Township, York County

Radon Mitigation in Springettsbury Township, PA

Updated September 30, 2026

Springettsbury Township wraps around the east side of York along the U.S. 30 corridor, and it covers two of the busiest radon ZIP codes in the county. Between 17402 and 17406 there are close to 15,000 PA DEP tests on record, more than almost anywhere else in York County. Most of the housing here went up between the 1930s and the 1970s, in neighborhoods like East York and Stonybrook, and a lot of it sits on basements of that era.

What the PA DEP test records show for Springettsbury Township

ZIP codes don't follow township lines, so the 2 ZIP codes below also take in some homes just outside Springettsbury Township.

• ZIP 17406 (about 50% of Springettsbury Township's land): median 4.3 pCi/L across 4,025 tests, 14.3% at 20 or higher, top reading 410. Basement median 5.3, first floor 1.7.
• ZIP 17402 (about 50% of Springettsbury Township's land): median 4.6 pCi/L across 10,722 tests, 13.2% at 20 or higher, top reading 260. Basement median 5.4, first floor 2.6.

The spread inside Springettsbury Township runs from 52.6% of tests high in 17406 to 54.6% in 17402.

The share that matters most is the 20+ column. 13.5% 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 410 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 17406, basement tests have a median of 5.3 pCi/L, while tests taken on the first floor have a median of 1.7 pCi/L (610 first-floor tests). The basement number runs 3.1 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.

It also explains why two neighbors can get very different results. One tested a finished basement, the other tested a first-floor bedroom. For a decision about mitigation, the test that counts is the one from the lowest level anyone spends time in.

Radon results by decade in ZIP 17406

The share peaked in the 2000s at 64.9% 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 Springettsbury Township has not changed. 993 tests have been logged in 17406 since 2020, so people here are still testing.

The ground under Springettsbury Township

The western part of the township sits on the York Valley's limestone and dolomite, the same carbonate belt under York City (per the Stose and Jonas York County geology report and PA DCNR's carbonate map). Moving east, the ground rises toward the Piedmont Upland, where schist and quartzite take over.

USGS found the highest groundwater radon in Pennsylvania in the schist, gneiss and quartzite of the Piedmont, the province that covers all of York County. Springettsbury sits right where the two rock families meet, which is one reason results vary so much from street to street here.

Housing in Springettsbury Township and what it means for a system

Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024:

Most of the housing in Springettsbury Township went up between the 1940s and the 1970s (68.5% was built before 1980, median year 1969). That era mostly means poured or concrete-block basements. Block walls are hollow, and soil gas can move up through the cores, so a system here sometimes needs block-wall suction alongside the usual sub-slab point.

Cost-wise, most houses in Springettsbury Township 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 Springettsbury Township

That covers East York, Pleasureville, Yorklyn, Stonybrook, Fayfield and Yorkshire. Interstate 83, U.S. 30, Route 24, Mount Rose Avenue (Route 124) and Route 462 all run through the township. Public schools here are part of the Central York and York Suburban school districts. The township is named for Springett Penn, William Penn's grandson, and it is home to Harley-Davidson's York plant.

East York filled in fast in the 1930s, and later subdivisions kept building out through the late 20th century. Houses from the 1930s through the 1960s usually have poured or block basements that were never sealed with radon in mind.

Installers must hold a PA DEP radon mitigation certification (how to check), and permit questions go to the township office at springettsbury.com.

Common questions

Is radon a problem in Springettsbury Township?

Yes. PA DEP has 14,747 tests on record from the ZIP codes covering Springettsbury Township, and 54.1% of them came back at or above the EPA's 4.0 pCi/L action level. 13.5% were at 20 pCi/L or more. The county-wide rate is 52.5%.

What is the average radon level in ZIP 17406?

The median of 4,025 PA DEP tests in ZIP 17406 is 4.3 pCi/L and the mean is 11.4 pCi/L. A mean that far above the median means a long tail of very high readings, topping out at 410 pCi/L.

Nearby

York City 51.9%, Spring Garden Township 55.2%, Windsor Township 57.2%, Hellam Township 53.7%, Manchester Township 51.3%. Share of PA DEP tests at or above 4.0 pCi/L, against 54.1% here.