52.5%.
What is the average radon level in ZIP 17339?
The median of 2,150 PA DEP tests in ZIP 17339 is 3.4 pCi/L and the mean is 7.1 pCi/L. A mean that far above the median means a long tail of very high readings, topping out at 382 pCi/L.
Nearby
Newberry Township 41.8%, Carroll Township 47.4%. Share of PA DEP tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L, against 43.4% here.
Have a test result from Fairview Township?
Send us the number and the foundation type, or call and read it out.
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