Radon Mitigation in Shrewsbury Borough, PA
Updated
PA DEP has 2,117 home radon tests on record from the ZIP code that cover Shrewsbury Borough (17361). 52% 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 close to the county-wide rate, which is itself about one test in two. A standard system here typically costs $800 to $1,500. The only way to know about one house is to test it.
Shrewsbury Borough is a borough in York County with about 3,878 residents and 1,772 homes, median year built 1986. It sits between New Freedom and Glen Rock. The sycamore-lined Shrewsbury Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. 52% of PA DEP radon tests in its ZIP codes came back at or above the action level, below the county's 52.5%.
What the PA DEP test records show for Shrewsbury Borough
ZIP 17361 covers essentially all of Shrewsbury Borough, so these numbers are about as local as public radon data gets.
| ZIP | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L | 10+ | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17361 | 2,117 | 4.3 | 52% | 23.1% | 9.6% |
| York County | 98,845 | 4.3 | 52.5% | 26.8% | 13.1% |
The share that matters most is the 20+ column. 9.6% 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 206 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 17361, basement tests have a median of 4.5 pCi/L, while tests taken on the first floor have a median of 3.2 pCi/L (173 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 17361
| Decade tested | Tests | Median pCi/L | 4+ pCi/L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 315 | 4.9 | 55.2% |
| 2000s | 400 | 5.9 | 58% |
| 2010s | 702 | 4.5 | 53.8% |
| 2020s | 689 | 3.5 | 45.1% |
The share peaked in the 2000s at 58% and sits at 45.1% 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 Shrewsbury Borough has not changed. 689 tests have been logged in 17361 since 2020, so people here are still testing.
Housing in Shrewsbury Borough and what it means for a system
Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024:
| Shrewsbury Borough | York County | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes (housing units) | 1,772 | 189,857 |
| Median year built | 1986 | 1976 |
| Built before 1940 | 9.3% | 18.3% |
| Built before 1980 | 37.6% | 54.8% |
| Built 2000 or later | 27% | 20.6% |
| Single-family detached | 77.1% | 64.3% |
| Attached (rowhome, townhouse) | 7.7% | 17.1% |
| Mobile homes | 1.4% | 4.1% |
| Owner-occupied | 80.3% | 76.3% |
77.1% of homes in Shrewsbury Borough 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, most houses in Shrewsbury Borough are the standard $800 to $1,500 sub-slab job, with block walls or a second suction point pushing toward $2,500. Full ranges on the cost page.
Where we work in Shrewsbury Borough
Main roads include Main Street, the old York-Baltimore Turnpike. Public schools here are part of Southern York County School District. The sycamore-lined Shrewsbury Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Installers must hold a PA DEP radon mitigation certification (how to check), and permit questions go to the borough office at www.shrewsburyborough.org.
Common questions
Is radon a problem in Shrewsbury Borough?
Yes. PA DEP has 2,117 tests on record from the ZIP code covering Shrewsbury Borough, and 52% of them came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level. 9.6% were at 20 pCi/L or more. The county-wide rate is 52.5%.
What is the average radon level in ZIP 17361?
The median of 2,117 PA DEP tests in ZIP 17361 is 4.3 pCi/L and the mean is 8.8 pCi/L. A mean that far above the median means a long tail of very high readings, topping out at 206 pCi/L.
Have a test result from Shrewsbury Borough?
Send us the number and the foundation type, or call and read it out.
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