Radon Mitigation in Hanover and Penn Township, PA
Updated
PA DEP has 11,820 home radon tests on record from the ZIP code that cover Hanover (17331). 47% came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level, against 52.5% for York County as a whole. That is lower than the county as a whole, but it is still close to half of all tests. A standard system here typically costs $800 to $1,500. The only way to know about one house is to test it.
This page covers Hanover borough and Penn Township, which wraps around it on three sides. Both share ZIP 17331, the busiest radon ZIP code in York County with more than 11,800 PA DEP tests on record. 47% came back at or above the action level. The borough and the township have very different housing: a third of the borough's homes predate 1940, while Penn Township is mostly newer detached houses.
What the PA DEP test records show for Hanover
ZIP 17331 covers essentially all of Hanover, so these numbers are about as local as public radon data gets.
| ZIP | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L | 10+ | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17331 | 11,820 | 3.6 | 47% | 22.9% | 12.4% |
| York County | 98,845 | 4.3 | 52.5% | 26.8% | 13.1% |
Look past the median to the high end. One test in 8 here came in at 20 pCi/L or more, five times the action level, and the highest reading on record is 1,260 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 17331, basement tests have a median of 4 pCi/L, while tests taken on the first floor have a median of 1.8 pCi/L (982 first-floor tests). The basement number runs 2.2 times the first-floor number, which is the usual pattern: radon comes up from the soil, so it is strongest at the lowest level and gets diluted as it moves up through the house.
Radon results by decade in ZIP 17331
| Decade tested | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 282 | 3.5 | 47.5% |
| 1990s | 1,600 | 4.3 | 52.3% |
| 2000s | 2,997 | 4.1 | 51.5% |
| 2010s | 4,430 | 3.6 | 47% |
| 2020s | 2,511 | 2.7 | 38.1% |
The share peaked in the 1990s at 52.3% and sits at 38.1% 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 Hanover has not changed. 2,511 tests have been logged in 17331 since 2020, so people here are still testing.
The ground under Hanover
Hanover sits in southwestern York County, at the western edge of the Piedmont near the Adams County line.
ZIP 17331 also holds the single highest reading in the county's PA DEP records, 1,259.7 pCi/L, more than 300 times the action level. It is an outlier, not a typical house, but it shows how far one foundation can sit from its neighbors.
Housing in Hanover and Penn Township and what it means for a system
Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024:
| Hanover Borough | Penn Township | York County | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes (housing units) | 8,029 | 7,155 | 189,857 |
| Median year built | 1956 | 1983 | 1976 |
| Built before 1940 | 32.2% | 12.8% | 18.3% |
| Built before 1980 | 77.1% | 45.1% | 54.8% |
| Built 2000 or later | 9.6% | 23.8% | 20.6% |
| Single-family detached | 45.9% | 68.8% | 64.3% |
| Attached (rowhome, townhouse) | 22.4% | 20.7% | 17.1% |
| Mobile homes | 0.1% | 2.8% | 4.1% |
| Owner-occupied | 53.4% | 83.7% | 76.3% |
32.2% of the homes in Hanover and Penn Township were built before 1940, against 18.3% county-wide. Houses that old usually sit on stone or early block foundations with no vapor barrier and plenty of joints, which gives soil gas more ways in. They are still very fixable. The installer just spends more time sealing, and sometimes needs a second suction point, which is why these jobs tend to land toward the upper end of the cost range.
About 22.4% of homes here are attached: rowhomes, twins and townhouses. A shared wall does not stop radon, and neither does a neighbor's system, so each unit needs its own test. The tricky part is pipe routing, since there is often no side yard to run the vent up. Our rowhome radon guide covers how installers handle it.
Only about 53.4% of homes in Hanover and Penn Township are owner-occupied, so a lot of people here rent. Pennsylvania does not require landlords to test, but a tenant can ask, and a landlord can test between tenancies without much hassle. Our landlord testing guide covers the details.
Cost-wise, expect older houses in Hanover and Penn Township to land in the $1,200 to $2,500 part of the range once sealing and a possible second suction point are counted. Newer houses are usually the standard $800 to $1,500 job. Full ranges on the cost page.
Where we work in Hanover and Penn Township
That covers Hanover borough, Parkville and Pennville. Routes 94, 116 and 194 meet in the borough. Public schools here are part of the Hanover Public School District in the borough and the South Western School District in Penn Township. Hanover is the home of Utz and Snyder's of Hanover, and the Battle of Hanover in 1863 was the last major cavalry fight before Gettysburg.
Installers must hold a PA DEP radon mitigation certification (how to check), and permit questions go to the borough office at hanoverboroughpa.gov.
Common questions
Is radon a problem in Hanover?
Yes. PA DEP has 11,820 tests on record from the ZIP code covering Hanover, and 47% of them came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level. 12.4% were at 20 pCi/L or more. The county-wide rate is 52.5%.
What is the average radon level in ZIP 17331?
The median of 11,820 PA DEP tests in ZIP 17331 is 3.6 pCi/L and the mean is 10.1 pCi/L. A mean that far above the median means a long tail of very high readings, topping out at 1,260 pCi/L.
Nearby
North Codorus Township 55.6%, West Manchester Township 50.5%. Share of PA DEP tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L, against 47% here.
Have a test result from Hanover?
Send us the number and the foundation type, or call and read it out.
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