Yancey County, North Carolina: drinking water report. Yancey County – Burnsville – serves about 18,000 residents in the Black Mountains, which include
Yancey County – Burnsville – serves about 18,000 residents in the Black Mountains, which include Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. Water comes from mountain streams at high elevation, producing exceptionally clean source water.
Yancey County's high-elevation watersheds are among the most pristine in the eastern US. UCMR5 data shows no PFAS detections. According to NC DEQ's 2024 data, systems met all standards. The 2024 Hurricane Helene flooding impacted infrastructure in the county.
Yancey County's water quality is excellent. Infrastructure repair from the 2024 flooding is the main ongoing concern.
Check your water for data. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our North Carolina page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Yancey County, NC.
The EPA places Yancey County, NC in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
41% of homes in Yancey County, NC were built before 1980, and 14% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Yancey County, NC averages 6 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide