Amador County, CA Shrink-Swell Risk
Amador County, CA's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Amador County, CA: USDA's soil survey rates 89% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.83% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.
What Amador County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Amador County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Amador County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Amador County, CA rating "Low", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.
Where this sits nationally
Nationally, Amador County, CA is the 2,136-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within California alone it ranks 53 of 58. Amador County, CA is 595 square miles with a population of 42,026.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Franklin County, ID and Madison County, FL are worth a look for comparison.
How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil
More of California
Every county in California is on this site, including Santa Barbara County, CA and Calaveras County, CA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.